WHAT IS SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING?
In this video, Daniel Goleman, author of the book, Emotional Intelligence, talks about how social and emotional learning began to emerge in the field of education.
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Read chapter 1 of Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence, where he provides a basic overview of the neuroscience that informs the concept of emotional intelligence. How does the brain work when it comes to our emotions and how do these emotional impact they way we act?
“All emotions are, in essence, impulses to act, the instant plans for handling life that evolution has instilled in us. The very root of the word emotion is motere, the Latin verb “to move,” plus the pre-fix “e-” to connote “move away” suggesting that a tendency to act is implicit in every emotion.
“In our emotional repertoire each emotion plays a unique role, as revealed by their distinctive biological signatures. With new methods to peer into the body and brain, researchers are discovering more physiological details of how each emotion prepares the body for a very different kind of response.” (Goleman, 6)
Reflection Question: At 03:15 in the video interview above, Goleman responds to the question on how social and emotional learning can reach every child. He argues that we have to “get over our fixation on academic achievement tests as the end all and be all of education. We have to remember we are educating a whole child…We need to get over the mindset that sees this [social and emotional learning] as something extra or something unnecessary.” Given the trends you see emerging in the field of education, do you feel this is possible – for social and emotional learning to become a core part of a child’s education? If yes, what is fueling this progress? If no, what is preventing this progress and how can those obstacle be overcome if at all?
Additional Resources:
- Bracket, Marc A. & Rivers, Susan E. & Salovey, Peter. Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Personal, Social, Academic, and Workplace Success. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2011.
- Davidson, Richard. The Heart-Brain Connection: The Neuroscience of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. Edutopia.org.
- Edutopia. An Introduction to Social and Emotional Learning. January, 2012.
- Lantieri, Linda & Goleman, Daniel. Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children. Sounds True, Incorporated. April 1, 2008.
Peace Learner 
It appears that the current trend in education is to veer away from holistic approaches in favor of more rigorous STEM academics. While there is a certainly a sect of educators and administrators who seek to infuse social and emotional learning into the cirriculum those at the very top are clearly more concerned with delivery and acquisition of academic content.
Movements like the progressive education and the Montessouri philosophy are the exception to this rule. Institutions ahearing to these ideologies however are independent and therefore inacessible to most students. This would indication those making education policy do not approve of or support the broad spectrum use of more holistic learning.
Perhaps it is believed that public resources wouldnt support this or that reatructuring of the school day and year would be met with opposition. Whatever the case the message I believe is clear.
The trends I see now in education is that the “extras” — the social emotional learning experiences, the arts, etc. — are diminishing. The trends I see today are also an increasing obsession, as Goleman mentions, with academic achievement/standardized testing. Both of these trends are seen much more in “at risk” schools serving primarily underrepresented and disadvantaged youth. The “extras” are by and large staying put in the schools serving those communities of youth for whom all other predictors of success/positive participation in society (i.e., educated parents, mid-high income neighborhoods, etc.) were already in place. I think that what I’m arguing is that unfortunately the current trend in education seems to be more of the same: unequal access to (good, supportive, enriching, etc. etc.) education.
All that said, I do actually believe that a wide spread acceptance and incorporation of social and emotional learning could be possible. Education policy, like many other areas of policy, seems to swing like a pendulum. Unfortunately, a constant presence that encourages slow or regressive change in our education system, is those making money from our current system — the first that come to mind are text book companies and The College Board. But other than the business element that in my opinion is often slowing down progressive change, we have seen significant change in our system, which means that it could happen again.
Brown v. Board of education and Title 9 are two big instances of policy change that truly changed elements of access in/to educational institutions. Health education, physical education and Sex Ed has changed a lot in my home state at least since when my parents were in school (in my opinion for the better). But then again today our schools nationwide are still almost as segregated as they were before Brown v. Board of Education. Another example of a regressive pendulum swing, in my opinion, is when the State of California went from allowing affirmative action in public universities to later outlawing it. The pendulum swings back and forth, but I like to believe, like MLK Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
It seems to me that in recent years the following question has become more and more widely debated, and that there are two camps: “What will make our next generation of Americans more competitive in the global economy?” One camp seems to argue that hard skills nurtured through test taking and a focus on key subjects such as reading, math and some times STEM, will make us more competitive against the other major emerging economies. The other camp I believe is people thinking bigger and more creatively about the fact that we have no idea what to expect for the next century, and therefore we should focus on skills such at creative/critical thinking and social emotional learning. The latter clearly does not seem to currently be in positions of power in this country, but I also happen to think that the latter camp is right, and it will only be a matter of time until research shows that — and then the government and the businesses alike will have to redirect toward what is working, and the pendulum will swing again!
That was a long soap box rant — cheers to anyone who read to the end!
Like Pam, I have been in the field of education long enough to observe the total transition of programs/curricula that promote the development of the “whole child” to the just the “fixation of academic achievement.” Mind you, there is nothing wrong with attaing academic success, but when it is achieved to the demise of developing the “whole child” then we are heading for a societal downfall.
As educators we are challenged daily to foster young minds that eventually will be able to integrate into society as independent adults. Unfortunately the education system has deviated from these goals over the past 5-10 years and as such emphasis is now placed on gathering data to determine the academic growth of students. Data gathering is good and can be an effective tool for analyzing growth. However, to date I have not been able to use the system driven data to correlate my instruction since it is sometimes difficult to retrieve and sometimes not quite accessible.
However, I do not envision the implementation of the socio-emotional piece into our education system in the near future. This component is not considered of paramount importance, even though it is a necessary component. The socio-emotional path should provide positive engagement to all parties in the system, so that they will be armoured to deal with the day to day activities in their lives. According to Goleman, We have “two minds, one that thinks and one that feels. ” in order to have a “whole life” there has to be a balance between the emotional and the rational. As educators and peace advocators, what can we do to ensure that the powers that be are aware of this union to develop the “whole child?”
As a newcomer to the field of education, I am constantly relating my experience as a student to what is being taught to me in classes like these. I agree with Goleman that the true purpose of education is not just to prepare our students for today’s world, but also to give them the tools to help solve problems tomorrow. I also believe that managing a student’s emotional intelligence is important for educators, because doing so allows us to understand where our students are coming from. In order to establish a peaceable learning community of cooperative learning, we need to be open with our students and be willing to share personal experiences, because we will get that back in return. Thinking back to my days as a a student, there were very few teachers who paid attention to emotional intelligence. Maybe this was because education and educational psychology have developed more since then.
I do, however, see this as part of the changing landscape in education. According to an article I read this week in The Washington Post, Montgomery County is now paying Gallup $900,000 for three years, to use their services to ask students questions like whether they “energetically pursue goals,” “laughed or smiled a lot yesterday” and “have a best friend at school.” The article describes the county’s efforts to switch from a more test-based system of student measurement to a social and emotional system of measurement. Apparently recent studies have found that when a child is socially and emotionally at peace, they are more likely to perform better academically. I thought this was interesting (and perfect timing), given our class discussion this week. It seems that trends like this will catch on and expand elsewhere, and it will be interesting to see how such changes will create and impact peaceable learning communities. Below is the link to the story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-county-measuring-hope-to-help-improve-academic-success-in-schools/2013/07/17/79044dfa-e403-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html
Thank you for sharing this link, Alex. The article is very encouraging. I’m excited to see what the survey results will reveal. It would also be interesting to know if educators are receiving special training in social and emotional development in order to improve students’ achievement in these areas.
I think that the only way for social and emotional learning to become a core part of a child’s education is if the child’s educators make the independent choice to incorporate SEL in their classrooms. I do not believe that SEL will be adopted by our nation, due to our current trends in education. Our country values academic success and performance over a holistic development of children (which includes SEL). It seems to me that the US values power above all else. The power of a nation is determined by the amount of money and “stuff” it has because powerful nations use their money and resources to show others what they think, even if it is not socially or emotionally appropriate. Since power and money are valued, academics become a natural determinant of one’s ability to achieve power and money because it is assumed that you must be academically smart in order to have a high-paying or high-powered job. Therefore, test scores, performance on assessments, and academic comparisons and rankings become the focus of education systems, not the development of future citizens that are versed in social and emotional skills as well as academic skills. Until our nation changes its values, I do not see SEL being broadly adopted.
Standardized testing and the emphasis on data driven reforms in education are not going away, but I think there is hope that social and emotional learning is becoming more and more a part of the comprehensive education of our students (and at least at the elementary and pre-k levels), if for no other reason than, as Goleman pointed to, there is now data that captures the importance of fostering growth for that aspect of a child’s development.
Daryn you hit it right on the nail. I touched on social and emotional learning last week. I definitely agree with Goleman, We have to educate the whole child. My first assignment I give out before going into my first unit is called “who am I.” I capture my kids attention from day one. We as educators have to understand what our students are going through in order for them to work hard. I give them my life story with great detail and it gives them comfort to know that I’m human as well. I give them facts about what it takes to be successful. I give them my story about my trials, tribulations and family life. Believe me when I tell you, these kids are going through some things that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. I make it optional to give out personal information but when I get personal with my “who am I” the students give me all they have. I average six students crying a year with this assignment. You find out who is taking care of themselves, who don’t have food to eat, who’s molested, or who got killed or died. So what fuels and drives my social and emotional teaching and learning in the classroom, is me recognizing where I teach. When students trust you and know that you genuinely care, they will respect you and your classroom environment.
There once was a time when I could easily have said yes to this question. A time when teaching the whole child was still the mantra, teachers set the pace for classroom instruction and standardized tests were merely diagnostic tools. I remember working as a community: classes producing assemblies around themes of civil rights and cultural celebration, secondary school requirement of taking a course titled “Personal and family living”(PFL): and the day my entire school lined up to make handprints that we linked as a continuous border throughout the building to remind us and others that this was our village.
Today, I would have to say social and emotional learning is still a strong part of school culture, but, “No, it is no longer possible for social and emotional learning to become a core part of a child’s school education.” Gone is the flexibility for teachers to go off book for impromptu community walks just because s/he sees need for students to get some air and recalibrate their moods. PFL classes have been replaced by test prep. The emphasis from the top down, on using standardized tests and IMPACT evaluations to determine a teacher’s employability and justify a preconceived image of a data driven culture of high academic achievement and no nonsense rigor, keeps most teachers focused on teaching their subject(s) in the manner prescribed, using the prescribed materials, at the prescribed pace because “What if the master [educator] shows up today? How would I justify student’s meditating in class to the master [educator or administrator]?” (Note: I do not fault master educators and administrators. They are, also, evaluated according to student performance on the standardized tests.)
There are other signs that social/emotional learning is not an intrinsic part of the academic core. In my school, it is largely visible in “top of semester” assemblies on pride, respect, and determination, individual and small group sessions with the school psychologist, lunchtime and afterschool social and cultural clubs, resource displays and events in the library and crisis interventions when extreme situations warrant it. It is evidenced in the exclamation of a frustrated teacher who shouts,” I’m here to teach not raise the child.” Also, in conversations with several youth nonprofit organizations that once found niches infusing classroom curriculum with creative teachings in social/emotional development, I’m told they now reach out to school counselors, librarians, and afterschool program coordinators to act as program sponsors because classroom teachers just don’t have the time or can no longer justify how they incorporate the organizations’ curriculum into prescribed instructional plans.
I do, however, anticipate the pendulum shifting again in the near future for, as Golman makes quite clear and the central office I believe will discover, we can fill the classrooms with the finest water (close readings, Socratic seminars, etc.), and offer sweet treats (extrinsic motivators like pizza and I-pads) for class attendance and test completion but the disengaged student will only drink (learn) when he is thirsty (emotionally connected)…
The short video from Goleman was very encouraging, and I totally agree with his statement. One course I took in graduate school was about immigrants families in the U.S. and how the kids do at school. The immigrants group include African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino American. It shows that students’ academic learning directly relate to the friends they hang out with, it is called—Social capital. The social capital gives kids a huge influence on how they interact with their peers, the attitudes they show on their learnings, etc. I love the point Goleman made, “we are not only educating our own kids, but all kids around us, because we want to live in a safe and pleasant neiborhood…”
I think we can instill the idea in our teaching as much as we can. For example, when I teach my PreK kids social skills, I teach them the definition of patience, generosity, bravery, etc. I believe the social class need to learn as young as four or five years old. I feel I have to take a big responsibility to give kids the first lesson in their life, which is the social skills.
First, I totally agree with Goleman with a few ideas. One, educating the “whole child”. We have to teach more that our subjects, we have to teach life lessons, make a life lesson out of each unit/chapter. I make that a routine for me in my class. What is the real use that the are going to get out of this lesson. How 10 years from now will I need to know this. It makes it more interesting for them and keeps them wanting more. When I was in college the did not have a class that really focused on the social/emotional well being of a child. This would have been great! What I have learned throughout my teaching profession is through trial and error and watching great veteran teachers work in the classroom.
Second thing is the academic achievement test or standardized testing. This to me is ridiculous. To base an entire year of learning on one test, that makes a lot of sense, not!!!!! I know for me I don’t do we’ll on written test, but give me something performance base and its a home run. What about those students? What about our special education children being held to the same bar as general Ed. Some of those babies can’t read, but you expect them to real for four days on something they can care less about. We are not being realistic at all. Their has got to be a better way of seeing growth of a child. Benchmarks are not bad, why not use that?
Goleman mentioned “repeated experiences” in his video. This is true routine is key to developing a child especially in the early years. To this day I, we have a routine in my class and we do it everyday unless something more important has to take place.
We are in a society were everything is data driven, but our babies are not!
Love Mr. Goleman
I would agree with Goleman , I have always believed that when educating a student the child will need more in life other than the academic test offered after grade school, high school, and college. The student should be well rounded as to knowing how to speak, get along with others, complete a task, follow directions, work well with others, great sportsman ship, and be responsible for self duties. I guess the fuel that is progressing this movement is the drive of success knowing that it is fortune in the follow up, showing up to blow up with your own success in your studies, having the will to take classes that will encourage you to progress and self pride ( just believing in yourself). Working in the school system I see that there are a lot of programs that are being implemented in the schools to help children with all types of challenges- counseling, tutoring, modification, and assisting with students.
I don’t have any hope that school systems are going to move away from the fixation on test scores. The funding from the federal government focuses on test scores and schools aren’t about to give up their federal funding. But I think that most teachers do get it that social and emotional learning is important and do their best to carry it out. Most of us working in public school systems deal with the tests and then also try to emphasize what we think is important. There is some support for social and emotional learning in my school and district. For example, one of the elements of IMPACT is for teachers to create a positive learning climate. Also, I received training this year paid for by my school from a program called Skillful Teacher that provided some ideas for helping students to connect with each other.
Goleman’s video doesn’t give specific suggestions for how to teach students self-control and how to get along with others. I’ve had good results in acknowledging students’ emotions by having students write journals in all my classes. I suggest topics that sometimes draw out their emotions and I respond to those emotions in writing if a student has expressed them. The students know that only I read the journals. The journals definitely help me to get to know them better and I see that they carefully read my responses to them.
I’ve had some good results also by writing personal letters to students who are not showing self-control in class, such as talking out of turn. I wrote a letter to one student saying that I noticed he had leadership qualities and gave some examples. But then I gave an examples about how he was not being a good model for some younger students in the class (e.g. talking out of turn, using profanity). I asked him to write a response back to me. He did, saying that he would try to improve his behavior in class. He did improve his behavior.
Another time that I wrote such a letter to a student it didn’t have any effect.
Other teachers, what ways have you found to teach social and emotional learning, particularly self-control? –Mary Ann
Not being in a traditional education environment, I find it a bit hard to answer this question but here are my ideas on the topic. I feel that it is absolutely possible to include support for emotional learning in every subject. However, I see several impediments to this actually happening. First, are the teachers being trained in college or in professional development courses in their work places on methods for including emotional education into the curriculum? I feel like this is rarely happening. Second, with all the requirements imposed by the government (local, state, federal), even teachers who do have the training to incorporate emotional education into the course may feel discouraged to do so for feer of being observed doing something other than the perscribed plan. Third, parents may be active limitors to this, concerned that their children are not getting educated in the correct way (i.e. the way they were taught) or that they don’t want someone other than themselves involved in the personal aspect of emotional educaiton. There are many more I’m sure but those are the major deterants to emotional education as I see them currently.
The increase in positive behavioral support systems is a testament to the increased focus on social and emotional learning. Even more, the greening schools movement is also addressing and centralizing on the ideals behind creating meditative spaces and open spaces for students to grow. I believe trial and error is the main reason for this increase. Take for instance zero tolerance policies. They have historically failed to improve a school’s culture and systematically disenfranchised students of color. This type of trial and error and noticing inequalities has led to evaluation and discussion of failed policies. With this information, I believe policy makers and school administrators have began to see the negative impact of leaving out social and emotional learning.
From my experience in DC schools, I am happy to say that I do feel like social and emotional learning is seeping its way into the classroom and curriculum. A few of my classmates have mentioned mentoring programs as an example of that, and I believe that is true. Just this morning, I sat in on a teacher/admin meeting about a student who had been suspended for fighting. The conversation was not about how to punish the child, but how to implement positive steps towards success. One of the solutions that they came up with was to have the student meet with a teacher mentor every week. Another solution was to have the student come up with her own goals and strategies to help manage her anger. This is just a small example of emotional learning in progress, but I think it demonstrates a larger movement that I have felt in both DC schools with which I am involved.
I see emphasis on social and emotional development already in aspects of American education systems – in peer mentoring programs, counseling offices (when they’re not understaffed or underfunded), greater class discussion and student teaching initiatives. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s a core part of every kid’s education, and often, such efforts aren’t enough to combat the other forces in a child’s life (as Sarah explained), outside school. Mental health is a severely misunderstood and neglected aspect of American society in general, and in schools specifically.
My fear is that even though most schools make some effort to address the social and emotional development of their students, it’s undertaken either half-heartedly, only being paid lip-service, or is undertaken too enthusiastically, at the expense of actual learning. In the informal education settings I’ve been a part of, sometimes I observe facilitators wasting time and energy on their conception of what appropriate social and emotional building is. There’s a tendency to over-analyze the social needs of young children, and as a result, provide them with a poor environment in which to develop. Misinformation is definitely a barrier to the true integration of social and emotional learning within a curriculum.
I see a lot of what Sarah was discussing in my school as well. First, I am a special education teacher and so many of my students with emotional disabilities have classes or counseling built into their IEPs. Beyond that, my school has done a spectacular job of noticing that it’s not just our special education students that would benefit from these services and opportunities. We have students involved in mentoring programs throughout the school day, and while it pulls them out of academic classes, as a teacher I’ve noticed that the time that I now have them in my classes, they are more receptive to learning.
We have built-in time for 30 minutes every day to meet with students – they either have academic interventions or advisory time (all students get both) – and students have so far been very receptive to the conversations we are having in the classroom during that time.
Many schools are teaching students in holistic ways which include emotional and social intelligence. Goleman alludes to the problems of the 1980’s a source for the emergence of educating for social and emotional intelligence. It seems that the responses to the problems of the 1980’s that he identified not only continue but have expanded. For instance, the D.A.R.E. program was a really big part of my educational experience in elementary and middle school education. When I went to high school, and as far as I know now, the schools in my home district have built on the program to include issues of violence, poverty, and inequality. Different programs utilize face to face interaction with community members and rely on student’s experiencing the personal narratives of those they learn about, not just facts and figures.
Agreeing with Goleman’s premise that the problems of the 1980’s spurred this educational change, I also agree with him that employers—and I would argue colleges/universities—also began requiring more than just tests scores to show ability. While schools may still rely on testing as one aspect of gauging student success, many schools use team building, problem solving, creativity developing activities to make their students more well-rounded and marketable.
I do think that it is possible to include a more holistic approach to learning, intellectually, socially and emotionally. I agree with Goleman in that it is equally as important to allow people to be/find themselves as it is to teach them the quadratic formula. especially with how many new fields are emerging in the workplace. As far as practice and implementation goes, social/emotional learning is becoming more well-known with theories of education like popular ed., and Montessori methodology. I also think that as education becomes a more common social justice issue to support and advocate individuals realize that there are so many aspects of education like human development that are not given proper attention in the classroom.
As far as prevention goes, bureaucracy, administrations and government standards, and international competition are factors that affect social and emotional learning from having a larger role in our U.S. education system.
I believe that “social and emotional learning” has become a core part of children’s education in the USA. This is being fueled by a process which as Sarah has mentioned, makes the classroom a more stressful place affecting all types of student and teacher behaviors. On the positive side of this process is the increasing importance of counselors at all times or even at selective times of a tragedy. Where school districts can afford it, this counseling is available year round to manage the normal social and emotional stress of student maturation and the societal environments in which they exist and perform. Other influences on social and emotional education has been the mainstreaming of students with disabilities . This social advancement does impact emotional and other social behavior and learning inside and outside the classroom. Lastly, and perhaps tangentially related, is the use of mood altering drugs to manage some students with Attention Defecit disorder or other such diagnosis. We also know of students taking these types of drugs – which affect emotions – to help concentration for tests and the ability to focus their attention. The point is, the society at large, whether school administrators, teachers, parents and students, all now understand better the power of the emotion and what happens in the school and classroom.
This brings up the question of the purpose of education and the ways in which ministries of education view meeting the purposes of education as they have designed the system. Often the idea of cultivating emotional intelligence is not seen as the primary goal, or not seen as the primary goal for certain populations.
I agree that this is one of the most important idealistic goals of education. I particularly liked the statement that this is not only something that parents should want for their children but something that everyone should want for their community.
Unfortunately it seems that the trend is to focus on assessment and measurable outcomes. While it is important to learn concepts and subjects, more and more I feel strongly that we need to move away from achievement testing and put more money into teacher training and professional development. By doing so we can better guarantee that teachers are for one mastering better ways in which to teach concepts as well as foster these kinds of classrooms where students are also experiencing social and emotional learning.
When social and emotional intelligence becomes immediately measurable, then it will be a part of modern education reform movements.
The idea of marginalizing the “non-cognitive skills” and other topics that are difficult to measure remind me of the incessant need I feel to defend Social Studies to students, parents, and other teachers alike. Social Studies is about people and finding where you fit in. To me, this is an excellent setting to outwardly discuss emotional intelligence. (Goleman would probably argue Biology class is a great place too.)
This is nothing new. In the wake of Sputnik I the National Defense Education Act, re-centered America’s education on math, science, and foreign language. The history, debate, political science, economics, and many elements of a liberal arts education were abandoned in the interest of winning the Cold War.
You can see shadows of this in today’s education system as well – and this is a bit of a straw man argument because the cultural, economic, educational, and geo-political climates have changed dramatically in the 54 years since the NDEA. What is the same is the focus on the subjects that can be measured – at the unmeasured expense of the subjects that can help understand the people that make up the world.
Daniel Knoll – I think that recently trends in education are working to incorporate more social and emotional learning into achievement based lesson plans. I think that a hybrid of the two priorities is the future for classrooms. I don’t see schools breaking away from achievement based testing any time soon. Unfortunately funding and national policy are too tightly linked to standardized state assessments. However, teachers are incorporating aspects of SEL into their lesson plans that also help prepare students for an end of year test. Working in groups and understanding how to problem solve and take initiative can be linked to building an understanding of material. As Goleman says earlier in the interview, increasing students SEL boosts achievement and comprehension. If mixing the two disciplines can achieve the kinds of results schools have been looking for, I believe that administrators and teachers will continue increasing their support for SEL programs in classrooms.
While many recent initiatives in education have been achievement based, I do see an emerging trend of social and emotional learning as a core component of a child’s education. I think educators and policy makers are beginning to see positive results stemming from educating the whole child, as they seek to implement new programs in schools that are less achievement based and more skill development oriented. When educators review programs that are successful, they will see that these programs, as Goleman puts it, “share the same ingredients,” because they are providing students the social and emotional learning skills to make them successful students and citizens. I think Goleman makes a strong case for the necessity of social and emotional learning by explaining that these are necessary components in education that help students help themselves. By teaching these skills/intelligences, students are equipped to cope, self-manage, control impulses, make sound decisions, and be empathetic – not to mention improve academic achievement. I think if policy makers and educators are presented with these evidences and research findings they will be much more apt to include this learning as a core component.
I recently heard a “This American Life” on this very topic. It centered around a recently published book written by an economist who touts the necessity of teaching young people “non-cognitive skills” which I equate to social and emotional learning. In this program, it made the irrefutable point that living in stressful environments actually changes the make-up of the brain. It creates new pathways that disable people from monitoring their reactions to common “stressful” situations and causes a severe over-reaction which marginalizes people from mainstream society. In a school setting, that usually means you are booted from the classroom for disrupting the lesson, and when this happens enough, it’s very difficult to bounce back.
I think the discussions around issues such as these are becoming more prevalent because they are far more relevant. Educational movements such as character education, Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies, mandated advisory classes, and mentoring programs are littered throughout urban education systems. There is no more denying the fact the achievement gap is large in part due to the fact that the students aren’t learning because they aren’t equipped to do so, and until we meet their social and emotional needs, their academic success will continue to falter.