Poland joins the International Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES)

The Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) is another international educational study that will be conducted in Poland by the Educational Research Institute – National Research Institute.

The main objective of the SSES survey is to provide reliable and comparable data on the level of social and emotional skills of school-age children and the differentiation of these skills, for example, by gender. The study also aims to identify factors – school, home and social – that are particularly important for developing social and emotional skills, as well as to determine whether and how these skills relate to educational achievements, career plans and the well-being of students in a broad sense. The survey allows the level of social and emotional skills to be compared among countries or regions, as well as their changes over time in those countries or regions participating in more than one edition.

Two editions of the SSES have been conducted thus far: the first was a survey of pupils in 2019, and the second occurred in 2023. The third edition is about to begin, this time with the participation of Poland. The actual survey will be conducted in 2026, with the results expected to be announced in the second half of 2027. The survey is conducted among 15-year-old pupils and, in some countries, also among 10-year-olds. In addition to schoolchildren, the survey is also completed by school directors, teachers and, depending on the country, parents.

The social and emotional skills included in the 2023 survey were divided into five areas: task performance (including responsibility, self-control, perseverance, motivation to achieve), emotional regulation (stress resistance, optimism, emotional control), open-mindedness (curiosity, tolerance, creativity), interaction with others (sociability, assertiveness, energy understood as approaching everyday life with energy, enthusiasm and spontaneity), and cooperation (empathy, trust). The third edition just getting underway will be changed slightly and have greater emphasis placed on issues such as the safe use of artificial intelligence, media and digital technologies, career aspirations and readiness to work, as well as the role of schools and teachers in shaping social and emotional skills.

Pupils from more than a dozen countries have participated in previous editions. In some cases, the survey was conducted at the national level (e.g., in Bulgaria, Chile, Spain, Mexico), in others – at the regional or city level (e.g., Ottawa, Canada, Helsinki, Finland, Istanbul, Turkey). Due to the growing scale of social and emotional problems among children and youth, an increase in the number of participating countries is expected in the latest edition.

The SSES survey in Poland is conducted as part of the project “Preparing and implementing international educational studies on key competences”, co-financed by European funds under the European Funds for Social Development (FERS) Programme.

Selected results of the second edition of the SSES survey conducted in 2023 in 6 countries and 10 regions:

• Statements made by pupils indicate that 10-year-olds generally have higher social and emotional skills than 15-year-olds. The exceptions are empathy and tolerance, where the older age group scored higher. The biggest differences between 15-year-olds and 10-year-olds in favour of the younger group are: trust in others, optimism, and energy, which is understood as approaching everyday life with energy, enthusiasm, and spontaneity.
• The areas of the greatest differences between 15-year-olds and 10-year-olds (trust, optimism, energy) most closely relate to students’ satisfaction with life and overall well-being.
• There is a correlation between the level of social and emotional skills of students and their socio-economic status. Generally, students from families with a lower socio-economic status were found to have a lower level of all skills than students from families with a higher status. The greatest differences are in creativity, tolerance and assertiveness.
• The statements of 15-year-old students indicate that boys, compared to girls, have higher skills in the area of emotional regulation (especially stress resistance), more energy, trust in others and skills relating to establishing and maintaining contacts with others (sociability). In contrast, girls show greater tolerance, empathy, motivation to achieve and responsibility than boys. A comparison of the differences in the skills level of girls and boys between 10-year-old and 15-year-old pupils shows that, in adolescence, girls’ assessment of their own competence decreases in comparison with boys. The exception is tolerance, where the difference between girls and boys shifts in favour of girls.
• Pupils’ responses indicate that girls, compared to boys, have a lower level of satisfaction with life, relationships with others and their appearance, feel worse psychologically, and have less healthy habits (e.g., relating to sleep, nutrition, or physical activity). At the same time, they are more ambitious than boys, on average more likely to expect to obtain a higher education and to pursue specialist professions and managerial roles in the future.
• There is a correlation between healthy habits (such as getting enough sleep, healthy eating and exercising regularly) and higher social and emotional skills, particularly in terms of optimism, energy, motivation to achieve, perseverance and responsibility.
• Higher social and emotional skills are associated with higher educational achievements (as indicated by students’ grades). This relationship is most pronounced for task-related skills (motivation to achieve, perseverance, responsibility, self-control) and curiosity, both among girls and boys and among pupils with different socioeconomic statuses.
• A clear link was found between students’ social and emotional skills and their preferred career paths. Students who are, on average, more curious, creative and achievement-oriented are more likely to plan to work in the fields of ICT, science and engineering. On the other hand, students with a higher motivation to achieve, curiosity, perseverance, responsibility and empathy are more likely to plan a career in the health sector. Students aspiring to develop their own business are more likely to be more optimistic, creative and have better interpersonal skills.

Source: OECD (2024), Social and Emotional Skills for Better Lives: Findings from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills 2023, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/35ca7b7c-en.

More information about the survey, as well as reports from the 2nd edition of the survey published in 2024, can be found on the OECD website for the SSES survey.