Social Competencies in Maturing Minds

Social competence refers to the ability of an individual to interact effectively and appropriately with others in a range of social settings. It involves utilising a wide range of skills including effective communication, empathy for others, emotional understanding of oneself and others, and the ability to read social settings while understanding social cues and the body language of others. Basically, it is about having adequate social skills needed to develop and maintain positive relationships, manage conflict, and to participate effectively in social settings. School provides a great training ground to develop these skills in a safe and supportive environment. Nevertheless, this is a challenge for students, especially in the Middle Years, as they are maturing physically at a much faster rate than they are from a cognitive perspective.

The competencies can be categorised into five core groups:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Responsible decision making
• Social awareness
• Relationship skills

These core competencies are critical in creating a holistic learning experience for students. They form the foundation upon which students develop well-rounded, empathetic, and adaptive approaches to life and learning. All students benefit from the development of these competencies as they mature through adolescence and into the workforce later in life.

• Self-awareness
  Recognising one’s own emotions, strengths, and limitations in and outside of the classroom is the foundation of self-awareness. Within school life, this awareness shapes a student’s understanding of how emotions impact their own thinking and how they impact others, nurturing self-confidence, and self-esteem.  
  
  
• Self-management
  This is an art form. Emotional regulation is tough, especially for younger students. Society has its share of adults who still struggle with this. Still, it is important we support students to develop this through reflective and restorative practices here at the College so that they can develop this core competency over time. Demonstrating patience is hard, and students are encouraged to voice their concerns when feeling confused and overwhelmed.
  
  
• Responsible decision making
  With support, students learn to shift their thinking from a naturally ego-centric perspective to one that is more community minded. They learn that every choice they make can resonate beyond their own personal space. Between the ages of 10 and 14, students need help to reflect in this way. With support from our staff, they explore how their decision-making impacts others and they evolve into more equitable and compassionate thinkers.
  
  
• Social awareness
  Students are encouraged to develop an outward curiosity, to immerse themselves in experiences where social interaction is ingrained. It’s through this experience, that the students being to develop the skills required to read social cues and the body language of others. This is an area where the over-use of technology has resulted in a decline in proficiency among students. Face-to-face communication and interaction are important experiences to develop greater social awareness.
  
  To assist students, we offer a wide range of activities during social time so that students can not only have choice and options to find “their people” but also to interact with a wide range of students that they otherwise may not have. From the wellbeing wagon with its chess sets, decks of cards, board games, music, and trivia games, to 9 Square in the Air, handball courts, the sporting equipment, and the huge expanse of the oval help to create opportunities for students to explore. We have also purchased an outdoor table tennis kit and new soccer goals that will be set up once they arrive.
  
  
• Relationship skills
  Through Praxis, House Connect, Year Level Connect and a number of curriculum subjects, students are provided with a wide range of opportunities to learn about and to develop relationship skills that will serve them well into adulthood. By engaging in genuine conversations, raising concerns, and respectfully resolving conflict strengthens a student’s interpersonal skills.

Now, you do not have to look too hard to find articles highlighting the impact of technology dependence and our youth. For example, Psychreg – a company that focuses on distributing resources on psychology, health, and wellness – shared one such article titled The Impact of Constant Tech Use on Social Skill and Mental Wellbeing. In the article, they highlight the growing evidence that technology can hinder the development of social competencies in students. As society continues to reduce the volume of face-to-face interactions, in-person communication skills and the development of a range of social competencies are also negatively impacted.

[Article: The Impact of Constant Tech Use on Social Skills and Mental Well-Being | Psychreg]

Importantly, the author David Radar (a psychologist from University of Hertfordshire), highlights that not all technology use is detrimental. Educational tools, moderated and managed social media platforms and usage, and collaborative digital projects can all support social learning when balanced with sufficient offline experiences.  

Like most things in life, it is all about finding the right balance and making some choices along the way. Today, I spoke to the studnets at assmbly about choices and the inevitable flow on effect of the decisions we make. The key message was, that the wonderful thing about the lives we live and the country we live in is the enormous amount of choice we get. But, with this choice, comes the concept of choosing your hard.

In every scenario, there is a degree of difficulty, but we can choose the type of hard we want. For instance, excuses may make today easier but they inevitably make tomorrow much harder. Discipline and committment make today a little harder, but they make tomorrow much easier.

For more on the concept of Choosing your hard feel free to check out this article: https://christinagiordano.com/what-it-means-to-choose-your-hard/

So, it is important for students to think deeply and then choose which type of hard they want in their life. As always, we will be there to support them every step of the way. 

School Camps 

In the last newsletter, I wrote about the value of school camps. From the off-site learning experiences to the personal growth opportunities. Well, this week our Year 6 students had bags packed and they departed Dalby early Sunday morning to begin their outback adventure. A 2,500km round trip, these young students go on a once in a lifetime adventure with their peers and teachers visiting Tambo, Blackall, Barcaldine, Longreach, Winton, and Charleville in an activity packed camp that also helps foster enormous growth in their independence.

While it all sounds like fun and games, this camp is also the longest camp we offer as a College, and they certainly also travel the greatest distance as well. This provides countless opportunities for problem solving, relationship building, conflict resolution, peer supported learning and growth in self-regulation. Then there are all the curriculum activities for Science, HASS, English etc … that fill out the itinerary as well.

Well done students for tackling this head on. I can’t wait to hear the stories. Below are some of the shared photos