Schools Turn to Heart-Mind Education

Students in social and emotional learning programs show less aggression, increased empathy

Janet Steffenhagen
Vancouver Sun

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Students in dozens of B.C. schools are practicing a simple breathing exercise as part of a program that teachers say has the power to transform their lives.

Called MindUP, the program was created by actress Goldie Hawn during a sojourn in Vancouver several years ago. It is regarded as a beacon by those who believe schools must stretch beyond academics to provide students with social and emotional learning — also known as education for the heart.

Jennifer Erickson, a Vancouver teacher who has worked for years with intermediate students who have behavioural and learning difficulties, admits she was skeptical when first introduced to the program.

“I had a really challenging class . . . I didn’t see how breathing [exercises] would help,” she said in an interview.

But now she’s a convert. Along with teacher colleague Janice Parry, she has taken a four-month leave of absence from the Vancouver school district to work with the Hawn Foundation in training MindUP teachers.

“It’s changed lives,” she said simply.

Parry, a MindUP trainer for the past two years, said the program has become overwhelmingly popular.

“We’ve trained hundreds of teachers around the Lower Mainland,” she said. “It’s so popular, we’re finding it hard to fill all the requests.”

Kim Schonert-Reichl, a University of B.C. associate professor who received a grant from the Hawn Foundation in 2005 to conduct research on MindUP, said B.C. is one of several Canadian provinces and American states to recognize the importance of social and emotional learning.

While it’s not a new concept, social and emotional learning has been overshadowed in recent years by a fixation in some schools on test scores, she said. Now educators are returning to the view that schools play an essential role in helping students to develop social awareness and become good citizens.

“Recent research shows that kids who are in programs that promote their social and emotional understanding . . . are more motivated in school, have fewer behavioural problems, have higher standardized achievement test scores [and] end up being happier, healthier people,” she said.

Schonert-Reichl is one of the featured educators who will speak about heart-mind education at the 2009 Vancouver Peace Summit. She is described as a world-renowned expert on social, cognitive and emotional development whose research has proven the importance of those skills in developing empathy and compassion.

She points to Vancouver as an example of a school district that understands the importance of social and emotional learning. It even has a social-responsibility manager: Lisa Pedrini, who oversees in-school programs such as MindUP, Friends for Life, RSVP (Respect, Safety, Violence Prevention), Second Step.

As part of its commitment to social responsibility, Vancouver also has an anti-homophobia consultant, Steve Mulligan.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

B.C. schools have been teaching social responsibility, which incorporates social and emotional learning, for almost a decade. It’s recognized as a “foundational skill”, along with reading, writing and numeracy. To become socially responsible, students need self-awareness, self-control, awareness of others, empathy and good relationship skills.

Social and emotional skills help students live happier lives and become good citizens, educators say.

“We’ve been paying attention to this area for a long time, although our language around it might be changing,” Pedrini said of Vancouver schools. “We’re getting more sophisticated because . . . there’s a whole new area of research emerging on this.”

The Vancouver district has worked with Schonert-Reichl and her UBC colleague, professor Shelley Hymel, in developing specific programs. Along with Coquitlam, it has committed more resources than most districts to make social and emotional learning a reality in the classroom.

“It’s not people doing it off the side of their desk or doing it as a portion of their job,” Pedrini explained.

“I do this as my whole job. We’re lucky to have a team doing this work and supporting the schools.”

It’s an important endeavour in Vancouver schools because students have such diverse backgrounds, she noted.

That not only creates a vibrant culture but also a need for students to learn how to get along.

More than 700 teachers in Lower Mainland schools are trained to deliver the MindUP program, which teaches children about the brain, how it functions and how they can make good choices. Through the deep-breathing exercises, students learn how to calm themselves and focus their attention.

It’s described as a practice that quiets the mind, and both students and teachers report positive results, Parry said. “The success that we see is almost instant.”

Children feel empowered when they can manage their emotions and make better choices, she added.

The program also helps students to become more aware of their senses, understand their feelings and be more mindful of others. Everything is reinforced through quiet breathing exercises three times a day.

Parry emphasized that the MindUP program is not religious. That became a concern last year in Coquitlam when some parents accused their elementary school of violating the law by allowing a religious practice into a public school. They compared the breathing exercise to Buddhist meditations.

The controversy was short-lived and the MindUP program continued.

EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Another social and emotional learning program is Roots of Empathy, which sees a mother and baby visit elementary-school classrooms on a regular basis throughout the year so that children in the class can observe the baby’s development and needs.

It’s been proven to reduce aggression and increase empathy among the students.

The program was developed in Toronto in 1996 and brought to Vancouver in 2000. Last year, it was delivered to almost 20,000 B.C. students in 483 schools.

Adele Diamond is another UBC researcher who will attend the Vancouver Peace Summit to share her findings about teaching self-control to children.

During a recent study of a program called Tools of the Mind, she discovered surprising new benefits from play, including helping children stay focused.

Diamond, a professor in the faculty of medicine, noted that her conclusions come at a time when there is pressure to increase academic work in younger grades and reduce play. The program is not currently offered in B.C.

B.C. educators interested in social and emotional learning look to a Chicago-based organization for research and inspiration.

The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is considered a world leader in the effort to make social and emotional learning an integral part of the K-12 education system.

Schonert-Reichl, on sabbatical at CASEL, said the organization was first called the Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning “but no one paid attention to them — they had to put the word ‘academic’ in there.”

Examples of codes of conduct in Vancouver schools that reflect social and emotional learning:

– Graham Bruce elementary: Be kind to others around you; treat others the way you wish to be treated; say and do kind things; be polite; be a role model and help others; help when someone is hurt; do not use insults or putdowns; report problems to teachers; include others in work and play; appreciate different backgrounds and abilities.

– Trafalgar elementary: “Our school code of conduct is based on the premise that we Care About Trafalgar. CAT has become our acronym. Within this overall theme, the students learn to care “about Myself”, “about Others” and “about this Place” leading to our second acronym, MOP.

– Franklin elementary: Every student is responsible for his/her personal language, manner, habits and behaviour because these affect the feeling and safety of others. We all have a right to be respected. It is everyone’s responsibility not to tease or bother people or to hurt their feelings. Every teacher/supervisor should speak and act toward pupils with respect and dignity and deal fairly with them, always mindful of their individual rights and sensibilities.

– Renfrew elementary: A safe and caring place, where everyone tries their best, treats each other kindly and respects the environment. Students, staff, families and the community working together to share ideas and create a wonderful place to learn.

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