Empathy Training and SEL, the Keys to Thriving
A Classroom that Works
A School that Works
A District that Works
Do you have:
Students, who are self-regulated, self-expressed and confident?
Students, who take ownership of interpersonal dynamics?
Students, who solve their own playground disputes?
Student mentors to coach peers in ways that work?
Human beings who are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them?
Educators, students and parents who repair a “mess” and move forward powerfully?
Students who are thriving academically?
Teachers, who have time and energy?
Having just returned from an exhilarating international conference, 2019 SEL Exchange, I am excited to share. “Defining Quality in the Context of Innovation” was the focus of the conference hosted by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the best place to get resources and information about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).
I heard dynamic plenary discussions featuring education leaders, policymakers, activists, practitioners and scholars focused on SEL’s role in the current social and political context.
There were many progressive sessions from which to choose. Sessions I experienced included:
Building Parent-Educator Partnerships for Social and Emotional Development
Integrating SEL into Leading and Coaching
The Promise of Arts Education and Social and Emotional Development
SEL Assessment Now and in the Future
Preparing Teachers to Support Social and Emotional Learning
CASEL breaks SEL into five competencies. Here is their informative graphic.
The case was made repeatedly that teachers and adult staff need to engage in social and emotional learning (SEL) before we can teach our students. E.g. If a student in our class is activated and becomes defiant, how do we react? We are human too. If we get activated at that moment, we can make the situation worse. We must have some training ourselves.
Something that was missing from the 2019 SEL Exchange was the actual training. There was lots of research and many voices on the topic but I found the actual teacher training to be sparse in this, CASEL’s first international conference. Teacher training must include things like:
separating the meaning from the event – we all can jump to conclusions
understanding that we see things through our own lens which defines our “reality”
learning how to make things right once we have let someone down
Social and emotional learning, like most learning, requires a growth mindset. We must be willing to engage in learning with an open mind. We must become aware of what activates us as adults and then acquire the skills to calm ourselves quickly so we can thoughtfully respond, rather than react. That requires some work. Most of us are giving our lives to the teaching profession so we can support students and make the world a better place. Yet we encounter challenges most of us were not prepared to deal with in teacher training. A great place to start is with a tailored workshop for your school staff such as SmArts for Well-Being. Here is what two teachers have said about the workshop.
We also need to listen to the other part of the team, the parents. Parents know their children and many are at a loss as to how to parent, how to teach their children perspective, how to teach them to make things right and strategies to help their children calm down. SmArts for Parents and Children is a great introductory, evening workshop to bring parent voice into your work at school, strengthening the team approach to learning.
For support in teaching these skills to your students, you might find these introductory workshops, called Way to Be helpful. Once you teach your students these skills and coach them as they integrate them, you will have a classroom that works, students who take ownership for interpersonal dynamics, students that solve their own playground disputes, student mentors that coach their peers and human beings who are allowed to make mistakes, repair the “mess” and move forward powerfully. You will also have leaps in academic progress over time.
SEL is becoming quite the buzz word in the educational field. With 1500 attendees at the 2019 SEL Exchange in Chicago and another 1000 still on the waitlist at the beginning of the conference, it is clear educators are clamouring for this training.
We specialize in the actual training of teachers, students and parents tailoring workshops to the needs of your school or school district. Contact us to have a conversation and to book your workshops now.