Social Emotional Learning for Equity, Well-Being, and Emotional Justice in Higher Education

Session Type: Virtual Symposium

Abstract

Recognizing and attending to emotion is typically not within the purview of higher education, particularly in academic disciplines where cognition gets center stage. Given rampant collective stress & grief in this time of multiple pandemics a paradigm change is urgently needed on college and university campuses. In this symposium we explore why and how transformative social-emotional learning should be centered in higher education—in ways that foster equity, wellbeing, and emotional justice: “a roadmap for racial healing” (Armah, 2022) that focuses on the emotional work urgently needed to end systemic inequities. This session includes four papers that explore emerging research on integrating and leveraging SEL for equity, wellbeing, and emotional justice in higher education, across different contexts.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Social and Emotional Learning

Chair

• Deborah A. Donahue-Keegan, Tufts University

Papers

• Explicit Social and Emotional Learning Instruction in Higher Education: The Key to Growing Essential Skills for Undergraduate Students, Faculty, and Staff - Liza Johnson, University of Dubuque

• Equity, Social Emotional Learning, and Candidate Well-Being: Supporting Teacher Candidates and Equipping Graduates to Create Classrooms That Operate as Safe Equitable Academic Spaces - Rochonda Lynn Nenonene, University of Dayton; Novea McIntosh, University of Dayton

• Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Justice in the Anti-Woke World of Whiteness in Higher Education - Issac M. Carter, Coaching Imperative

• Social Emotional Learning for Equity and Civic Teaching: Promising Practices for Higher Education Faculty Professional Development - Deborah A. Donahue-Keegan, Tufts University

Discussant

• Karen Craddock, The Wellness Collaborative Inc.