Equitable Social-Emotional Learning and Mindfulness

Countering Systemic Oppression in Secondary Classrooms with Personal Practices and an Empowering Approach

Authors

  • Christopher Siegle 403-669-3774

Keywords:

Social-emotional learning, mindfulness, equity, systemic oppression, hermeneutic

Abstract

Black Lives Matter’s revelations and Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action both challenge educators to critically examine our practices, including practices like social-emotional learning. Proponents of social-emotional learning and mindfulness argue the practices advance equity, while critics contend that positivist perspectives instill dominant cultural values within the practices. Informed by hermeneutic traditions, I analyzed interview discourse from five teachers in an urban, Western Canadian school board. Integrating participant perspectives on social-emotional learning and equity with current research literature, I found implicit bias leads educators implementing social-emotional learning to focus on student deficits, perpetuating systemic oppression. Yet, implementing practices thoughtfully empowers students. Educators must first implement social-emotional learning for their own self-awareness, while also implementing practices within a social justice framework. Articulating a potential framework for equitably implementing social-emotional learning, results of my study illuminate opportunities for educators.

References

Aldenmyr, S. I. (2016). What values, whose perspective in social and emotional training? A study on how ethical approaches and values may be handled analytically in education and educational research. Ethics and Education, 11(2), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449642.2015.1115613

American Psychological Association. (2015). Top 20 principles from psychology for preK-12 teaching and learning. http://www.apa.org/ed/schools/cpse /top-twenty-principles.pdf

Andolina, M. W., & Conklin, H. G. (2020). Fostering democratic and social-emotional learning in action civics programming: Factors that shape students’ learning from ‘project soapbox’. American Educational Research Journal, 57(3), 1203–1240. https://doi/10.3102/0002831219869599

Doikou-Avlidou, M., & Dadatsi, K. (2013). Enhancing social integration of immigrant pupils at risk for social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties: The outcomes of a small-scale social-emotional learning programme. Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties, 18(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2012.675137

Emery, C. (2016). A critical discourse analysis of the new Labour discourse of social and emotional learning across schools in England and Wales: Conversations with policymakers. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 24(104). https://doi.org/10.1080/0013191022000016347

Ergas, O. (2019). Mindfulness in, as and of education: Three roles of mindfulness in education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 53(2), 340–358. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9752.12349

Foucault, M. (2003). The essential Foucault: Selections from the essential works of Foucault, 1954-1984. New Press.

Gadamer, H. G. (1989). Truth and method (J. Weinsheimer & D. G. Marshall, Trans.; 2nd rev. ed.). New York, NY: Continuum. (Original work published 1960)

Greater Good. (n.d.). Empathy | Defined: What is empathy. Retrieved 23 March 2021, from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/empathy/definition

Gregory, A., & Fergus, E. (2017). Social and emotional learning and equity in school discipline. The Future of Children, 27(1), 117–136. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2017.0006

Hecht, M. L., & Shin, Y. (2015). Culture and social emotional competencies. In J. A. Durlak, C. E. Domitrovich, R. P. Weissberg, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 50-64). Guilford Publications.

Hoffman, D. M. (2009). Reflecting on social emotional learning: A critical perspective on trends in the United States. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 533–556. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325184

Humphrey, N. (2013). Social and emotional learning: A critical appraisal. Sage Publications.

Hyland, T. (2016). The limits of mindfulness: Emerging issues for education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 64(1), 97–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2015.1051946

Hyland, T. (2017). McDonaldizing spirituality: Mindfulness, education, and consumerism. Journal of Transformative Education, 15(4), 334–356. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344617696972

Jagers, R. J. (2016). Framing social and emotional learning among African-American youth: Toward an integrity-based approach. Human Development, 59(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1159/000447005

Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Williams, B. (2019). Transformative social and emotional learning (SEL): Toward SEL in service of educational equity and excellence. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 162–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1623032

Jardine, D. W. (1992). The fecundity of the individual case: Considerations of the pedagogic heart of interpretive work. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 26(1), 51–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.1992.tb00264.x

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016

Kennedy Schmidt, L. (2014). Understanding hermeneutics. Taylor & Francis Group.

Little Bear, L. (2014). Jagged Worldviews Colliding. In Battiste, M. (Ed.). Reclaiming indigenous voice and vision (pp. 77-85). UBC Press.

Maslow, A. H. (1948). Higher and lower needs. Journal of Psychology, 26, 433–436.

McCaw, C. T. (2020). Mindfulness ‘thick’ and ‘thin’: A critical review of the uses of mindfulness in education. Oxford Review of Education, 46(2), 257–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1667759

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved 23 March 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empower

Moules, N. J., McCaffrey, G., Field, J. C., & Laing, C. M. (2015). Conducting hermeneutic research: From philosophy to practice. Peter Lang Publishing.

Ratcliffe, S. (Ed.), Oxford Essential Quotations. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 22 June 2021, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/ 9780191843730.001. 0001/q-oro-ed5-00016497

Reveley, J. (2015). School-based mindfulness training and the economisation of attention: A Stieglerian view. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47(8), 804–821. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2014.914880

Schlund, J., Jagers, R. J., & Schlinger, M. (2020). Emerging insights on advancing social and emotional learning (SEL) as a lever for equity and excellence. CASEL. https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CASEL-Equity-Insights-Report.pdf

Shapiro, S. E. (1994). Rhetoric as ideology critique: The Gadamer-Habermas debate reinvented. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, LXII(1), 123–150. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXII.1.123

Sellman, E. M., & Buttarazzi, G. F. (2020). Adding lemon juice to poison: Raising critical questions about the oxymoronic nature of mindfulness in education and its future direction. British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(1), 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2019.1581128

Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal? An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. (2nd Ed.). Teachers College Press.

Tutu, Desmond. (1986). Desmond Tutu. In.

Downloads

Published

2022-08-15

How to Cite

Siegle, C. (2022). Equitable Social-Emotional Learning and Mindfulness: Countering Systemic Oppression in Secondary Classrooms with Personal Practices and an Empowering Approach . Emerging Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research in Education and Psychology, 6(1), 6–21. Retrieved from https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ep/article/view/74847

Issue

Section

Articles