Volume 3, Issue 11 | December 2023 | |
Your Monthly News & Updates | |
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As we head into the holiday season, it’s a great time to practice gratitude, relish in joy, and reflect for the year ahead. This month we provide concrete strategies for starting the school day on a positive note, reinfusing joy into the classroom, and incorporating yoga and mindfulness in schools.
Last month Chris Mason and Ali Sumski continued their series on helping students start their mornings on a positive note, this time focusing on students with more intensive needs. This month, Amanda Berg continues this theme and shares how to support early childhood students as they undergo various transitions. Alexis Richmond reviews positive psychology and urges teachers to revive joy and infuse excitement and positive emotions back into the classroom. And finally, Nicole Benquechea and Hallie Williams recap learnings from Dr. Christine Mason and Kahlil Kuykendall’s virtual session “Embodying Compassion: Yoga for Impact,” which shared ways to implement yoga during the school day.
The end of a year also lends itself to transitions, endings and new beginnings. Dr. Christine Mason, the Founder and CEO of The Center for Educational Improvement has announced her retirement in January 2024. We are celebrating her work and legacy, and are delighted she will continue to advise and contribute to our mission as our Senior Scholar.
We welcome Jill Flanders as our next Executive Director. She has been working closely with Dr. Mason for the past 3 years as our Deputy Director. Jill brings her practical experience as an Elementary Principal for 27 years, and her expertise in Early Childhood Education, leadership, and SEL to our work with mindfulness, Compassionate School Leadership, and trauma informed practice. You will be hearing more about her goals with CEI during the next few months.
Congratulations to Dr. Mason, and all our best wishes as you take new steps on the next path of your educational and personal journey!
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The First 12 Minutes for Our Youngest Learners
Amanda Berg, Guest Writer, and Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director
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We know that once a child is born they are already learning, but they were also learning in utero. There is a fabulous documentary directed by Kathleen Man Gyllenhaal created in 2016 titled IN UTERO. The documentary includes interviews with experts in the medical field to discuss epigenetics, brain development, pregnancy, mental and physical illness, and prenatal bonding. It also brings to light data supporting the importance of both genetics and our environment.
We know that the earliest years of a child's development are pivotal. When a child starts daycare or preschool, they experience many changes, and this period of great transition can be challenging. They are spending more time away from their home and caretakers, while being exposed to many new things — new people, new environments, and new routines. Their worlds are shaken up, and some handle this change better than others. As educators, how can we support our youngest students and ease this transition?
In their upcoming book, Little Learners, Big Hearts: A Teacher’s Guide to Nurturing Empathy and Equity in Early Childhood, Mason and colleagues explain how movement is integral to learning...
Read more.
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Reviving the Joy of Learning: Making School a Place of Excitement for Students and Teachers
Alexis Richmond, CEI Research Assistant, and Christine Mason, CEI Executive Director
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Whether you can remember from your school days long ago, you are a parent who has to listen to your child complain about how boring school is, or you are a teacher who just wants to love their job again, we can all agree that it is time we bring joy and excitement back into the classroom. To develop students who are happy, healthy, and academically inclined, an educator's focus on students’ emotional needs and their academic progress, not just one or the other, will establish this strong foundation (Alam, 2022).
Alfred Alam, a researcher with the Indian Institute of Technology, is one of many psychologists who has investigated interventions to promote positive emotions, behaviors, and ideas. After reviewing 12 school-based interventions representing an array of international studies, Alam concluded that students’ health, relationships, happiness, and academic success are associated with programs that leverage student strengths and virtues. The 12 interventions Alam studied varied, each with a different focus...
Read more.
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Balancing Head and Heart: Yoga in Schools with Dr. Christine Mason and Kahlil Kuykendall
Nicole Benquechea & Hallie Williams, CEI Research Assistants
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Contemporary students are largely anxious, with some exhibiting disruptive behaviors and experiencing trouble adjusting to school (Higa-McMillan et al., 2015). Addressing student and educator mental health is imperative, and schools should strive to support their communities with sensitivity and compassion.
On November 18th, Dr. Christine Mason and Kahlil Kuykendall contributed to a full-day virtual event, “Kundalini Beyond Borders,” led by 3HO and co-hosted by the Kundalini Research Institute and the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association. Dr. Mason and Kahlil are Kundalini yoga instructors and have experience working in schools — both public elementary and higher educational institutions...
Read more.
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Upcoming Events and Announcements | |
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Save The Date
SEL4MA and partners are hosting a Conference: Massachusetts Transformative Social Emotional Learning in Action
Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 from 9AM - 12PM EST.
Registration is free, due to generous support received.
Registration details coming soon.
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Subscribe to the Cultivating Resilience Podcast
See our archived podcasts for Season 2, including interviews with Horacio Sanchez, Afrika Afeni Mills, Melanie Johnson, Michelle Trujillo, Anitra Gallegos, and Dr. Kelvin Butts here.
You can also Listen on Apple here.
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Are you looking to foster a more inclusive and compassionate school environment?
Learn more about the Compassionate School Leadership Academy (CSLA)! The CSLA prepares school leaders in high-need districts to implement trauma-informed practices in the classroom to meet the urgent mental health needs of American children.
Gain insight into your school culture. The CSLA is supported by a customized assessment tool—the School Compassionate Culture Analytical Tool for Educators (S-CCATE)—designed to gauge and change school cultures to ensure more equitable and compassionate school practices.
To learn more and complete the S-CCATE, click here.
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You are also invited to join the HeartMind Community to receive discounts on publications and workshops, networking opportunities, and special offers for virtual consultations and additional resources from the Center for Educational Improvement.
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Editor: Lauren Kiesel. Co-Editor: Meghan Wenzel | | |
CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
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