Learning Outcomes and Social Emotional Competences: A Cross-Feeding Relationship to Promote Meaningful Learning Experiences

Abstract

Since the beginning of the employment of Learning Outcomes (LO), the educational field has been marked by significant changes. This approach, by being deliberately learner-oriented, influenced several knowledge fields to promote relevant shifts in different levels of educational programs offered by prominent institutions. Parallelly, the last decades have been characterized by an increasing concern with the development of Social Emotional Competences (SEC) in educational contexts. In this complex scenario, the main aim of this article is to reflect on the relevance of teachers’ social emotional competences in the construction of a healthy learning environment that equally embraces students with different social and cultural backgrounds. Thereby, the current work presents two specific aims: 1) to review the literature that discusses the connections between education and social emotional learning; and 2) to discuss the relevance of cultural identities and SEC for LO in an increasingly intercultural world. To achieve these objectives, the Qualitative Document Analysis’ methodology was employed to identify, examine and select the scientific sources to support the knowledge development which background the proposed discussions. Considering the intrinsic link between cultural identity and learning outcomes, this article defends the development of educators’ social emotional competences as a pathway to provide not only the best educational experiences for students with different cultural backgrounds but also to contribute to the construction of equitable societies by fostering the development of students’ intercultural competences.