Fostering Social and Emotional Skills for Well‐Being and Social Progress

Children need a balanced set of cognitive, social and emotional capabilities to adapt to today's demanding, changing and unpredictable world. OECD countries and partner economies recognise the importance on the holistic development of individuals. However, there are big gaps between stakeholders' knowledge, expectations and practices on how to foster such skills. This paper presents evidence on the importance of social and emotional skills; on how policy makers and schools are currently enhancing and monitoring such skills; and, on the existing gaps between knowledge, expectations and practices to mobilise these skills. The paper concludes by pointing ways in which education stakeholders can do more to better develop and mobilise the skills that drive individual's well‐being and social progress. The paper draws on findings and frameworks that are being published in a full OECD report entitled ‘ S kills for S ocial P rogress: the P ower of S ocial and E motional S kills’ in the first half of 2015.