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I do not know enough.  I wish that as a school secretary I was afforded the opportunity to receive some training or education in this area.  I work with children on a daily basis - who because I know them for their entire time at my school - trust me.  I respond as a mom, grandma, what I've heard my principals say, etc.  I always wonder if my response is appropriate and what is needed.     Lisa

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I do not know enough.  I wish that as a school secretary I was afforded the opportunity to receive some training or education in this area.  I work with children on a daily basis - who because I know them for their entire time at my school - trust me.  I respond as a mom, grandma, what I've heard my principals say, etc.  I always wonder if my response is appropriate and what is needed.     Lisa

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SEL has become a school focus in my school. We are to incorporate SEL in our daily lessons. As a math teacher, I pushed back against it. But I did it and now I will always use it with my students. It has helped give them a space to discuss key concepts as well as help us build community. When students are having challenges, they know our class is a brave space for working through or sharing to help navigate the difficult moments. 

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SEL has become a school focus in my school. We are to incorporate SEL in our daily lessons. As a math teacher, I pushed back against it. But I did it and now I will always use it with my students. It has helped give them a space to discuss key concepts as well as help us build community. When students are having challenges, they know our class is a brave space for working through or sharing to help navigate the difficult moments. 

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People talk about the importance of mental health, but it is still not prioritized enough.

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school climate and the wellness of the school community (staff, faculty, students, and families) have not been an reported indicators on accountability systems. But it should be.  Our sel values are not visible or valued in public schools.  Angela

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school climate and the wellness of the school community (staff, faculty, students, and families) have not been an reported indicators on accountability systems. But it should be.  Our sel values are not visible or valued in public schools.  Angela

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look at retention of teachers, especially BIPOC teachers and new teachers, as an indicator of system wellness

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look at retention of teachers, especially BIPOC teachers and new teachers, as an indicator of system wellness

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NEA designated up to $5 million with up to $100K for every state affiliate to hire a state ARP liaison to guide & drive this work.

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Help organize restorative circles and other SEL/mental health type sessions for school districts/schools/local associations, etc. Emphasize the need for these types of sessions to keep our educators in the profession.

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organize around the pedagogy of SEL, perhaps in the form of pd that is member driven/classroom tested, to provide an counter to the for profit published curriculum that is now on the market.  Define the field from the inside.

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organize around the pedagogy of SEL, perhaps in the form of pd that is member driven/classroom tested, to provide an counter to the for profit published curriculum that is now on the market.  Define the field from the inside.

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CTA has started to develop a strand of SEL as part of the Human Rights Cadre offerings.  It is in its pilot year, but already we are getting requests for this support.  It is particularly powerful.

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CTA has started to develop a strand of SEL as part of the Human Rights Cadre offerings.  It is in its pilot year, but already we are getting requests for this support.  It is particularly powerful.

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That grant has allowed us to do all sorts of focus groups in Utah!

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SEL must be Transformational (see Dr. Dena Simmons, #ReclaimSEL w Center for Just Schools) and connected to our sociopolitical context. We cannot focus on students responding politely to lived injustices.

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Reclaim SEL | Communities for Just Schools Fund (cjsfund.org)

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Reclaim Social-Emotional Learning:

Centering Organizing Praxis for Holistica lly Safe Schools

Artist: Naima Whitted - 9th Grade

On October 23, 2020, the Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) will release our latest radical report ("radport"), "Reclaim Social-Emotional Learning: Organizing Praxis for Holistically Safe Schools."

In a moment when there is a national spotlight on what safe and supportive schools look and feel like, Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) convened our national network of partners (youth, parent, and teacher-led organizing groups) to press back on harmful narratives about safety -- and to instead place conversations about safety into the more holistic, appropriate container of culturally-affirming social-emotional learning (SEL). Through the year-long Community of Practice, we collected survey data from our partners about their work related to safety and SEL; conducted site visits to places like Long Beach, California, and Juneau, Alaska; hosted in-person and virtual learning exchanges, facilitated a Twitter chat, and held an #SELWebinarSeries. These gatherings centered the critical perspectives of organizers and gleaned important insights about what truly makes schools safe and ensures students feel a sense of belonging. The findings from this year-long exploration of culturally-affirming SEL are detailed in this radport.

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Across the country, school districts, researchers, and policymakers are adopting social-emotional learning as a framework to define and measure the set of skills students need to be successful in school and life. However, these SEL conversations, practices, and curricula are too often based on white, heteropatriarchal, and ableist norms and values, which further enacts emotional and psychological violence onto Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ youth of color, in particular. The current narrative around SEL is that young people must manage themselves and their emotions, conform and constrict their identities, and not express their fullest, most authentic selves.

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Culturally-affirming SEL asks critical questions of all of us: How do people relate to themselves? How do people relate to land? How do people relate to the community? Culturally-affirming SEL is about reclaiming -- reclaiming our relationships with ourselves and our emotions, our ancestors, our spirituality, our creativity, our land, and our relationships with others. It's about resisting colonialism and capitalism by knowing ourselves and honoring the unique cultures, languages, and legacies that we come from, so that we can celebrate the humanity in others to fight for a world rooted in equity and justice, together. What does it mean to radically reimagine what schooling can be? It means following the organizers who have been fighting for policies and practices to make this a reality for decades.

This radport highlights examples of SEL from organizing praxis, problematizes current SEL frameworks (especially when SEL is used as another form of policing), and illuminates the connections between holistic safety and SEL.

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Reclaim SEL | Communities for Just Schools Fund

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On October 23, 2020, the Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF) will release our latest radical report ("radport"), "Reclaim Social-Emotional Learning: Organizing Praxis for Holistically Safe Schools," which highlights examples of culturally-affirming SEL from organizing praxis.

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#ReclaimSEL: The Intersections Between Social-Emotional Learning and Education Justice

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We have to let our legislators know that the ARP funds are not being spent as intended. I do not need yoga. I need a school counselor.