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Anger management – a practical guide

set up programmes of work and strategies very similar to the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) curriculum that is now embedded in many schools in England and Wales. The authors of the book have extensive experience with social and emotional learning in schools in the US and have written, and contributed to, other work. Whilst stressing the importance of social and emotional learning, they acknowledge the conflict in classrooms with the pressure to achieve academic results and that social and emotional learning in many schools has become less of a priority, as often feels the case in schools in the UK. However, the authors set out the importance of social and emotional learning and how it can impact on academic results when it becomes part of the school ethos rather than just another stand alone PHSE type lesson. The writers include ‘vignettes’, examples of how teachers have implemented aspects of social and emotional learning in their classrooms, at the end of each section, and worksheets that can be photocopied to support staff with the implementation and monitoring of social and emotional learning. They also refer to various interventions to support the programme in school, which may not be available or relevant to the UK. It aims to be a complete guide to implementing social and emotional learning in a school or classroom from the beginning. The book seems to be written in a very informal, ‘chatty’ way which personally I found a little irritating. No doubt it is intended to make the reader feel the authors know them and are speaking directly to them. They clearly give the impression of understanding the pressures put on school managers and classroom practitioners. The vignettes and photocopiable pages make it a very practical resource. My initial thoughts were that the book might not be relevant to readers in the UK because of the SEAL curriculum; however, on reflection, with the increasing importance of SEAL in our schools it seems that it will have a value. SEAL was initially introduced as a scheme of work but schools are now judged by OFSTED on how it has affected the ethos of the school. There are aspects of this book that can support teachers with the further embedding of SEAL in their schools. Some of the areas covered in the book could also be considered as contributing to wave one quality first teaching. It would also be useful in settings such as children’s homes where the staff have a responsibility for the pastoral care of young people and need to continue to consider the social and emotional welfare of the children beyond school and formal education.