A+ SEL for All
Zaretta Hammond wrote, “Culture is like the air we breathe, permeating all we do. And the hardest culture to examine is often our own, because it shapes our actions in ways that seem invisible and normal” (Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, 55). How do you take the first step in the journey of recognizing your own unconscious biases? In this issue, we analyze the way culture impacts social-emotional growth and development and suggest practical changes you can make in your teaching to begin uncovering your own biases.
Articles in this Issue
What’s Culture Got to Do with SEL?
By Dr. Andrea Smith and Dr. Cliff Chestnutt Social and emotional learning (SEL) can be a powerful tool for creating caring, socially just, inclusive, and equitable learning environments that support…
Practicing Self-Awareness to Elevate Teacher Efficacy
By Dr. Colt Turner and Dhanya Bhat Aristotle is credited with stating, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” For educators, self-awareness—defined by Merriam-Webster as “awareness of one’s own…
Practical Ways to Uncover Unconscious Bias and Eliminate It
By Dr. Joe Tilley and Amber Searles A colleague who taught special education in the inclusion setting recently shared an experience they had when they were coteaching and partnered with…
Supporting Students’ Academic Needs With Social and Emotional Learning
by Omar Sillah Studies have shown that curriculums implementing a social and emotional learning framework create a more equitable learning environment for students from diverse backgrounds and with diverse learning…
From Our SEL Field Notebook: Learning Centered Around Relationships
An Interview With Dr. Vanessa Anthony-Stevens We recently spoke with Dr. Vanessa Anthony-Stevens over Zoom to discuss her teaching background, how she developed a program that prepares and certifies culturally…
Leading the Way
We are following school leaders as they lead their school communities through a year of rebuilding after the disruption of the pandemic the year before. While their schools, locations, and…