This Learning Lab collection complements the National Portrait Gallery's student program, Portraiture and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

The Portraiture and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) student program approaches portraiture with a social-emotional lens. Students will consider how reading portraiture can lend itself to exploring social-emotional qualities such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.  This collection strives to provide opportunities to explore emotions and values in the context of portraiture.

Curriculum Connections: This lesson plan is suitable for students in grades 4-12 in multidisciplinary classes.

Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be better able to:

• Identify key components of a portrait and discuss what we can learn about the sitter through these components.

• Investigate how these components reveal the viewpoints (of artist, sitter, and viewer) represented through the depiction of the sitters.

• Identify social emotional qualities and analyze the connections that can be made to portraiture.

• Utilize the museum’s collection and portraiture as a springboard to explore the range of social emotional qualities that include self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

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