Volume 10, Number 1
From Sel to Seeem: Pedagogy of with-Ness in Japanese Higher Education
Authors
Lynsey Mori , Ritsumeikan University, Japan
Abstract
This paper critically examines Social Emotional Learning in higher education through the Japanese context, proposing an expanded framework—a pedagogical orientation rather than a skills model—termed Social, Emotional, Ethical, Environmental Movement (SEEEM). Dominant SEL models emphasise individual regulation and competency, yet these approaches isolate inner states from the ethical and ecological relations within which emotions emerge and function. The paper argues for a shift from intra-personal skill training to a relational orientation that recognises learning as participation within social and environmental systems. Drawing on care ethics and process philosophy, the paper conceptualises education as navigation across interconnected human and more-than-human worlds. Human understanding is shaped by cognitive biases including confirmation, framing, authority, and availability that all influence what becomes visible or silenced in the classroom. In Japan, where harmony norms often privilege cohesion over expression, these biases can narrow emotional discourse and limit critical engagement. The paper therefore advocates a pedagogy that helps learners notice how their thinking is shaped by culture, habit, and bias. Classroom practices such as relational mapping, dialogue that holds friction, and a rhythm between wonder and precision, invite students to attend to self, others, and the Earth as connected territories of learning. SEEEM repositions SEL as a collective, humanities-based practice centered on care ethics and ecological awareness, not individual self-management. This approach speaks to current debates in higher education about learning, emotion, and technology.
Keywords
SEEEM; pedagogy of with-ness; cognitive bias; Japan; ecological citizenship; higher education