Focus on What We Teach (Winter 2004)
My good friend and colleague Jonathan Cohen has just treated us to a warm and clear understanding of some of the principles upon which sound, effective social and emotional learning is founded. I have learned much from Jon, mostly from his being. He is a real model of that which he teaches. He lives the principles that he has shared with us. I would like to relate to some of these principles and ideas, and show how they are practically applied in a “real live” school here in Jerusalem where I live, and as they can be applied in the educational realm in general and in Jewish education in particular.
The “real live” school is a religious public school here in Jerusalem. The school is involved in the Kaleidoscope (See Notes and References) approach, which focuses on how to create a caring learning environment and to encourage students to develop awareness, understanding and acceptance of “the other.” “The other” can be my classmate, the teacher, the kid on my soccer team, my brother, my parent, or the new immigrant from Ethiopia who moved in next door, to name a few. As we embarked on our mission, we set our goals very clearly linking them to the overall goals of the school and its profile. We stated where we wanted to go, how we were going to get there, and how we were going to know that we did. The goals of our workshops are to empower the staff to better understand and to relate to one another and to empower them to help their students understand and to better relate to “others.” We specified as “others” the other kids in the class and the secular students who study in the general public school across the street. The specific competencies we set out to develop are empathy and appreciation of diversity. We set out to reach our goals with a series of workshops for all the school’s educators including its principal, his assistant, and the school psychologist. The workshops are geared to help participants internalize the necessary principles and to acquire and develop practical tools that they then apply in ongoing programming for their students. We attached a mentor to the school and gave the teachers The Guide to Kaleidoscope to support the teachers’ work, adapting programming and assisting them with its application. The educators and students across the street are running on a parallel track, developing the social competencies with which to develop understanding and acceptance of themselves and of the religious population. The groups have started on separate tracks, expanding knowledge about themselves and others and dealing with the issues of stereotyping. In a few months, they will join for interactive programming. These elements of building self-awareness, knowledge of and contact with the other have been proven to be among the social competencies that are necessary for getting along with others. (Allport, p.480). The educators’ and the students’ progress is monitored by professional, user-friendly questionnaires that assess their developing self-awareness, their awareness and acceptance of others, and their satisfaction with the Kaleidoscope approach. The ability of the teachers to effect the Kaleidoscope approach is also assessed.
A few weeks ago, in the context of an in-service Kaleidoscope workshop in that school, we were exploring one of the principles proven critical to creating a caring accepting community - self-awareness as the basis of awareness of others. “Knowledge of one-self, research shows, tends to be associated with tolerance for others” (Allport, 1954, p.436). Individuals who are insightful and are aware of their strengths and shortcomings are more likely, proved the renowned social psychologist Gordon Allport, to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and not to project their shortcomings on others (Allport,1954). One way we explored this principle was by looking into kaleidoscopes. We asked ourselves what we felt and what we saw in the kaleidoscopes. We imagined that the kaleidoscope was our schools and that led to a discussion, among others, about the many different populations that make up our schools. And we imagined that we were the kaleidoscopes and that the forms and colors were our many feelings and identities. We gave these feelings and identities names and explored many related issues, e.g. What makes me feel this particular emotion? Can I choose to feel otherwise? All in an effort to understand ourselves and to relate this understanding to others.
At the end of the workshop, Tamar, one of the teachers, asked why we needed these workshops if all the principles and messages we were exploring and wanted to explore with our students could be found in the Torah, in our prayers and in our Jewish practices. All we needed to do, contended Tamar, was to teach our Jewish texts and practices. Tamar’s comment prompted one teacher to ask that if that were true, then why aren’t all our students respectful and why don’t they have the social and emotional competencies we find in the Jewish texts. A very live discussion ensued about the values of self-contained versus integrative programming, about explicit and implicit messages. When the bell rang, the consensus was that it wasn’t an either/or issue. On a whole, the teachers agreed to one of Jonathan Cohen’s theses - that to effectively promote social and emotional competencies that contribute to a caring and respectful learning environment, teachers need to combine self-contained activities that focus on these competencies and principles with an integrative approach that fosters reflection on them in the course of studying texts such as Torah and literature. When I asked the group if they indeed combine these elements of success to reach their goals, they, almost predictably, listed different academic and “character education” strategies that have been used throughout the years – strategies that were not connected to one another in a systemic or systematic way.
Studies that have been conducted about the effective way to promote social and emotional skills and the values that support them corroborate with the teachers’ consensus. The Character Education Partnership (CEP), “a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to developing moral character and civic virtue in our nation’s youth as one means of creating a more compassionate and responsible society,” (http://www.character.org) has studied many school-based programs designed to promote character and social and emotional competencies and has formulated eleven principles of effective character education based on these studies (Lickona, et al, 1996). Principle 3 is: “ Uses a comprehensive, intentional, proactive, and effective approach to character development.” (Lickona, et al, 1996). The ad hoc, disconnected programs that the teachers described will not help them effectively promote the skills they are striving to promote. Take the time to read, "Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators", (Elias, et al, 1997) and you will find a user-friendly resource that describes the elements and guidelines that need to be combined to effect a “comprehensive, intentional, proactive, and effective approach.” These guidelines emphasize the need to develop a systematic, systemic, and developmentally sound approach that fits the profile of your school. And that includes an approach that combines self-contained and integrative learning. Reflect on the implications of Guideline 4 -
It is most beneficial to provide a developmentally appropriate combination of formal, curriculum-based instruction with ongoing, informal, and infused opportunities to develop social and emotional skills from preschool through high school. (Elias, et al., 1997).
And, Guideline 10 –
The integration of SEL with traditional academics greatly enhances learning in both areas. (Elias, et al., 1997)
In other words, in order for the social and emotional competencies to become a way of life and not just an activity, and in order for us and our students to effectively develop these competencies, they need to be gleaned from and incorporated in all of our learning.
Rabbi Shmuel Kay, Principal of the Seattle Jewish Academy recently stated on the Lookstein Center’s Caring Learning Environment Listserve:
I’d like to share a few words of Torah that specifically point to “Social-Emotional” behavior. Many times I am asked “what is the Midot (character education) curriculum at my school?” and I answer, “the Torah.” The trick is how do we help our students practically understand this. If we can show our students that correct “Derech Eretz” (respectful behavior) is all wrapped in the stories of the Torah, we can help them have a higher level of appreciation of the Torah and its message.
What Shmuel says about Torah as a source of “Social-Emotional” behavior, Harvard’s Robert Coles says about literature as a source of learning values and morals. As he concludes The Call of Stories, in which he illustrates the power that literature has on developing self-awareness, empathy for others, values, and more, Robert Coles writes:
So it goes, the immediacy that a story can possess, as it connects so persuasively with human experience … All in all, not a bad start for someone trying to find a good way to live life: a person’s moral conduct responding to the moral imagination of writers and the moral imperative of fellow human beings in need. (Coles, R.,1989 p.204-205).
As a practical application of Shmuel’s thesis, let’s take a brief look at the first chapter of the first book of the Torah, the parasha (section) called Bereishit (In the Beginning).
The first chapter of the Torah, Parashat Bereishit, describes to us how God creates the world. Here are a few ideas included in this chapter that called out to me and the social/emotional competency that I think can be “taught” with it:
| The Narrative | The Social/Emotional Competency/Lesson |
|---|---|
| The world is without form. God spreads His spirit over the waters, and begins His creating by creating light. When He does, He sees that it is good and thus proceeds to separate between light and darkness. | We often find ourselves in a state of confusion, dealing with dilemmas. Our ability to deal with this state has much to do with the spirit and the attitude we bring to the process of sorting things out. |
| God gives most of His creations names and assigns each one a purpose. He reserves the naming of the animals for man. | In order for us not to be overwhelmed by the confusion or dilemma, it is important for us to sort things out by giving each part of the dilemma and our feelings about it a name. When we do so, we serve as models for others and can expect others, e.g. our students to do the same. |
| After He has completed His work, God rested and blessed the seventh day, the day that He rested. | Here we learn the value of taking time out to rest. |
Now, for a practical application of Robert Coles thesis, let’s look at one of my favorite stories, Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, with the same “glasses.” The first chapter of Alice in Wonderland describes Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole and the many dilemmas she faces.
| The Narrative | The Social/Emotional Competency/Lesson |
|---|---|
| The story begins with Alice being tired of reading a “boring” book, “without pictures or conversations” and continues with what she dreams or imagines. | We can best use our imaginations and deal with dilemmas in a peaceful environment. |
| In her experiences, Alice finds herself changing size, shrinking and growing, and as she does, she tries to figure out how she is going to get out of the rabbit-hole. | We all have many characteristics, many feelings, and many identities. Our being aware of such and our being able to name them helps us figure out how to deal with them and helps us understand that other people have many characteristics, many feelings, and many identities as well. This awareness helps us deal with diversity and individual differences. |
| Throughout the story, we hear Alice analyzing the variety of situations she finds herself in. “‘ Come, there’s no use in crying like that!’ said Alice to herself…She generally gave herself very good advice.” | This serves as an excellent medium from which students and we can learn about the power of reflection and its effect on dealing with dilemmas. |
The questions we ask and the reflections we facilitate in order to promote social and emotional skills are the same, whether the texts are from the Torah, literature, or prayer. Here are some suggested questions that you use as you study the texts, first with yourselves, and then with the students:
- What is the text saying, i.e. an objective accounting?
- What did the text make you think about? How did it make you feel?
- What did you learn from it, e.g. values and social competencies?
- How can you apply what you have learned to your own life?
- What other texts deal with similar issues?
I have often been asked if one brings the messages to the texts or if they bring the messages to the individual. My answer is both. The process is spiral. As I develop awareness of social and emotional principles and competencies, I will see them in the texts. And, as I develop this awareness and ask the appropriate questions, the texts will help me develop the social and emotional competencies, which will help me be comfortable and productive with my dealings with myself and with others.
NOTE and REFERENCES
Kaleidoscope is a multi-dimensional school-based approach that is designed to foster understanding and respect among teachers and students. Using the Kaleidoscope as a concrete tool and an ongoing motif, educators learn to help their students identify their feelings and identities and to relate to the feelings and identities of others. In Israel, where Kaleidoscope was founded it is applied to foster understanding between Arab and Jewish children, religious and secular children, new immigrant and native Israeli youth and children with disabilities and those without.
Allport, G. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Reading: Perseus Press.
Coles, R. (1989). The Call of Stories. Boston: Houghton Miffin Company.
Elias, M., Zins, J.E., Weissberg, R.P., Frey, K.S., Greenberg, M.T., Haynes, N.M., Kessler, R., Schwab-Stone, M.E., & Shriver, T.P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Likona, T., Schaps, E., & Lewis, C. (1996). The Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education. Character Education Partnership.