The New Jersey State Bar Foundation (NJSBF) has published a new guide for educators to improve social and emotional learning for students in elementary grades through high school.

Social Emotional Character Development draws from the latest research, which shows schools that stress social and emotional learning help foster a sense of psychological safety, greater emotional intelligence, and enhanced self-esteem in students. The 260-page guide was developed and written by Elissa Zylbershlag, the NJSBF's director of conflict resolution and anti-bias initiatives; and Erin Lee, a co-facilitator for the NJSBF's unconscious bias training program; along with other contributors.

The NJSBF, the charitable and educational wing of the New Jersey State Bar Association, also developed a corresponding workshop for educators on how to incorporate Social Emotional Character Development in the classroom. The first of 10 workshops planned throughout the school year was held in the fall at the New Jersey Law Center.

The program comes at a time of growing concern that students increasingly lack the kind of social emotional and interpersonal skills they need to be successful and resilient in life, which some attribute to increased time spent online.

Social Emotional Character Development is a clear, practical guide that is organized around five competencies or life skills that research shows students need—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making—and includes lesson plans and materials educators can use to incorporate the concepts in the classroom.

The chapter on self-awareness, for example, includes lessons that help students learn to recognize their feelings and thoughts, and the impact their feelings have on their behavior. Another lesson teaches students about 24 character strengths that everyone has, a concept developed by noted psychologists, and instructs them on how they can identify their own dominant character strengths.

The guide helps educators create daily routines to help students  form habits around healthy social and ­emotional skills.

Gayle Colucci, culture and climate coordinator at Cranford School District, said it will be sending its counselors and social workers to the six-hour social emotional character development workshop.

"We're seeing more and more students who don't know how to deal with their own emotions. I think a big part of the problem is that young people don't have an awareness about themselves," she said.

While experts say there are numerous reasons why today's youth are struggling with social and emotional learning, their interactions online and with social media are a large part of the problem, she said.

Colucci, who has participated in several NJSBF's workshops, including the social emotional character development workshop pilot last year, said she particularly likes that the training provides practical strategies and activities educators can use in the classroom.