The Learning Craft

Many education conversations start with policy. Real change, however, often begins quietly inside classrooms.

Following the launch of the SEL Impact Lab at PACSEL, we have now moved from announcement to action. Baseline data collection has begun across participating schools, marking the start of a structured journey to understand what happens when Social and Emotional Learning is intentionally integrated into everyday classroom practice.

The SEL Impact Lab, led by The Learning Craft in partnership with SEED Care & Support Foundation, will engage 20 schools over the coming months. The study explores how structured SEL implementation influences student wellbeing, classroom climate, and academic learning outcomes.

Tomorrow marks another important milestone as teachers from the 10 schools implementing the program gather for training before classroom delivery begins.

These teachers will receive the full NDU® SEL toolkit, including teacher guides, daily instructional cards, student workbooks, classroom agreements, affirmation charts, and school-wide assembly resources designed to embed emotional learning routines into school life.

For us at The Learning Craft, this work is both practical and deeply important.

Conversations about improving education often focus on curriculum, examinations, and teaching technique. Yet anyone who spends time in classrooms knows learning is also shaped by the emotional environment in which it takes place.

A child who cannot manage frustration struggles to persist through difficult tasks.
A student who does not feel safe rarely participates fully.
A teacher who is overwhelmed finds it harder to sustain calm and supportive instruction.

Social and Emotional Learning addresses these realities directly.

Through the SEL Impact Lab, our goal is twofold: to support schools with practical tools that strengthen classroom climate and student wellbeing, and to generate credible evidence on how structured SEL implementation influences both student outcomes and teacher wellbeing.

The study includes baseline and endline assessments measuring academic performance, student wellbeing, SEL competencies, and classroom practice.

This work also contributes to a larger goal.

Globally, the evidence base on Social and Emotional Learning is growing, yet relatively few rigorous studies originate from African classrooms. Through this initiative, we aim to contribute to global knowledge by documenting what works and how SEL can be implemented sustainably within the realities of schools across the continent.

The lessons emerging from these classrooms will inform future teacher development, school leadership practice, and education system design across Africa.

We are deeply grateful to the schools that have stepped forward to participate. Their openness and commitment make this work possible.

The journey has begun, and we are excited to walk it alongside them.

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