IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIO-EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN THE MODERN UNIVERSITY: GOING BEYOND AN ACADEMIC EDUCATION

Introduction. The article deals with current issues of preserving and maintaining the mental and physical health of education seekers in today's conditions, including through the implementation of socio-emotional learning in higher education institutions. Aim. To analyse national and international research on the potential of targeted socio-emotional learning for students to maintain and preserve their health; to identify the relationship between developed socio-emotional skills, students' mental and physical health and their academic performance; to identify socio-emotional learning practices that can be used in the educational process of higher education institutions. Materials and methods. The methods of systemic and structural-genetic analysis of the concept of socio-emotional development and learning of the personality, the method of generalisation of key empirical data were used. The data were collected through meta-analysis of empirical data from Ukrainian and foreign sources. Results. The developed emotional intelligence contributes comprehensively to a person. In 2011, a group of researchers conducted a meta-analysis that convincingly demonstrated that in education institutions, where social and emotional skills were developed comprehensively and intensively, there was a decrease in antisocial behaviour and bullying, an increase in prosocial behaviour and improved academic performance. Today, socio-emotional learning is a distinct branch of education that aims to develop emotional intelligence using appropriate educational tools and technologies. Today, the global experience of solving the outlined issue is quite diverse. In recent years, Ukrainian education has also demonstrated an understanding of the importance of developing education seeker’ socio-emotional skills to maintain their physical and mental health. Conclusions. The ability of Ukrainian higher education to implement SEL in the educational process is quite high, on the other hand, the resources of accredited educational programmes in terms of socio-emotional learning are quite limited; the basis of socio-emotional learning is an attention focus on the the students’ ability to take care of themselves and others in terms of social, emotional and mental health; SEL is a set of interrelated processes based on the principles of empathy for oneself and others, self-help, requiring developed physical literacy and attention; social-emotional learning practices can be introduced into the educational process of all higher education institutions in Ukraine right now, without waiting for corresponding changes in the legal framework.