Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain: Strategies to Help Your Students Thrive

by Marilee Sprenger

ASCD Bestseller! Today's teachers face a daunting how to ensure a positive school experience for their students, many of whom carry the burden of adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, poverty, divorce, abandonment, and numerous other serious social issues. Spurred by her personal experience and extensive exploration of brain-based learning, author Marilee Sprenger explains how brain science—what we know about how the brain works—can be applied to social-emotional learning. Specifically, she addresses how to

- Build strong, caring relationships with students to give them a sense of belonging.
- Teach and model empathy, so students feel understood and can better understand others.
- Awaken students' self-awareness, including the ability to name their own emotions, have accurate self-perceptions, and display self-confidence and self-efficacy.
- Help students manage their behavior through impulse control, stress management, and other positive skills.
- Improve students' social awareness and interaction with others.
- Teach students how to handle relationships, including with people whose backgrounds differ from their own.
- Guide students in making responsible decisions. Offering clear, easy-to-understand explanations of brain activity and dozens of specific strategies for all grade levels, Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain is an essential guide to creating supportive classroom environments and improving outcomes for all our students.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Professional Development

219 pages, Paperback

Published September 22, 2020

About the author

Marilee is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the Learning and the Brain Society, and the Cognitive Neuroscience Society. She is an adjunct professor at Aurora University, teaching graduate courses on brain based teaching, learning and memory, and differentiation.

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really helped validate my thinking that SEL cannot be a curriculum or a "program" that we teach in 20-30 minutes and then check SEL off of our list. SEL is a classroom culture of inclusive, curious, joyful learning that is embedded in every classroom practice. Teaching the whole-child leads to better student outcomes both academically and emotionally.

The book also included a variety of actionable suggestions. Really enjoyed this book.

[Cat Kapfhammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for grad school and unlike others I have read in the past, I found this to be a very easy read. It was also very informative about SEL and I felt like I could actually implement a lot of the different ideas and strategies into my middle school classroom.

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Includes some good strategies; mostly things I already do or know about. However, the science behind children's behavior and trauma is good evidence for the importance of connecting with kids. Reminded me of all the work I still have ahead of me with 200 kids and not enough time to be effective.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The brain-based approach to SEL is fascinating and ties in well with growth mindset instruction, cooperative learning, creation of class norms, and many more tools and strategies I have been using for years. Most of the specific strategies suggested in this book can be fairly easily adapted to the online environment, which is a huge plus.

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for school

Very basic overview of SEL
-not really sure if I learned anything new or took something away

[Einar Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strongly recommend Social Emotional Learning and the Brain by Marilee Sprenger. I read it today for work. It’s written for teachers in traditional classrooms and it applies to all of my teaching contexts through community risk reduction. Here’s the gist from the author: “In the introduction, I shared that according to psychiatrist Bruce Perry, people, not programs, change people. You and I – we are those people.” As we strive to use technology for our virtual teaching, it’s critical to remember that people — our relationships with audiences — are far more important than the material or cyber tools we use. All learning is emotional, a claim Sprenger backs with vast evidence. I’ve been on board and this book has given me tools to improve my practice.

Social emotional learning has five components, according to the author as well as the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Sprenger explains each of these five components — self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making — in terms of neuroscience and strategies for implementation in classrooms. She’s an engaging writer, explaining complicated ideas for laypeople, reviewing terms and ideas from previous chapters, and using case studies. She also integrates recent research from multiple fields and addresses COVID-19. It was a tremendous journey of learning.

As risk reduction specialists and life safety educators, we can bring social emotional learning into our presentations and our presence in classrooms with students. We can be provide positive advantageous childhood experiences to counteract adverse ones... by learning more about social emotional learning and adjusting our teaching to model it, we’re capable of reducing risk more effectively.

I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Jinthe Anker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain felt like getting a much-needed pep talk with science behind it. Marilee Sprenger manages to blend personal passion with practical strategies in a way that’s both eye-opening and deeply humane. You can really feel her experience in the classroom—and her empathy for students who carry more than just backpacks into school every day.

What stood out most to me was how she connects brain-based learning with everyday teaching realities. This book doesn’t just say “care about your students,” it shows you how to do it in meaningful, sustainable ways. From understanding the stress response to building trust and emotional safety in the classroom, it’s all backed by both neuroscience and heart.

As someone who works with young learners, I also found myself thinking about how SEL intersects with writing. Giving students a chance to process and reflect through personal stories or structured assignments can be incredibly healing. Sometimes even something as simple as working on a meaningful essay https://www.eduhelper.com/essay-samples around different topics can open doors for emotional expression and connection. Especially if you're working with kids who don’t always have the words yet, but still need to be heard.

This book is a gift—not just for educators, but for anyone who believes that emotional well-being is the foundation of real learning.

[Mark Blanchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book analyzes and explains the brain processes that impact and are impacted by our behaviors, specifically in the school context. Armed with this understanding, the reader is offered a number of strategies for supporting and nurturing the social emotional learning of the students.

The primary audience for this book would be teachers of elementary to middle school. Though the author stretches (my word) some of the suggestions to high school application, it can be a bit of a slog for the secondary teacher through these portions of the book. The brain stuff is good for teachers of all student ages.

[Audrey McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Quick read with lots of practical strategies for educators, school social workers, interventionists, & principals. 👌

If you’re a teacher, this is a must read!

“SEL improves academic achievement by an average of 11 percent, increases appropriate social behavior, improves students’ attitudes, and reduces depression and stress.” -page 3

[Relena_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of a teacher book club on SEL. The boon we finished prior to it, by Dr. Marc Brackett was *so* good that I expected not to find this one necessary, but it filled in some blank spots and presented information in very accessible and immediately useful ways. I'm not sure if it would work without some prior interest in the area, but I'm adding it to our school's collection.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had some pretty good ways to build better relationships with students. I do agree that there is a direct correlation between student/teacher connections and academic performance. If kids feel welcome and loved, they learn better. If teachers feel engaged with their students, they teach better.
Relationships first, content second has been my educational philosophy my entire career so far!!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had good descriptions about the connections between student behaviors, the brain, and strategies that can be used to promote successful and healthy student development. The text was easy to read and understand, and many practical research based suggestions were made in each chapter.

[Stephanie Sattler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all educators. Easy to read, backed by lots of research, gives educators ideas at their fingertips of how to weave Social and Emotional Learning into their classrooms. Each chapter covers a different CASEL competency.

[Brynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read about the brain’s development and different things we can do in classrooms to support social emotional learning; the author’s main argument was that these skills and lessons can be incorporated into every part of our curriculum and content.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the surface there are great suggestions and ideas in this book. Unfortunately as one digs deeper there are definitely some problems. Also, the book is definitely better suited for practicing teachers instead of pre-service teachers.

[Colleen Crayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, light read that is directly applicable to your classroom.

[Kathy Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical strategies, unstated ties to formative instructional practices, easy to understand connections to the workings of the brain - SEL is a way of being

[Larinda Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of SEL

[Ann-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a class this summer and loved how practical the information was. In addition to explaining The concept and the neuroscience— it gave some really practical (use it tomorrow) ideas.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read with lots of great information and jumping off points for schools looking to incorporate more intentional SEL. I like how the chapters were divided.

[Laine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A helpful resource for educators with good strategies for implementation in the classroom across age groups. A little bit boring, hence the two stars

[Nicole Gores · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! A must read for anyone working in education.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally got to reading this title! Informative and full of practical applications.