Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

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Melvin Chan, Emma McMain, Tonje Molyneux, Adishi Gupta, Jinan El Sabbagh

11 episodes

3 days ago

Chris McNutt joins us for a transformative conversation about his work as the co-founder and executive director of Human Restoration Project, a nonprofit organization focused on truly listening to youth and reimagining school at a systems level. Chris shares what he has learned about SEL through ‘empathetic interviews’ with young people, and how schools might meaningfully engage with students’ wisdom rather than undermine it. “It’s simple,” he says, “but not easy.” Tune in for the full discus...

Education

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Education

Episodes (11/11)

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

Restoring the Humanity of Social and Emotional Learning - With Chris McNutt

3 days ago

59 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

Season 2 Kickoff: The Past, Present, and Future of Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

After a hiatus following Season 1, we are back and more excited than ever to dive into the unboxing of social and emotional learning! We find ourselves in a social scene that is both new and not-new, when we consider the political tensions SEL is up against and our ongoing concerns about its ability to dismantle systems of oppression in locally situated ways. Join us on a trip down memory lane as we reflect on how this podcast first got started, who we were then, who we are now, and where we ...

1 week ago

59 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and Politics

Let’s talk politics! As SEL becomes increasingly situated in the midst of educational “culture wars” between the political left and right, we decided to devote an entire episode to discussing how this polarization has happened and what it means. Is SEL a “Trojan Horse for Critical Race Theory,” as some conservative groups argue? Is it an innocently “apolitical” phenomenon supported by an entirely objective research base? Tune in to follow our discussion about political non-negotiables, open-m...

8 months ago

57 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and Cultural Appropriation: Mindfulness and Yoga

Drawing on our own experiences and associations with yoga and meditative practices, we investigate the rise of mindfulness and yoga in SEL programs. Substantial research touts the benefits of these practices across age groups, and yet we wonder what pieces get lost or left behind as these practices are imported into the Western colonial landscape of SEL. How can we in the SEL community be responsible and respectful toward practices that are situated in specific historical contexts and evolvin...

8 months ago

54 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and More-Than-Human Entanglements

Gut bacteria, viruses, microbes, sand and soil…in this episode, we acknowledge how sociality and emotionality are always embedded within human-nonhuman entanglements. How can SEL be extended to recognize and nurture these entanglements? If SEL is to move from a humanist to a “posthumanist” stance, one that knocks humans off the top of the species hierarchy and aims to learn with rather than about other species, important questions must be asked. What happens when human-nonhuman relationships ...

8 months ago

50 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and Settler Colonialism

Sequoia leads us through grounding activities to open and close our discussion about the settler-colonial underpinnings of social and emotional learning (SEL). Together, we grapple with critical questions about how and whether SEL can truly become culturally responsive, sustaining, or revitalizing. Where do issues of cultural appropriation crop up, and how can SEL push against an expectation of eternal “self-improvement” to hold space for balance, presence, and acceptance? SEL certainly needs...

8 months ago

1 hour 7 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and the Social

Our last episode was all about the self, and now we turn to the social. SEL not only focuses on promoting “self” regulation and “self” awareness--it also emphasizes expressing emotion to others, recognizing emotion in others, and building relationships. As per usual, we ask a lot of questions: How are private aspects of the self measured, verbalized, and made social through SEL? Is it wrong to try to measure concepts like joy or wellbeing? Is it always important to name, discuss, and control ...

8 months ago

55 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and Neoliberalism

Neo-what? We’re back with our third episode to discuss how SEL is entangled with the for-profit world of marketization and self-surveillance in some pretty concerning ways. We make space to discuss what we actually mean when we use words like “critical,” “capitalism,” and “neoliberalism,” and we contemplate SEL’s strong emphases on individual responsibility and self-discipline. We also welcome the question of what we would like to see being done in the name of social and emotional learning (t...

8 months ago

53 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and Social Crisis…Who and What is the Problem?

The sky is always falling! Or is it? SEL is often positioned as the response to a message of “society in crisis,” “children in crisis,” “schools in crisis,” or all of the above. In this message, SEL is usually framed as the solution, and sometimes in saviorist or surefire-cure ways. Building on Episode 1, we continue to unpack the social, political, and historical context behind SEL, considering how our deepest societal fears and desires can manifest in our educational practices. As educator-...

8 months ago

52 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

Starting the Conversation: Critical Dialogue Around Social and Emotional Learning

Welcome to the inaugural episode of our podcast series, “Unboxing SEL!” We come together as a group of friends, educators, and scholars to discuss social and emotional learning in ways that do not frequently occur in K-12 and higher education. Join us in this episode as we introduce ourselves, talk through our goals, and share initial thoughts/concerns/possibilities for an education that tends to sociality and emotionality. Why SEL? Why podcasting? Why us? Why now? Participants: ...

8 months ago

51 minutes

Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

SEL and the Self

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom, says Socrates. Self-awareness and self-management appear as central components of most SEL programs, and self-improvement, self-help, and self-care are buzzwords in our daily lives. We devote this episode to contemplating what exactly is the self? What kind of “self” does SEL seek to develop, and what understandings of self might be left behind? What can we learn from examining how self is understood across cultures and contexts, from more individua...

8 months ago

53 minutes