site.btaOECD Report Discusses Social and Emotional Learning in Schools

The Directorate for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report in October 2024 titled Nurturing Social and Emotional Learning Across the Globe, which presents findings from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills 2023 (SSES 2023). The report offers insights into the relationship between educational environments and student outcomes, highlighting the urgent need for improvements. It concludes that the development of social and emotional skills in students is key to their well-being at school as well as to their life satisfaction in general.

Students in 16 sites (6 countries and 10 subnational entities) participated in SSES 2023. All sites surveyed 15-year-olds, and only six sites surveyed 10-year-olds, as surveying this age group was optional. The October 2024 report draws on data from 23 education systems that participated in both SSES 2019 and SSES 2023 where available. The participants in 2023 were Bulgaria, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Ukraine, Bogota (Colombia), Delhi (India), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Gunma (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Jinan (China), Kudus (Indonesia), Sobral (Brazil) and Turin (Italy).

Below are some highlights from the report, in which Bulgaria is mentioned specifically:

Boosting teacher preparedness is one of the key tasks related to policies and practices to better promote social and emotional learning in school. Teachers admitted that social and emotional teaching was one of the things that they felt least capable of. Teachers in Bulgaria, Delhi (India), Peru, and Ukraine used more official resources on the subject than teachers in other sites, who tended to use unofficial resources.

Students' engagement in extra-curricular activities was positively related to all social and emotional skills. In Bulgaria and other sites, all or almost all students benefit from extra-curricular offers at school.

Students who received more teacher feedback reported higher social and emotional skills. Three types of feedback were examined: (1) "The teacher tells me how I can improve my performance"; (2) "The teacher tells me in which areas I can still improve"; and (3) "The teacher gives me feedback on my strengths." In Bulgaria, about 45% of 15-year-olds reported receiving the first type of feedback, 30% reported receiving the second type, and approximately 25% reported the third type. In Bulgaria and other sites, 15-year-old low-performing students received more feedback than top-performing students. The frequency of teacher feedback could be improved across all sites, but particularly in Bulgaria, Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Gunma (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Turin (Italy), Sobral (Brazil) and Spain, especially in developing students' strengths.

Around one-third of teachers felt they could not support student learning through digital technology at all or, at best, moderately, ranging from over 80% in Bulgaria, Spain and Ukraine responding in this way to 10% or less in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Kudus (Indonesia).

Only two out of ten or fewer teachers in Bulgaria, Spain, and Ukraine felt capable of understanding students' feelings and emotions or helping students develop social and emotional skills. In contrast, in almost all other sites, more than eight out of ten teachers reported feeling confident in these social and emotional teaching tasks. Awareness campaigns and training are needed to prevent the spread of misconceptions and the use of ineffective materials in social and emotional education. This is especially important in Bulgaria, Delhi (India), Peru, and Ukraine.

In Bulgaria, principals from virtually all schools attended by 15-year-old students reported that extracurricular activities outside the classroom are used to promote social and emotional skills. At the same time, social and emotional education in Bulgaria is less integrated across all subjects or offered as a separate subject (only for 76% and 30% of 15-year-olds, respectively) than in other sites.

Feedback and advice to parents on students' social and emotional development is provided at over 90% of schools 15-year-olds attend in Bulgaria and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

About 15% of Bulgarian 15-year-old students attended schools where all teachers and the principal (strongly) agreed that social and emotional skills have an impact on decreasing social inequality, and 25% went to schools where their teachers agreed that social and emotional skills have an impact on increasing youth employment and economic success.

Bullying remains a significant concern across all sites, with some areas facing particularly high levels. Bulgaria, Delhi (India) and Kudus (Indonesia) report the highest incidence of bullying. Approximately 40% of students in Bulgaria say they are involved. Notably, in these sites, school leaders report very low levels of bullying, suggesting a concerning normalization of such behaviours. To address this issue, sites with significant bullying problems should urgently implement comprehensive anti-bullying strategies.

When it comes to bullying, the roles of perpetrator and victim often overlap. In Delhi (India) and Bulgaria, most bullying perpetrators also report being victims. The type of bullying also differs across sites: in Gunma (Japan) and Peru, social or verbal bullying is much more common, with physical bullying being rare. Contrastingly, in Bulgaria, physical bullying is almost as common as social or verbal bullying.

Low academic attainment is associated with greater involvement in bullying, both as a victim and perpetrator. This is particularly the case in Bulgaria and Delhi (India), sites with high levels of bullying.

Some students believe certain social and emotional skills are more important for girls or boys, particularly in Bulgaria and Delhi (India). The view that skills related to engaging with others (being assertive, social and enthusiastic around other people) are more important for boys than girls, was expressed by 20% of Bulgarian boys. In some sites, more students perceive collaboration and open-mindedness skills as more important for girls than boys. In Bulgaria, 21% of students said that collaboration (being co-operative, trusting and understanding of other people) is more important for girls.

Boys tend to agree more with gender stereotypes than girls, particularly that leadership and access to economic resources are more important for men. In Bulgaria, 59% of boys said men make better political leaders than women. Beliefs that women are better prepared to care for children are highest in Bulgaria, Delhi (India) and Kudus (Indonesia) and lowest in Spain and Bogota (Colombia).

Students with greater tolerance and emotional control are more likely to disagree with gender stereotypes, but in Bulgaria and Kudus (Indonesia) there was no relationship between the two attitudes.

Gender stereotypes can perpetuate ideas that STEM careers are for men or that caring roles are for women. These beliefs may impact students' perceptions of their skills and the pursuit of hobbies in related areas. On average, across sites, 24% of students agreed that boys are better at technology than girls. Levels of this belief were highest among students in Bulgaria, Kudus (Indonesia) and Ukraine.