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A coalition of UN agencies, networks, donors and global organizations
      Core components of school-based and school-linked approaches
                     Promoting educational success, health and development


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These sessions are all part of the FRESH Working Group on Health Literacy, Life Skills and Social Inclusion.
For background, read this report on the WG activities.

These are actually open web meetings, so please join us and contribute your expertise and experience on these topics. Just click on the web link below to access the sessions:
You may need to use the web-based Skype meeting app that will be offered. Just download the app and follow the instructions)=
https://meet.lync.com/ishn/dmccall/8ZSYJA5G

Tuesday 12 November 2019 (14:00 London, UK/9:00 am Washington DC)
Social & Emotional Learning: An Essential for Health, Inclusion and Preventing Violence
  • David Osher, Vice-President, American Institutes for Research
  • Elizabeth Spier, Principal Researcher, American Institutes for Research
Human development occurs through reciprocal interactions between the individual and their contexts and culture, with relationships as the key drivers. Consequenty, social development & emotional intelligence are at the heart of learning. The lens we have constructed to explain these interactions is often called "social & emotional learning that can teqach selected "life skills" or promote "personal & social development". Recent insights gleaned from research suggest that relationships and the micro-contexts experienced by children and youth (such as schools, families, neighbourhoods) interact with brain and other traits of the child resulting in external and internal behaviours, attitudes and acquired knowledge.

Social & emotional attributes are often described in five categories; including those being used by an OECD study on SEL.These include open-mindedness task performance, emotional regulation, engaging with others and collaboration. CASEL has a similar list of five, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. Again, recent research suggests that the various categories may need to be more detailed and are more complex than suggested by such lists.

The effectiveness of multi-intervention programs and comprehensive approaches to promote and support social and emotional learning (SEL) has been demonstrated in numerous studies. The current questions revolve more around the best combination of instruction, social support within the school, parent and community involvement. As well, the measurement of SEL student learning is being studied and explored by a group of researchers. One urgent element is the impact of SEL programs on social inclusion and the prevention of anti-social behaviours, student alienation, isolation and violent extremism.

Social & Emotional learning is one of the behavioural/learning paradigms being examined by the FRESH Working Group on Health Literacy, Life Skills & Social Inclusion. We are pleased to welcome two leading scientists to help us to understand how the SEL approach can be used to promote health, personal and social development.

This session will define and discuss how social & emotional learning should be considered essential across all subjects and used in a variety of school-linked extended educational opportunities in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in and outside of school, in the community and on the web. The promotion of social inclusion, basic literacy related to health, safety and security and the development of life skills/social responsibility through SEL will be a primary consideration underlying the session. If there is research defining the minimum SEL student learning outputs in health, personal & social development education, these will be discussed. If there is insufficient research and data in HPSD education, participants may choose to discuss how this could be or has been done.
To access this webinar, just click on this Participants Link a few minutes before the start of the session,


Recommended Resources & Readings
Thursday 14 November (15:00 London, UK/10:00 am Washington DC)
(Note: This session is starting one hour later than our usual time.)

Organized by the FRESH Partnership
Digital & Media Literacy: Essential Skill, Knowledge and Attribute for Inclusion, Health & Safety
  • Mathew Johnson, Director of Education, Media Smarts Canada
  • Kathryn Hill, Executive Director, MediaSmarts Canada
  • Diane Levin-Zamir, School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Israel, Co-Convenor, Working Group on Health Literacy, IUHPE
To be literate in today’s media-rich environments, young people need to develop knowledge, values and a whole range of critical thinking, communication and information management skills. Citizens who lack digital literacy skills risk being disadvantaged when it comes to accessing healthcare, government services and employment, education and civic participation. Digital literacy is a key part of learning about history, health and other subjects and is not confined to computer science or language arts/communications. It is a part of our collective and individual citizenship. Music, TV, video games, magazines and other media all have a strong influence on how we see the world, an influence that often begins in infancy. To be engaged and critical media consumers, kids need to develop skills and habits of media literacy. These skills include being able to access media on a basic level, to analyze it in a critical way based on certain key concepts, to evaluate it based on that analysis and, finally, to produce media oneself.

The digital world and the overwhelming influences of media offer young people opportunities but also pose significant risks. Parents, schools and policy-makers are struggling to find ways to reduce these risks of bullying, self-harm, hate-driven ideologies, isolation and alienation. Digital and media literacy (DML) is an essential element of comprehensive approaches to promote social inclusion that can prevent these extreme behaviours as well as address every day challenges facing young people. Digital and media literacy are critical elements of a core health, personal and social development education program.

This session will define and discuss how digital and media literacy should be essential learning across all subjects and used in a variety of school-linked extended educational opportunities in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in and outside of school, in the community and on the web. The promotion of social inclusion, basic literacy related to health, safety and security and the development of life skills/social responsibility through DML will be a primary consideration underlying the session. If there is research defining the minimum DML student learning outputs in health, personal & social development education, these will be discussed. If there is insufficient research and data in HPSD education, participants may choose to discuss how this could be or has been done.
To access this webinar, just click on this Participants Link a few minutes before the start of the session,

Recommended Resources & Readings
The FRESH Framework

The framework, which was originally called Focusing Resources on Effective School Health (FRESH), has evolved over the years in recognition of emerging trends and needs. Similar to and supportive of the multiple sectors and intersectoral cooperation needed to achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the common framework adopted by FRESH Partners retains a broad view of the many facets of health while engaging with other sectors working on different aspects of human development such as safety from violence & crime, equity, inclusion, relief & development aid, social and sustainable development. As the partnership continued its work, the focus on access to schooling, attendance and educational attainment has increased and become central to our discussions. We also emphasize that schools, other agencies and ministries need to address the needs of the whole child through a holistic core curriculum and broad educational goals as well as through health, social and other services that address their specific issue while recognizing its connection to the overall health and development of the child. 

Consequently, we use the phrase "promoting educational success, health and development" and the FRESH icon as a way to reflect the shared goals of many multi-component approaches such as health promoting schools, child-friendly schools, school-health & nutrition, community schools, safe schools, education in emergencies and many others. The FRESH framework lists key components or "pillars" that are common to all of these approaches, These common components are ministry/agency/school policies, classroom and other forms of education/learning, health & other services, a safe, healthy physical environment and a positive social environment that includes student and parent involvement. The FRESH framework also lists essential cross-cutting themes such as intersectoral partnerships, country ownership, child rights and participation, contextualization of programs/strategies and communiuty participation. As well, the FRAMEWORK includes several topic/problem based themes or multi-intervention programs such as violence prevention, reducing risk from disasters, nutrition and many others. Practical and realistic indicators of progress have been developed for the original 15 topics and more are being developed for new topics such as mental health, child abuse/exploitation, bullying and family violence. 

The FRESH framework positions the school as a hub within the community to serve students and families. Consequently, we are concerned about school-based and school-linked programs/initiatives that reach beyond the school to support parents, engage with community organizations and are part of regional or national strategies. As well, while we often use the term "school" in these discussions, research and experience has taught us that school-level initiatives or single-focus programs are insufficient and unsustainable without the full involvement of local/regional authorities and ministries in several sectors through long-term, capacity-building, systems-based, continuous improvement planning and action.