Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning

In this final (for now) episode of Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning, we look back on the podcast project as a whole—sharing favorite moments, discussing recurrent themes, and imagining what may come next for the pod and for SEL. Listeners who have been with us since Season 1, Episode 1 may recall some of the quotes and moments we return to, and those listening for the first time may wish to...

In this conversation with Sharmila Miller, we learn about her experience as a drama teacher and anti-racism facilitator within education and performing arts. Sharmila shares how the process of teaching drama inherently involves engaging students with empathy, perspective taking, conflict resolution and problem solving skills. She also explains how she uses performing arts techniques for anti-racis...

In this episode of Unboxing SEL , Dr. Shannon Wanless and Dr. Renee Owen share insights from their article Evolving Transformative SEL with an Ecological Perspective . They trace their unique paths into SEL and explain why moving beyond individualistic approaches is essential for tackling inequity and climate injustice. Emphasizing interconnectedness, collective action, and care for the natural wo...

Unboxing SEL dives into conversation with Traci Gardner and Xavier Graves from the Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma (RJIOK) to learn about their work and vision toward promoting more just and equitable futures. Restorative justice, says Xavier, “is not the what, it’s the how we get there.” We discuss the overlaps between SEL and restorative justice, ending with the bittersweet hope that c...

In this lively episode, Michaela Brain joins us to talk about her work as an educational assistant and support worker in British Columbia, Canada. Michaela shares her experiences with SEL instruction across a variety of educational settings including group homes, early childhood centres, learning centres, and elementary schools. We also discuss how SEL programming can be adapted for students with...

Chris McNutt joins us for a transformative conversation about his work as the co-founder and executive director of Human Restoration Project, a nonprofit organization focused on truly listening to youth and reimagining school at a systems level. Chris shares what he has learned about SEL through ‘empathetic interviews’ with young people, and how schools might meaningfully engage with students’ wis...

After a hiatus following Season 1, we are back and more excited than ever to dive into the unboxing of social and emotional learning! We find ourselves in a social scene that is both new and not-new, when we consider the political tensions SEL is up against and our ongoing concerns about its ability to dismantle systems of oppression in locally situated ways. Join us on a trip down memory lane as...

Gut bacteria, viruses, microbes, sand and soil…in this episode, we acknowledge how sociality and emotionality are always embedded within human-nonhuman entanglements. How can SEL be extended to recognize and nurture these entanglements? If SEL is to move from a humanist to a “posthumanist” stance, one that knocks humans off the top of the species hierarchy and aims to learn with rather than about...

Drawing on our own experiences and associations with yoga and meditative practices, we investigate the rise of mindfulness and yoga in SEL programs. Substantial research touts the benefits of these practices across age groups, and yet we wonder what pieces get lost or left behind as these practices are imported into the Western colonial landscape of SEL. How can we in the SEL community be responsi...

Let’s talk politics! As SEL becomes increasingly situated in the midst of educational “culture wars” between the political left and right, we decided to devote an entire episode to discussing how this polarization has happened and what it means. Is SEL a “Trojan Horse for Critical Race Theory,” as some conservative groups argue? Is it an innocently “apolitical” phenomenon supported by an entirely...

Sequoia leads us through grounding activities to open and close our discussion about the settler-colonial underpinnings of social and emotional learning (SEL). Together, we grapple with critical questions about how and whether SEL can truly become culturally responsive, sustaining, or revitalizing. Where do issues of cultural appropriation crop up, and how can SEL push against an expectation of et...

Our last episode was all about the self, and now we turn to the social. SEL not only focuses on promoting “self” regulation and “self” awareness--it also emphasizes expressing emotion to others, recognizing emotion in others, and building relationships. As per usual, we ask a lot of questions: How are private aspects of the self measured, verbalized, and made social through SEL? Is it wrong to try...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of our podcast series, “Unboxing SEL!” We come together as a group of friends, educators, and scholars to discuss social and emotional learning in ways that do not frequently occur in K-12 and higher education. Join us in this episode as we introduce ourselves, talk through our goals, and share initial thoughts/concerns/possibilities for an education that tends to...

The sky is always falling! Or is it? SEL is often positioned as the response to a message of “society in crisis,” “children in crisis,” “schools in crisis,” or all of the above. In this message, SEL is usually framed as the solution, and sometimes in saviorist or surefire-cure ways. Building on Episode 1, we continue to unpack the social, political, and historical context behind SEL, considering h...

Neo- what? We’re back with our third episode to discuss how SEL is entangled with the for-profit world of marketization and self-surveillance in some pretty concerning ways. We make space to discuss what we actually mean when we use words like “critical,” “capitalism,” and “neoliberalism,” and we contemplate SEL’s strong emphases on individual responsibility and self-discipline. We also welcome th...

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom, says Socrates. Self-awareness and self-management appear as central components of most SEL programs, and self-improvement, self-help, and self-care are buzzwords in our daily lives. We devote this episode to contemplating what exactly is the self? What kind of “self” does SEL seek to develop, and what understandings of self might be left behind? What can...