Exploring social emotional learning competencies in middle school theatre education

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a method of education in which students are taught to grow in multifaceted ways. Students learn and grow as more than just students in their respective subjects, they grow in emotional intelligence, empathy, and interpersonal skills as well. SEL is not always easy to incorporate into teaching practices, but it tends to lend itself well to a theatre education setting. In a middle school specific setting, SEL and theatre-based activities yield positive results in student competencies both in and out of the classroom. In this research, through comparative analysis and reflective inquiry, I aim to answer questions of why exactly theatre and SEL-based practices are so important to the specific middle grades age group, if SEL is inherently a part of theatre, and based on the findings from these questions, how can I best implement these practices in my future teaching endeavors. In order to answer these questions, I delved into research on SEL and theatre-based practices for middle school learners and performed a comparative analysis between the SEL competency descriptors and Tennessee state standards for 6th-8th grade theatre using a word cloud generator tool. I also reviewed specific activities I use in my lesson planning and how those activities may align with SEL.