With remote learning becoming the norm, social and emotional learning (SEL) has been a high priority — and a thorny challenge.

SEL refers to the soft skills students need to collaborate effectively with their peers: the ability to manage emotions, set positive goals, display empathy and make responsible decisions.

“While SEL issues have always been there, they are a top priority now,” says Sean Smith, a professor in the department of special education at the University of Kansas and an associate researcher at the university’s Center for Research on Learning. “Our students are more anxious; there are all these unknowns heightening the anxiety. It means we have to be more explicit and more thoughtful about these things.”

At the same time, remote learning makes it hard to forge the kind of personal connections that foster SEL. Only 7 percent of more than 1,400 educators surveyed in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s 2020 “Educator Confidence Report” said they were prepared to address the social and emotional needs of students during the COVID-19 disruption. Meanwhile, 94 percent agreed students will increasingly need more social and emotional support this school year.