Pioneering social and emotional learning through literature

A LOVE of performing stories, studying fiction and a curiosity in emotion may appear to be disconnected elements, but they converge to tell Dr Derosha Moodley's story.

- Dr Derosha Moodley

Graduating with a PhD in education, focusing on language and media studies, Moodley’s research examined “Using role-play and narrative empathy to explore social emotional learning (SEL) outcomes in English literature lecture rooms”.

“I looked at the importance of getting both a social and emotional education through interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, which provide people with psychosocial tools to use at home, work and in life,” said Moodley.

Her research produced SEL outcomes through literature studies.

“When we study literary texts, we critically think about the character who finds themselves in a particular circumstance. If we role-play these scenarios in class and act out the story being studied, we can then reflect and empathise with what we have read and enacted — thereby learning social and emotional skills to use in real life through the literature lesson.

“As a result, my research produced a model for this type of literary study called the SELLit model (social and emotional learning via literature studies).”