The Gap of Social-Emotional Learning in Bilingual Contexts: A Literature Review

An interest for incorporating social-emotional learning (SEL) into classrooms across PreK-12 has been on the rise. However, there are concerns as to whether it is “anchored in the notion of justice-oriented citizenship, with issues of culture, identity, agency, belonging, and engagement” (Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning, 2020). The aim of this systematic literature review is to examine the landscape of SEL in the United States—particularly with a bilingual education lens. To understand the breadth and scope of the literature, a search for peer-reviewed articles using a variety of keywords, Boolean operators, and databases was conducted. Findings point to gaps in taking bilingual contexts into consideration for SEL purposes. The lead researcher's positionality and lived experience as a Chicana and future bilingual teacher parallels implications for this work.