Year 3 2015 Day 8–Social Emotional Learning
July 22, 2015: While the students are at homestays living and breathing an intercultural experience, the GYLI Coordinators and Faculty Participants are learning the theories behind the importance of the experience and sharpening our skills on Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Often discussed as “soft skills,” research suggests that socially literate teens and young adults produce more competent and capable adults. At GYLI, we understand that social and emotional literacy is a set of competencies that can be developed like anything else and that these are indeed part of the make-up of the “hard skills” that students need to succeed. Critical thinking, problem solving, and cross-cultural communication are all skills that are deliberately strengthened on our programs, and they are also the 21st Century Skills that colleges and employers search for in candidates.
EARTH University is a unique laboratory for examining these important competencies in an intercultural context. After meeting with the Student Affairs committee and learning about the strategic model they use on campus, faculty participants and coordinators shared a brainstorming session and an interactive dialogue. Learning from one another in this open format was extremely productive and it allowed us all to reflect on the important work being done in schools to empower students regardless of their nationality and the environment in which they find themselves.
Although the students are not necessarily examining their homestay experience with such a formal lens, it is these types of intercultural interactions that increase academic performance and student engagement in schools. GYLI gets feedback time and time again from students and families about the meaningful experience they had in the program and particularly at the homestays. Indeed, some students keep a relationship with their host families long into adulthood.
Armed with this new information, the faculty participants are now joining their students on the homestays and putting this information to good use. It is a great opportunity to watch their students shine in a context outside the classroom and empower them to develop as young adults. It’s been refreshing to visit the students at their homestays and see them engaging with Costa Rican families. They do not have computers, cable television, and cell phones but are having the time of their lives. Their interactions and experiences here in Costa Rica are the four GYLI pillars actualized. Below are some photos of students enjoying their time together in the “La Argentina” community:
Chocolate Song at Cheipitas This is a great Video link of some great singing!!! 