Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain. Marilee Sprenger B.
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have created the word selebrate to define the premise of my work. Selebrate stands for "social-emotional learning elicits brain responses appropriate to experience." It's a lot to say, but it says a lot. Social-emotional learning should help our students choose the appropriate response in whatever situation they may find themselves. Neuroscience researchers have found areas and chemicals in the brain that respond to certain learning strategies. I want us to be able to understand why a response occurs and then create more strategies that will engage the same areas of the brain.
Don't Let Emotion Drive the Bus!
Mo Willems's book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was a favorite of my youngest granddaughter, Maeve, so I read it to her often. I also used it as the inspiration for her birthday book, which is a collection of photos from throughout the year that I usually make into some kind of story (I do one every year for each of my grandchildren). Maeve's fifth book, titled Don't Let Maeve Drive the Bus!, was filled with wonderful things that Maeve could do, like playing soccer, reading, and climbing, but it conveyed the message that we would never want a 5-year-old to drive!
Along those same lines, we don't want emotions driving our lives. Adding to our lives? Yes. Driving our learning? Yes. My friend Robert Sylwester, author of A Celebration of Neurons (1995), tells us that "emotions drive attention, which drives learning, memory, and just about everything else" (p. 99). But we should also keep in mind Brené Brown's warning against emotion as the sole driver of learning: "If emotion is driving, where is logic and thought? In the back seat? Or worse, in the trunk!" (Jarvis, 2019).
Storytelling in the Brain
The power of storytelling can be traced to the brain and its chemical reactions. Whether reading a story or listening to one, it appears that a specific cascade of chemicals is involved in the engagement. Think of yourself listening to a story. Because it is about something unknown, your brain releases the stress hormone cortisol. This release occurs not because of fear or anger but, rather, curiosity. You are ready for the novelty and perhaps suspense. Dopamine is also released to keep you focused on what is going to happen. Because this is a novel situation (an unknown story), you must be prepared for anything and remain on task until you know the ending. Novelty engages the brain because something novel may also be dangerous. Survival first! Dopamine rewards us by keeping us alert and getting to the goal—the end of the story. When we identify with characters in the story, oxytocin is released. Oxytocin is the trust chemical, the "friending juice" in the brain. It has often been described as the "love" or "cuddle" chemical. According to Paul Zak (2013), director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University, experiments show that character-driven stories with emotional content result in a better understanding of key points and better recall of the information.
One of the primary questions I have sought to answer in this book is this: because storytelling is so powerful and memorable, what other strategies will cause the release of the same chemicals to provide lasting memories and good feelings? One answer that is addressed in this book is role-playing.
Chapter Overview
As I discovered which brain structures and chemicals were involved in the SEL competencies mentioned previously, the next step was to find strategies that would activate the brain in the same way. Explanations of those strategies make up much of the content of this book. However, in addition to incorporating SEL strategies into their instruction, teachers need to examine the SEL competencies for themselves. As I worked on each chapter, I asked myself questions such as these: How self-aware am I? Can I name and tame my emotions? Do I make sure I am aware of my students' perspectives? How can I teach students to handle relationships with others if I may be having relationship issues myself? Do I make responsible decisions when I am interacting at school? Here is an overview of the chapters that follow.
Chapter 1: Building Teacher-Student Relationships
The teacher-student relationship is the primary component of and precursor to a true social-emotional learning environment. In this chapter, I discuss building relationships with students and share various strategies. The mantra of many teachers who are interested in SEL and want to begin to implement trauma-informed practices is "Maslow before Bloom," a concept whose essence is the idea that dealing with students' needs first will allow us to remove some possible barriers to learning.
According to experts, empathy is a major problem for today's students (Borba, 2016). In this chapter, I define different types of empathy and describe how, throughout brain development, we can see where activity related to empathy is located and which chemicals are released during empathic episodes. Some neuroscientists believe that empathy leads us to compassion, and these two ideas are considered. I share examples of what empathic students do and how empathy can be modeled, as well as strategies to teach empathy and compassion to all students.
In this chapter, I define and discuss the first SEL competency as delineated by CASEL: self-awareness. Recognizing our own emotions is vital to the SEL process; identifying emotions in ourselves allows us to recognize those emotions in others. In addition, teaching students to recognize and name their own emotions leads them to the ability to manage those emotions. Which emotions are innate and which are learned is also a focus of this chapter. Finally, I present strategies for teaching and modeling self-awareness.
One of teachers' greatest concerns is dealing with behavior issues. Research supports the belief that students' ability to manage their own emotions is key to changing some undesirable behaviors. In this chapter, I identify areas of the brain related to self-management and discuss the struggles between brain structures. I also address stress and ways to manage it, as well as the importance of classroom rituals and routines pertaining to managing and eliciting brain states with stories and examples. Strategies for teaching self-management skills, from the "CBS method" to the "break-up letter," cover all grade levels.
From self-management we move into social awareness—helping students become more sensitive to the feelings of others. In this chapter, I explain that once students can recognize and manage their own emotions, they are ready to interact with others in an emotionally intelligent way. An examination of areas in the brain related to social awareness leads to a discussion of social pain and the ways that bullying can affect others. As students gain empathy skills, we can teach and practice social awareness strategies.
Chapter 6: Relationship Skills
The focus in Chapter 1 was on building our relationships with our students. In this chapter, the focus is on teaching students how to handle their own relationships. Beginning with finding which areas of the brain are active when handling relationships in an empathic way and then focusing on brain states and peer pressure, the discussion concludes with strategies that we can use every day to build this important SEL competency.
Chapter 7: Responsible Decision Making