Social and emotional skills
Latest evidence on teachability and impact on life outcomes
Education systems around the world are increasingly recognising that social and emotional
skills (SES) are essential for students and societies. This paper contributes to the
Innovative approaches to measuring social and emotional skills project, which aims
to complement self-report measures of SES with more direct assessments. It addresses
criticisms of the OECD framework for SES used by the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional
Skills and discusses the use of the Big Five model as an underlying structure for
organising SES. The paper then examines the teachability of SES through a comprehensive
literature review. In addition, it reviews the evidence for the relationship between
different SES and key life outcomes. The paper also seeks to reconcile divergent conceptual
understandings in the literature by providing a clear definition of SES and highlighting
discrepancies in skill definitions. The conclusions of the paper identify gaps in
current research, highlight teachable skills with notable predictive value SES relevant
for educators and policy makers, and support the development of direct SES assessments.
Published on November 15, 2023
In series:OECD Education Working Papersview more titles