Going Back to Go Forward

Using Mythology to Ground Social and Emotional Learning by Andrew Paull
Edutopia, December 1, 2025

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Do students know what they are feeling, and what to do with their feelings? In a continuously changing world, supporting students’ social and emotional development is urgent. This article offers a vehicle for channeling students’ emotions and building their resilience: Greek mythology. With increasing book bans in schools, myths may provide a permissible form of literature to support social and emotional learning. Greek mythology is brimming with diverse characters who face a number of challenges, celestial and earthly. Myths provide two benefits: they are engaging for students, and their characters can be models from which students may draw. The author offers three accessible and adaptable ways to incorporate Greek myths into classroom practice: Mythological Minute Check-Ins ask students to identify their emotions with those embodied by a mythological character. My Academic Hero’s Journey helps students set goals for themselves that mirror the trajectory of a mythological character. Last, The Wheel of Emotions invites students to name what emotion a mythological character might be experiencing when the text does not explicitly reveal it. Audiences reflecting on their own social and emotional learning toolkits may contemplate adding these methods to their practice.