By Linda Block-Love, Director, Learning Initiatives in Leadership Development

As part of Jewish Learning Venture’s Leadership Development Seminar (LDS) series, 14 education directors met last month with Dr. Jeffrey Kress, a nationally recognized expert in Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), to discuss the role SEL has in our religious schools. It was a timely conversation: Take a look at almost any website that focuses on important issues in education and you’re likely to see something about SEL. It’s not because it’s the “flavor of the month;” this topic is in the spotlight because research and experience have found that SEL not only makes it easier for a student to learn other content, but it can have a significant and life-long positive effect on all aspects of a person’s life.

SEL deals with how individuals understand and manage their emotions, make decisions about their actions, build relationships, and interact with others. In other words, it’s about the way we relate to the world within and around us. In Jewish education we have our own way of capt