The Multifaceted Dynamics of Social-Emotional Learning and Discipline in Schools: Seeking Balance in Today's Educational Climate
Angela Smith Bergeson
Entrepreneur | School Program Design | Community Builder| Inclusion Specialist | Sylvotherapist
The Landscape of Trauma-Informed Education
In contemporary education, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has increasingly intersected with trauma-informed practices to address the emotional and psychological needs of students. Trauma-informed practices are essential in recognizing the impact of adverse experiences on students' learning and development. By understanding and addressing the trauma students bring to the classroom, educators can create safe and supportive learning environments. While the overarching aim is to foster resilience and well-being, this interplay poses challenges in implementation for teachers and schools across the country.
The Benefits and Necessity of Trauma-Informed Practices
Trauma can profoundly influence students’ behavior, cognition, and emotional well-being. Trauma-informed practices focus on understanding students' backgrounds, fostering safety and trust, and promoting resilience. Such practices recognize that disruptive behaviors can be manifestations of underlying trauma. When educators approach students with empathy, they're better equipped to address the root causes of these behaviors, fostering an environment where every child can thrive. However, striking the right balance between nurturing, equity, and maintaining discipline is a delicate endeavor for schools, with the bulk of this responsibility resting on classroom teachers. When examining SEL through the lens of social justice, conscious discipline, and teacher burnout, systemic concerns become evident.
The Cautions of SEL and Trauma-informed Education
Dena Simmons has cautioned against the potential misapplications of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and the unintended impact these practices may have on students of color. She refers to poorly executed SEL as "white supremacy with a hug," pointing out that SEL, if not done with a critical lens on equity, can inadvertently perpetuate racial disparities. If educators are not attuned to the cultural and racial implications of the instructional practices, underlying biases can still be communicated, albeit wrapped in the guise of well-intentioned emotional learning.
During a child development course in Vermont, Simmons recounts an incident where a white instructor couldn't differentiate between two students of color, insinuating they were indistinguishable. While the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) was emphasized in the course, the instructor's behavior showcased a lack of cultural competence. This experience underscores the argument that SEL, if not applied with cultural responsiveness and an anti-racist lens, risks perpetuating biases. For SEL to be genuinely transformative, it needs to challenge the socio-political status quo, combat racial and social injustices, and be more than just a tool for classroom management. In her TED Talk, Simmons outlines how teachers can create a safe environment for students of color.
“Done poorly, SEL faces the risk of becoming 'white supremacy with a hug.'” - Dena Simmons
Derrick Smith and Christine J. Yeh's study titled "Nurturing Is Not Enough" warns of the unintended consequences when a well-meaning nurturing approach goes too far, potentially enabling problematic behaviors. They advocate for a balance where nurturing is combined with consistent disciplinary consequences. Too much leniency, while initially appearing supportive and compassionate, can inadvertently prevent students from learning essential boundaries and facing the natural consequences of their actions. By labeling every behavior as a “trauma response”, educators might unintentionally deny students the chance to develop resilience and accountability and in turn, lower overall academic expectations. Even individuals and institutions with the most genuine intentions might unintentionally hinder the cultural empowerment, positive identities, and academic growth of students of color. Hence, fostering a balanced environment is crucial for genuinely equitable education and setting high expectations for all students.
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“The dynamics of nurturing, caring, and enabling in a social justice school can become problematic when notions of nurturing are not balanced with consistent disciplinary consequences.” - Derrick Smith and Christine J. Yeh
Jasmine Hu Hollingshead's piece "The Dangers of a Sentimental Education" points out the potential pitfalls of overly "sentimental" approaches to SEL in education. She highlights how SEL's vagueness can be exploited by corporate interests, leading to widespread commercialization. Education is big business after all. Companies with vested interests in profit have access to crucial resources in schools. From individual private schools to expansive urban districts, institutions are investing in new curricula, undergoing costly training, and increasingly involving a growing bureaucracy of mental health and big data specialists.
Given the current high level of teacher burnout, it is not hard to trace some of their issues back to new programs and platforms that require hours of training and new educational “lingo” adoption to stay on top of the trends. Many schools have poor SEL implementation plans and lack administrative behavioral support in the classroom.
Schools have also been updating their handbooks to better align with contemporary SEL trends and to appeal to families, swapping terms like suspension, discipline, and detention for phrases such as “restorative conversation” and “rebuilding positive relationships”. The emphasis on lowering suspension rates, for instance, while boasting improved statistics, may be creating unsafe environments for both educators and students. This very aspect has prompted numerous educators to question SEL implementation, not SEL itself. Many have left the field already and more wonder whether they want to stay in education given the direction it appears to be headed and the heavy burden they carry trying to support all their learners' needs on what feels like an isolated island.
Teachers often feel unsupported by their administration when addressing extreme behaviors, believing that schools prioritize appeasing families and adopting new trends over ensuring the safety and well-being of both educators and students.
“Many teachers feel that they are being held hostage to an ideological experiment that harms them and their ability to teach, that harms innocent students who are trying to learn, and that in the end harms the very people it is meant to help by not holding them accountable.” - Jeremy Adams, as quoted by Jasmine Hu Hollingshead
Seeking a Balance
The landscape of modern education stands at an inflection point. Drawing from the insights of Smith, Yeh, Hollingshead, and Simmons, the education sphere is undergoing transformative changes. The challenges of contemporary education are multifaceted and need careful evaluation to ensure the core principles of discipline and academic integrity aren't overshadowed by unintentional biases, enabling behavioral practices, or systemic inequalities. Through continuous dialogue, training, and introspection, educational institutions can achieve the delicate balance between nurturing care and structured discipline. The challenge is to ensure that warmth and empathy don't overshadow discipline or inadvertently embed systemic disparities that also lead to teacher burnout. An education framework that’s both nurturing and just is the way forward.
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