By Sheryl Bone

Employers seek new hires with critical thinking, compassionate communication, and soft skills. To prepare students for their future professional careers, instructors now face the challenge of incorporating self-awareness and social emotional learning (SEL) into their writing classrooms. This blog post explores what this means for writing instructors and considers the connection between SEL, mental health, and writing instruction in the college classroom.

Writing instructors are uniquely positioned to help students understand the importance of strong communication skills. In higher education, the stakes are high, as students develop strong writing and communication skills in preparation for the workplace. Today, students are expected to bring critical thinking, problem-solving, and relationship building skills to the workplace (Atwell & Tucker, 2024). What does this mean for writing instructors? No longer is it sufficient to teach grammar and sentence structure. Instructors now face the challenge of incorporating self-awareness and social emotional learning (SEL) into their writing classrooms.

Over my 17 years at Purdue Global (PG), I have worked with countless students teaching CM 107, our first term writing course in the English and Rhetoric Department. These students begin their academic careers scared. They question their ability to succeed, worry that their lack of experience is insurmountable, and see themselves as “bad writers;” I feel responsible for my students’ emotions about writing. When students arrive in my classroom full of self-doubt, it is essential to dispel that doubt and quell their fears. Without identifying and addressing the emotions associated with beginning their academic journey, students can’t experience meaningful growth as writers. How do we teach students to harness these emotions to allow for academic growth? SEL can help students and instructors meet this challenge.

According to research by the National Education Association (2024), SEL provides a foundation for academic success, especially when students experience stress, crisis, or anxiety. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning defines SEL as “the process through which young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions” (CASEL, 2024, para. 1). SEL teaches students the skills employers expect. Of course, I want my students to be prepared to navigate the challenges of their future professional careers. The essential nature of the skills SEL teaches also resonates in a deeply personal way.

In addition to my passion for preparing strong writers for success in the workplace, I volunteer as a Mental Health Advocate. My work as the co-founder of a mental health not-for-profit informs everything I do, including how I interact with my students. This labor of love has taught me the importance of acknowledging ‘big’ emotions, especially the difficult ones. The statement, “You never know what someone might be going through” is at the forefront of my interaction with students. Many students arrive in my classroom burdened with preconceived notions of who they are as writers. Helping them unpack these difficult ideas and the associated emotions is essential. Before they can see themselves as writers, students must figure out how to use their emotions as fuel to face the challenges presented by developing writing and communication skills.

As a Mental Health Advocate and a writing instructor, SEL is an essential part of my teaching practice that contributes to my students’ success. Students need strong writing and communication skills. Problem-solving, critical thinking, and self-awareness skills are essential to their ability to meet the demands of their future careers. A SEL approach helps students understand why these skills matter, how to develop them, and perhaps most importantly, how to apply them in their work as students, future professionals, and in their daily lives.

The U.S. Department of Education has long indicated that participation in SEL programs fosters the development of skills necessary to cope with life’s challenges (2008). Beginning an academic program and reshaping their view of themselves as writers can be challenging for students. Knowing how to cope with the feelings they may experience is essential not just to their academic success. Lacking the necessary skills could have devastating consequences. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts in college students are at all-time highs. Consider these frightening statistics from the Healthy Minds Survey (2021):

• 44% of students report symptoms of depression
• 37% report anxiety disorders 
• 15% report having seriously considered suicide in the past year

To be clear, I am not a mental health professional. My volunteer experience as a Mental Health Advocate led me to SEL, which has become integral to my teaching practice.

There are simple ways to introduce SEL into your writing classroom:

• Include reflective writing
• Allow time for free journaling
• Discuss challenges and encourage sharing of potential solutions
• Identify and discuss the importance of soft skills
• Build social emotional vocabulary
• Provide a safe space for students to collaborate and support each other
• Identify campus resources that support students. At PG, for example, these include:
  • Student Assistance Program
  • Academic Success Center
  • Career Network
  • Office of Student Support
  • Student Life Organizations

It is important to follow your university policy if a student indicates they need help or appears to need extra support. PG, for example, has protocols to help navigate these situations, protect faculty, and ensure student safety and well-being. Consult your human resources team and become acquainted with your institution’s interdepartmental referral procedures to issue referrals or, in potential emergency circumstances, what we call “red alert notifications” at PG. Many schools have programs similar to the PG Student Assistance Program, a free, confidential support and counseling service available 24 hours a day to students. Sharing a resource like this may be helpful to students with non-urgent concerns. I believe in SEL as a teaching practice and an unparalleled way to support students. However, SEL is not a substitute for professional counseling or risk management, and you should contact your appropriate school resource for guidance.

Teaching writing is an incredible opportunity to provide students with the skills they need for success. For me, the writing classroom is a special place where students can let go of preconceived notions of their abilities, develop new skills, and find their voice as writers. Incorporating self-awareness and SEL into my writing classroom has enriched my teaching practice. SEL has increased my students’ communication skills, provided opportunities for meaningful connections, and hopefully, inspired some amazing new writers.

References

Atwell, M., & Tucker, A. (2024, February 2). Portraits of a graduate. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). https://casel.org/portraits-of-a-graduate-2024/

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL]. (2025). Fundamentals of SEL. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/

Healthy Minds Network. (2021). Healthy minds study among colleges and universities, 2021. Healthy Minds Network, University of Michigan, University of California Los Angeles, Boston University, and Wayne State University. https://healthymindsnetwork.org/research/data-for-researchers

National Education Association. (2024). Resources on social emotional learning (SEL) and student and educator mental health. https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/resources-social-emotional-learning-sel-and-student-and-educator-mental-health

U.S. Department of Education. (2008). Connecting social and emotional learning with mental health (ED505361).https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED505361.pdf