The Cultivating Resilience podcast series is sponsored by the Compassionate School Leadership Academy, the Center for Educational Improvement, and Yale University. The focus of our work is on students’ and staff’s mental health and well-being. We are researching a protocol to guide schools toward a more compassionate school environment and culture. Central to this work is our School Compassionate Culture, Analytical Tool for Educators (S-CCATE), which assesses a school's current compassionate culture and its associated needs. When a school takes S-CCATE, which takes about 15 minutes and is appropriate for any school staff, that school will receive (1) a graphical summary, (2) our recommended compassionate school actions, and (3) a comparison of that school's results to our national sample.

To take S-CCATE, visit our website or contact Dr. Martha Staeheli at Yale University (martha.staeheli@yale.edu).

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“In the same way that we think about problem-solving, in the cognitive sphere, it’s being able to move through problem space effectively. With EQ or emotional intelligence, it’s being able to move through your emotions in a way that matches your intent. We're seeing now more than ever the relationship really between cognition and emotion.” — David Adams

Our guest

David Adams is the CEO of The Urban Assembly. He started with the UA in 2014 as the Director of Social-Emotional Learning. In 2021, David received the Champion of Equity Award from the American Consortium for Equity in Education.

David sits on the board of CASEL and is an author of The Educator’s Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence, and a co-author of the textbook, Challenges to Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs in Organizations. He is a Civil Affairs Officer in the Army Reserve and holds an M.Ed in Educational Psychology from Fordham University.

The Takeaway

“SEL has five major components: self-awareness, self management, social management – the skills we use to manage relationships — and responsible decision making. There used to be this notion that you had your cognition — your rational side, your frontal brain — and you had your emotional side — you're limbic system — and they just fought for each other for dominance over decisions. But we now know that's not the case. Your emotions are deeply entwined with what you're paying attention to, how you're encoding information and memories. And your cognition is deeply entwined with how you're processing your emotions. And so this idea of the integration of social and emotional, and academic development is not just a catchphrase, it's really reflective of how we grow as human beings, incorporating and taking in cognition, emotion, as well as trying to solve problems.” — David Adams

As you listen

Given COVID and the trauma that many students carry, how can we best help to heal them?
What is social-emotional learning (SEL) and how is it used to support students?
What makes human interactions so critical, and why are students having difficulty establishing relationships after COVID-19?
How are academics and emotion intertwined to benefit students?
How do SEL skills help the school community?