#441: Emotional Equity in Education: Rethinking Social-Emotional Learning Across Cultures

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is widely presented as a universal framework for student development. However, emotional learning is shaped by cultural values, social norms, and family practices. This conceptual paper introduces the notion of emotional equity, defined as the recognition of culturally diverse emotional norms in education. Drawing on literature from SEL, cultural psychology, and comparative education, the paper argues that educational equity must include emotional equity and that SEL should be understood as a culturally situated process.