This book addresses what teachers and school leaders from a dozen countries see as the social and emotional strengths, interests and needs of adolescents in their schools and communities; how they innovate their programs and practices to respond to their students’ lives. The book also describes how educators themselves benefit from social and emotional supports to be responsive. Rather than assume that there are universal themes in adolescents’ lives, the book is intended to illuminate the local, contextual, and powerful insights of educators daily working with students. In many intentional respects, each serves as an action research study with an effort to better the process and outcomes of their students’ growth and learning as well as to enrich the classroom.

The chapters are organized by themes, ranging from challenges adolescents face in that particular locale to curriculum work that is project-based, transdisciplinary, and tied to the communities where the adolescents live.

‘The voices of adolescents, particularly with regard to their social and emotional development have been neglected in the literature. Thus, we know very little about their feelings and personal experiences as they progress through their schooling. A book such as this will be beneficial in terms of providing a contribution to this field, thereby increasing our understanding of the issues faced by adolescents across countries and cultures.’

Peggy L. Anderson, Ph.D., Metropolitan State University of Denver

‘The outstanding strength of this book is quite precisely its international scope: here is an anthology that lives up to the claims made by its title. Anyone interested in either adolescent development or Social and Emotional Learning in real world as opposed to abstract settings will appreciate the breadth of experience described.’

Mokhtar El Maouhal, Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Langues et la Communication