Social and emotional skills
Social cohesion
Healthy lifestyles
Well-being
Soft skills
Perseverance
Preface
“Education and skills are essential for sustainable economic and social growth. People need the right mix of skills to adapt to rapidly changing job markets and to achieve the highest possible social outcomes for themselves, their families and their communities. For this reason in 2012, we launched the OECD Skills Strategy. The Education and Social Progress project will contribute to this initiative by shedding light on the powers of ‘social and emotional skills’ for children to achieve success in life.”
The Education and Social Progress (ESP) project aims at better understanding the learning contexts that shape skills that are indispensable for individual well-being and societal progress. The project focuses on:
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The wider-benefits of skills such as better jobs, healthier lifestyles, active citizenship, safer society and improved life-satisfaction.•
The power of social and emotional skills suchas perseverance, resilience and agreeableness in driving children’s success in life; and
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The role family, school and community learning contexts play in skill formation.The long-term objective of this project is to develop an evidence-base which could be used to formulate a set of recommendations for policy-makers, school administrators, practitioners and parents. This activity is part of the OECD’s Skills Strategy aimed at measuring, developing and improving skills for individuals and the society.
Few would doubt the major role skills play in raising individual’s educational and labour market outcomes. However, little is known about the power of skills in promoting a wide array of social outcomes such as healthy behaviours, civic participation, safe community, environmental awareness and even happiness.
The ESP project investigates how skills empower individuals to thrive in the modern world. Those empowered can better adapt in a dynamic and skill-driven labour market. They are more capable of preventing physical and mental illness by following healthy lifestyles and interpersonal relationships. They are more likely to weather the storms of life such as victimisation, hospitalisation and family disintegration through forward-looking, coping strategies. Such individuals have the capacity to drive social cohesion and the well-being of nations.
How can we better prepare individuals to face tomorrow’s world; a world that can be prosperous, yet, unpredictable, uncertain and challenging?
Education can prepare individuals by improving their cognitive skills which are reflected in, for example, literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills. Moreover, education can enhance social and emotional skills, such as perseverance, diligence and self-esteem. Recent evidence suggests that social and emotional skills can be as powerful as cognitive skills in promoting individuals’ success while remaining malleable beyond childhood.
The Education and Social Progress (ESP) project aims at better understanding the learning contexts that shape the multitude of cognitive, social and emotional skills that are indispensable for individual well-being and societal progress.
The power of social and emotional skills
High
Wider benefits of skills
Positiveeconomic and social outcomes (probability)
Skill level
Low
Cognitive skills
Social and emotional skills
There is a considerable amount of evidence that sheds light on ways to enhance individual’s level of literacy and academic skills. They tend to suggest, for instance, the importance of improving the quality of teachers, the classroom climate and the content of curricular activities. But we know so little about ways to improve social and emotional skills.
There are some studies suggesting that early interventions are critical and that home environment plays an important role. There are also studies that suggest the importance of peer interactions within and outside of schools. It is imperative to better exploit existing information on the relationship between learning contexts and social and emotional skills
The power of learning in addressing diverse life challenges and promoting social progress is good news for stakeholders in education. Yet this conjecture is largely based on an emerging, albeit limited, evidence-base from a few OECD countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.
Policy-makers, educators and parents clearly need more and better information that covers wider socio-economic, cultural, ethnic and linguistic contexts before engaging in comprehensive actions to promote individual empowerment. ESP will shed light on the role different stakeholders can play in nurturing skills. For instance, by exploring the institutional settings that enhance children’s cognitive and socio-emotional potentials; or the appropriate teaching or parental practises needed to nurture skill development. Educational stakeholders also need to start understanding the types and nature of cognitive, social and emotional skills that need to be nurtured, and how that might be done. Hence, the project plans to focus on diverse sets of skills to understand the mechanisms of their development and their benefits.
Skills that matter are multi-dimensional and include cognitive, social and emotional facets. The ESP project adopts the following definitions of skills and sheds particular light on three main dimensions.
What are cognitive, social and emotional skills?
Concept Definition Dimensions¹
Examples of measures
Cognitive tests Literacy tests IQ tests Personality inventory GRIT²
Self-control
Cognitive Ability
Capacity to acquire knowledge as well as to interpret, reflect and extrapolate it, based on the knowledge acquired.
1. Basic cognition 2. Acquiring knowledge
3. Extrapolating knowledge
●
●
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○ ○ ○Social and Emotional Ability
Relatively enduring patterns of thoughts and feelings that reflect the tendency to respond in certain ways and under certain contexts.
1. Achieving goals 2. Working with others
3. Managing emotions ○ ○ ○
●
●
●
Note:
●Measures typically designed to capture the corresponding concept
○ Measures which may also reflect the corresponding concept
The ESP project’s framework is designed to highlight:
•
The role skills play in shaping individuals’ social and economic outcomes; and•
The role learning contexts play in shaping skill formation.The ESP project addresses diverse leaning contexts, in homes, schools, and in communities. It also looks into a wide spectrum of outcomes, particularly social outcomes including health, civic engagement, safety, well-being, and environment, in addition to educational and labour market outcomes.
ESP project framework
Skills
- Cognitive skills - Social and Emotional skills
Contexts
-School -Family -Community
Outcomes
- Income/poverty - Health
Activities of the Phase 1 are organised around two components.
1. Conceptual framework development and literature review
Conceptual papers are prepared to define skills, model the determinants and consequences of skills, and synthesise available evidence.
2. Analyses of longitudinal data on context, skills and outcomes
Building on evidence from Phase 1, a survey on skill dynamics will be launched in 2016, with the aim to identify the process of skill formation and its socioeconomic outcomes. This will be the OECD’s first attempts to measure and assess a range of social and emotional skills across children from different grades.
Activities of the Phase 2 are organised around two stages.
1. Development of the survey design and measurement instruments
Pilot surveys are carried out to ensure that the survey design and measurement instruments are appropriately adjusted to assess contexts, skills and outcomes over time.
2. Main data collection
Project components
Phase 2:
2013 onwards
Project components
Phase 2:
2013-Building on evidence from Phase 1, a survey on skill dynamics will be launched in 2015/16, with the aim
to identify the process of skill formation and its socioeconomic outcomes. This will be the OECD’s first
attempts to measure and assess a range of social and emotional skills across children from different
grades.
Activities of the Phase 2 are organised around two stages.
Pilot surveys are carried out to ensure that the survey design and measurement instruments are
appropriately adjusted to assess contexts, skills and outcomes over time.
ESP longitudinal survey of skill dynamics (2016 onwards)
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Area coverage Major cities or states in OECD member and non-member countries-
Survey delivery Schools (students and teachers) and home (parents)-
Target cohorts Children in Grades 1 and 10 (approximately ages 6 and 15) in 2016-
Measures Learning context, cognitive, social and emotional skills and outcomesESP
Timeline
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Conceptual framework development and literature reviews
International
conference on
Education and
Social progress
Development of the survey design and measurement instruments
High level Policy Forum on
"Skills for Social Progress" Launch the ESP longitudinal survey of skill dynamics
Publication
The OECD provides a setting where governments compare policy experience, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and co-ordinate domestic and inter- national policies. It brings together countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the wor to:
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Support sustainable economic growth.•
Boost employment.•
Raise living standards.•
Maintain financial stability.•
Assist member and non-member countries’ economic development.•
Contribute to growth in world trade.Education and skills are a major driving forces for growth and development. The OECD Directorate for Education and Skills focuses on current key challenges facing education systems, including how to improve the quality of teachers, teaching and learning, in order to provide the knowledge and skills needed in today’s world.
OECD and the
Directorate for Education and Skills
StockLib
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Being skilled has always been an advantage – if not a necessity – for individuals. The modern labour market requires being able to manage uncertainty and change. People need both occupation-specific and general skills, together with the willingness, ability, and opportunities to retrain throughout their adult lives. These skills can foster improvement in living and learning outcomes.
In 2012 the OECD launched a Skills Strategy, since having a skilled workforce is essential for countries competing in an advanced economy. Being skilled enables workers to be more productive, and greater productivity is the basis of sustainable growth. The OECD Skills Strategy helps governments review the design and implementation of national skills policies in light of other countries’ experiences.
OECD Skills Strategy
This project Education and Social Progress is an activity of the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI).
CERI does extensive research work which covers learning at all ages, from birth to old age. It goes beyond the formal education system. While having a particular concern with emerging trends and issues, CERI reflects on the futures of schools and universities.
