Serious Games to Develop Social and Emotional Learning in Students

This paper proposes that the development of social and emotional learning (SEL) can be supported through the use of serious games. The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has defined “five interrelated sets of cognitive, affective and behavioral competencies” that make up SEL. In Singapore, the Ministry of Education has appropriated these understandings to broadly refer to “skills to manage self, relate to others positively, and make responsible decisions”. While the use of games in educational settings is not new, the notion of using games to social emotional competencies stand against traditional views. In this light, this paper advocates a provocative position that games can contribute positively to the development of social emotional learning and offers, for discussion, examples from Singapore.