BIG PICTURE Social Emotional Learning Podcast Nini White

Welcome again to the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast, even though this upcoming conversation, in defense of SEL, is one I would never have predicted needing to be shared… but, and you don’t need me to tell you: these are wild times, in which just about any topic, especially around education, can ignite extreme and heated reactions. So troubling! 



…and so I reached out, again, to Elizabeth Peterson, a teacher with many years experience, who lights up with energetic joy and appreciation for what she accomplishes -alongside her elementary and middle school students- year after year, by incorporating SEL into the curriculum of all the subjects she teaches, from math to science to English.  We all have a LOT to learn from Elizabeth. 



Listen all the way through this conversation. There are gems of empowering insight from start to finish, whether you’re a whole-hearted advocate of Social Emotional Learning - always on the lookout for more creative ways to integrate SEL into your classroom’s culture, OR …if you’re on the other end of the SEL spectrum, and you’ve been swayed by the disparaging remarks some groups have been promoting for whatever reasons... this conversation is sure to bring clarity to your thoughts and your conversations around this topic so central to our students' growth and development, not only socially and emotionally, but academically as well.

Learn more at https://theinspiredclassroom.com/








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We see so much division, and it's terrifying some of us. People trying to change others opinions is not doing much more than splitting us further apart, because (research has proven, beyond a doubt) people will ground into their own opinions, their own biases, their own perspectives when they experience differences of opinions and ideas.
What to do? Give children, starting at an earlier age, thinking skills, unbiased analysis skills and critical thinking skills. Critical doesn't mean criticizing - it just implies the ability to analyze and consider from various points before coming to well-informed conclusions by objectively (as objectively as possible - we’re all human, after all) considering how those different points of view rest within our own values.
From my own experiences as a teacher for over 20 years, I’ve seen, time again, consistently, that we can do this with today's youth.
We can and we must do this in a way that is empowering to all parties. Students, youth, young children and us adults, as well.
Mutual respect is the key.
Because If we don't trust people's innate humanity, their innate capacity for compassion to see things from other people's point of view, which is empathy, (different from compassion - which is caring about other’s challenges, suffering, etc).
Every child, every adult's ability to view from compassion and then from empathy,then we are starting at a place that is not respectful and does not invite mutual respect.
… And that cannot be the model of how humanity keeps trodding along now, because it’s not going to end well.
Who doesn’t see the cliff we're heading towards? We can do something about it. We can and it requires a mind shift. But not an impossible mind shift, not one that doesn't make sense to all of us really if we take a breath and consider it the value of it.
What is the shift? Sitting with a group of children, it's always best, in my experience to do this work with a group of children. So they can find out how much in alignment their developing values are
And so you will see in the podcast that I host, the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast that every guest is someone who in their own way from their own perspective - from early child educators to art teachers to people who understand ADHD.

This can and does work to everyone's benefit. Short term and long term. So we can veer away from the cliff that’s drawing us closer and closer to our own self-imposed divisive havoc
So. Here I am, back on the podcast. I've been traveling out of the country. Partly I needed some rest and relaxation and partly because It's a big world that we live on, this planet has given rise to so many different cultural values and success in ways that the United States can learn from.
It's been a fascinating journey and I don't want it to stop. I want to share conversations and ideas that need to be shared for everyone's benefit.
How could this be wrong? How could it not be right?
I don't want to be enemies with anyone. I want us to realize that We're all in this together.

The bombs and the wars happening make you realize that we are affected by everything even if it's on the other side of the planet.

We are affected. And we can have an effect with our impact on today's youth. We can have very positive effect by helping them to be thinkers to analyze things, to not just be in reaction mode all the time or in fear-based mindset that is so reactionary, emotional. We've got to move away from that.

Win win. Really can work. Where no one needs to be afraid because one side is doing well, so that means the other side is not.

That is a model that is so old and so based in a very, very unwise way. That model has seemed to serve certain people who thought dividing people is the way to weaken the majority...But we don't have to be divided. If we move in mutual respect. I hope you'll consider that and continue to listen to this, the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning podcast.


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In this episode of the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast, I share conversation with Elizabeth Peterson, a 3rd grade teacher in the state of New Hampshire. 

Our conversation started with Elizabeth’s deeply considered definition of a term with which we’re all familiar: whole child.   I wanted to learn her personal perspective, because I feel that how we, as educators, define this term has an impact on how we relate to our students. See if your definition aligns with hers…

Other topics we discussed included the need for teachers who are inspired, and the very real fact that inspiration is not a switch that can be flipped on, BUT it CAN be nurtured in ways that are truly meaningful for significant and enriching benefits in the classroom for students and for us, as well.

We went on to learn about ways in which Elizabeth has explored ways to grow inspiration that are real, and fun, and truly rewarding on many levels using art, even tho she does not consider herself an artist in the common understanding of that word.

Check out Elizabeth's website: www.theinspiredclassroom.com




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You know how sometimes you learn about something you didn’t have even a clue about the fact that you were completely unaware of what you didn’t know?  That’s what happened to me in the following conversation with Sherri Fickensher who is an Education Support Specialist, serving deaf and hard of hearing students at Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech for more than 20 years.

Hearing is a sense most of us take for granted. In this conversation I learned about the multitude of ways that not hearing impacts, really impacts, social and emotional interactions.

Throughout this conversation you’ll notice Sherri’s whole-hearted dedication to continual learning of ever-evolving resources and methodologies for serving deaf and hard of hearing students (and their families) to address and manage inevitable challenges so they can live and enjoy to their fullest potential.

Please remember… if you’re enjoying this podcast, your Likes and Comments help it to become more visible for everyone’s benefit.

Helpful links from this conversation:

Low Empathy in Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Pre)Adolescents Compared to Normal Hearing Controls. Hearing impairment poses many challenges to the developing child. Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children for instance frequently encounter language and communication problems. These difficulties in communication may result in reduced opportunities for incidental learning. Especially abstract concepts such as emotions are therefore more difficult to understand for children with hearing loss [1]. Regulating and understanding one’s own emotions is essential for the development of adequate empathic abilities. Consequently, DHH children are prone to develop lower empathic skills than normal hearing (NH) peers. Because empathy is of major importance in initiating and maintaining social relationships, this could have ongoing consequences in the development of DHH children.

Predicting social functioning in children with a cochlear implant and in normal-hearing children: The role of emotion regulation Cochlear implant children have less adequate emotion-regulation strategies and less social competence than normal hearing children. Since they received their implants relatively recently, they might eventually catch up with their hearing peers. Longitudinal studies should further explore the development of emotion regulation and social functioning in cochlear implant children.

Instagram - @clarkeschools Twitter - @clarkeschools Facebook - @Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech LinkedIn - @Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech 










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Peter Vermeulen, Ph.D., doesn't feel there's much value in ‘defining’ people on the #autism #spectrum by describing their difficulties around social interaction, communication, patterns of behavior, etc., etc. - because he sees all  those elements as #consequences of having brains that work in #autistic ways. Conversely, he's written that autism can only be defined in terms of perception and cognition…and only in the context of how an autistic brain experiences the world. JUST THAT, RIGHT THERE opens doors for more empathetic and respectful interactions with our autistic children, family members, students and neighbors.  

Peter is not so fond of the term 'neurotypical.' See if you agree with his reasoning... (I did.  Surprised?)

AUTISM in CONTEXT - from neurodiversity to neuroharmony:

https://petervermeulen.be/autism-in-context/

A short video that clearly explains autism in context: https://videos.files.wordpress.com/21y5fGDp/autism-as-context-blindness-introduction_hd.mp4

Resources:

The Autism‐Good‐Feeling‐Questionnaire is an informal assessment tool. It’s aim is to give educators, caretakers and other professionals ideas to increase the well‐being of people with an autism spectrum disorder. Here’s a link to a free, English version: https://petervermeulen.be/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/autism-good-feeling-questionnaire-peter-vermeulen-english.pdf



Some inspiring presentations by Peter shared on YouTube:

Peter Vermeulen at Good Autism Practice Conference:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbrVfIlCfJA

Autism and Happiness:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRXdJ3XFKUE

Autism as Context Blindness:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEP_QJnN1bU

An upcoming webinar with Peter Vermeulen, titled “Autism and the Predictive Mind: A new and refreshing look at autism”

Many ideas about the autistic brain are based on conceptions about the human brain that are outdated. The computer as a metaphor for the brain, with its input, processing and output, has been very useful in the past, but seems to be incorrect in the light of recent discoveries in brain science. A Copernican revolution is going on in neuroscience and it will change our ideas about the brain significantly. The brain is not working like a traditional computer: the brain is guessing more than it is computing. The brain does not work in a stimulus-response way. The brain predicts the world and it does so in a very context sensitive way. This is known as the predictive coding account of human information processing.


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Instagram link to the Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Podcast

Here’s a link to a Bill’s book: The Self-Driven Child, showing the Table of Contents to give you a quick overview of the book’s value.

Here’s a link to a quick YouTube video that explains the difference between Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset… and here’s another way to understand MINDSETS, and some fascinating brain science around learning, according to Carol Dweck’s highly respected research.

The PERMA Model: Your Scientific Theory of Happiness

https://positivepsychology.com › perma-model

The Penn Resilience Program and PERMA workshops are evidence-based training options that strive to build resilience, wellbeing, and optimism.

Peter Gray, Ph.D., research professor at Boston College, is author of Free to Learn (Basic Books) and Psychology (Worth Publishers, a college textbook now in its 8th edition). He has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences at Rockefeller University. His current research and writing focus primarily on children's natural ways of learning and the life-long value of play. He a founding member of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and a founding board member of the nonprofit Let Grow. His own play includes not only his research and writing, but also long distance bicycling, kayaking, back-woods skiing, and vegetable gardening.

An thought-provoking post for parents and teachers focused on our over-emphasis on competition:   Kids Want to Cooperate, But We Make Them Compete: What’s the harm of all the competitions imposed on kids, in and out of school?




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