EMOTIONALLY-INCLUSIVE PRACTICES

TITLE: DEVELOPING AN EMOTIONALLY-INCLUSIVE SCHOOL

Focus: Social Emotional Learning/ Emotional Intelligence

"Emotions are the gateway to healthy relationships" - Dr. Brian Dinkins

In schools across our country we are seeing a rise in the number of negative and confrontational interactions between students and teachers in the classroom and other school settings.  These student-teacher interactions and relationships have a high impact on the behavioral and academic outcomes of students in the classroom (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). 

Research-based curricula that provide students with opportunities to grow socially and emotionally are on the rise but often neglect to  build the same skills for all stakeholders, primarily the teacher and leader. Our nation is also becoming more diverse and the unfortunate hardships many families experience leave children with unresolved trauma, requiring that educators have the training and skills to meet scholars and their own needs. Developing the emotional intelligence of students and teachers within a restorative community creates safety, belonging, and has strong student-teacher relationships.  It also provides all community members the opportunity to talk through challenges, which is more vital now than ever before. 

Emotionally-Inclusive Practices is a framework used to integrate emotion into every part of the educational experience. Emotions lay the foundation for behavior that ground us in how we see the world and respond in our everyday interactions. Developing the emotional intelligence of adults and children across our implicit bias, culture consciousness, and understanding student and our own trauma give us the awareness and skills to create restorative communities that prioritize all relationships. 

PARTICIPANT OUTCOMES (6 -Indicators): Reduce Office Referrals, Increase Student Engagement, Improve Teacher Satisfaction and Retention, Improve Academic Outcomes, Increase feeling of Belonging, Improve Teacher-Student Interactions, Improved Classroom Management

• Increase the emotional intelligence of faculty, staff, and students

• Improved classroom management

• Dramatic reduction in office referrals

• Improved sense of community and belonging by students and teachers

• Increase in academic outcomes for students

• Decrease in trauma related behaviors

• Improved teacher satisfaction and retention

• Improved peer to peer and student-teacher relationships

PROCESS: Emotionally-Inclusive Practices is a practical and skill-based framework. Leaders, teachers, staff and students learn, practice, and apply a set of (6) core practices that transform the classroom and school community.  These practices include:

• Practice 1- Emotional Intelligence: 

• Practice 2- Restorative Community:

• Practice 3- Cultural Consciousness

• Practice 4- Trauma Sensitive

• Practice 5- Unbiased

• Practice 6- Equitable 

Emotionally-Inclusive Practices is a practical and skill-based framework. Leaders, teachers, staff, and students learn, practice, and apply a set of (6) core practices that transform the classroom and school community. These practices include:

• Practice 1- Emotional Intelligence: Learn to develop the ability to understand, manage, and use their emotions in a proactive and positive way.

• Practice 2- Restorative Community: Learn the skills necessary to build, repair, and enhance relationships within a collaboratively designed community.

• Practice 3- Cultural Consciousness: Develop an awareness and understanding of culture and learn skills and strategies that create belonging (diversity& inclusion) in the classroom.

• Practice 4- Trauma-Sensitive: Develop an awareness, and understanding of trauma and learn skills and strategies that create safety, vulnerability, and support.

• Practice 5- Unbiased: Develop an awareness and understanding of implicit bias and learn skills and strategies that address hidden prejudice, stereotyping, and unfair treatment.

• Practice 6- Equitable: Develop an awareness and understanding of equity, define equity as a community, and develop the processes and systems that ensure equity for all stakeholders.