What is social awareness and why is it important?
As we grow, social awareness skills and societal awareness help us to understand how one fits into and contributes to the community and the world, as well as how we get what we need from the world.
In the long term, social awareness skills will help us understand professionalism in the workplace, as well as make it easier to share information, communicate, and collaborate with others. From a personal point of view, social awareness is a fundamental part of creating friendships and relationships – helping us to lead happy and fulfilled lives.
Although social awareness is still developing during a child’s school years, it’s a vitally important skill to foster in children – not only because of the lifelong implications but also helps them and others get the most out of their education.
In school, youngsters with strong social awareness can easily adapt to changing environments, considering how others might feel and will engage in fewer disruptive behaviours.
An in-school example
Schools are a perfect place to watch the development of social awareness – and every passing moment will present examples of growing emotional intelligence and awareness in children.
Consider an instance where two children are sitting quietly, taking part in collaborative learning. A third child may want to join in, and so abruptly enters the interaction; using clumsy body language to make themselves the center of attention. This gives the other children no option but to engage.
If the two original children also have a fairly underdeveloped social ability, this kind of forced interaction might be accepted – but if their emotional skills are slightly more developed, the third child’s action is likely to be considered rude. Even if the children don’t address any negative feelings immediately, it’s likely to inform social decisions further down the line – and it’s almost certainly interrupted teaching and learning.