Around the world the pandemic has negatively impacted education for the last eleven months, and yet amidst the havoc wreaked, educators have found pockets of positivity. These silver-lining moments have helped educators remain committed, focused, and inspired to tackle the many challenges facing them and have resulted in students learning both an academic and social-emotional curriculum. 

One such pocket of positivity has been the increased accessibility to professional learning. Professional development offerings have adjusted to the online format and embraced the use of technology to address the principles of andragogy, leading to active and interactive learning that meets the needs of the adult learners. Participants have been able to select professional development in time zones that best meet their schedule demands, attend multi-day workshops that would not normally be an option due to distance and being away from home, and had access to learn from presenters that would typically be out of price range – all because of virtual attendance. 

While educators have learned so much on their own or through swapping information in professional learning communities, setting aside time to deepen knowledge through carefully crafted and intentionally designed professional development rejuvenates educators, forcing them from the role of educator into the inspired educated. When educators return to their schools or classrooms, they are motivated and focused, bringing their best selves to the students they work with. This results in positive outcomes such as improved academics and increased social emotional skills. 

This week, our team had an opportunity to learn from other leading social emotional learning educators and presenters at the SEL4MA virtual conference. The sessions were informative, affirming, and thought-provoking. The organization of the conference was easy to follow and, therefore, maximized the content. 

While our takeaways were many, here are three from our day of learning that we feel everyone around the world should hear to expand their knowledge and reach. 

Kori Hamilton Biagas and Kamilah Drummond discussed the importance of social justice being embedded into social emotional learning, not a stand alone lesson. The conversation was rich and sparked a lot of self-reflection in how we can best support our students of color to provide them opportunities and space to be their authentic selves, see them as allies and problem-solvers, and elevate their voices to ensure that social justice is fought for every minute of every day. 

In Kat Callard’s session on Using Children’s Literature to Connect Equity and SEL, she used Rachel Cargle’s formula for maximizing students’ abilities to be change agents for equity: knowledge + empathy + action. As Cargle says, “It’s these three things you must bring together in order to truly show up in solidarity.” Through demonstrating how to use children’s literature for each of these aspects and providing resources such as book lists, this session engaged the mind in considering ways to support students in creating a better future for all through the use of books. 

The final piece we’ll leave you with is taken from the midday conversation between Jim Vetter, Executive Director of SEL4MA, and Sheldon Berman, former superintendent of 25 years and current head of SEL for AASA. During this riveting discussion about factors that must be considered when returning to the physical communities of learning next fall, the idea around trauma was brought up again and again. Mr. Berman mentioned that we as educators must keep in mind that every person, student or educator, has experienced trauma during this pandemic to various extents, and that social emotional learning will be a critical factor in helping to establish new norms, creating a safe learning environment, and supporting all members of the learning community so everyone is able to thrive. When members of the learning community experience set-backs due to being triggered in the weeks and months of return, we can rely on best social emotional learning practices and principles to help create engaging and cheerful learning environments, while supporting individuals that are experiencing challenges. 

While the temptation to check items off our to-do list, multi-task, or skip sessions altogether was present and high, we committed to attending sessions and being an active participant, which was well worth the effort. Throughout the day, ideas were initiated and had time to percolate, connections were made, and our knowledge expanded in ways we would have missed had we not focused on the one task at hand. The true benefit, however, was at the end of the day feeling inspired and rejuvenated towards the work we do and the support we offer to schools and districts around the world. 

With renewed energy and focus, we’re ready to support you in exceeding your goals for academic and social emotional learning for your school community! Contact us to discuss how we can work together. We also encourage you to follow your local SEL4 chapter to join them in advocating for social emotional learning in schools across the country!