Brighton Central School District is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all students and building learning partnerships between students and staff members. These goals are part of the Brighton Blueprint, the District’s strategic plan that guides Brighton’s work and efforts to grow and improve. To accomplish these goals, the District is using Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) practices and Restorative Practices.
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), Social-Emotional Learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. SEL is even more important with the challenges that the pandemic and remote learning present for students.
Systemic implementation of SEL both fosters and depends upon an equitable learning environment where all students and adults feel respected, valued, and affirmed in their individual interests, talents, social identities, cultural values, and backgrounds.
“It’s about building community, getting to know people, and building trust,” Twelve Corners Middle School Assistant Principal and Wellness Committee Chairperson Betsy Balling said. “It’s all grounded in equity. When you get to know someone’s story and you form a connection with them, it’s really powerful. It is the connection between students and adults that can have such a profound impact on positive school climate.”
Integrating SEL into schools can lead to better academic performance, improved attitudes and behaviors, less negative behaviors, and reduced emotional stress. It can also close opportunity gaps and create more inclusive communities.
At French Road Elementary School, the mental health team is teaching Social-Emotional Learning skills through the Second Step curriculum. They are also teaching diversity and inclusivity through the Learning for Justice curriculum (formerly Teaching Tolerance). The goal of the Learning for Justice program is to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued, and welcome participants. It emphasizes social justice and anti-bias.
During the 2020-21 school year, FRES social worker Tara O’Brien talked with Jessica Willis’ fourth grade class about families. The lesson started with students being asked to define what a family is. They then discussed different types of families, such as: A husband and wife with no children, a mom and dad with adopted children, or a child with two dads.
The students then discussed their own families in groups. How many people are in your family? What are their genders? What are their religions, ethnicities, or races? Is everyone in your family biologically related? Lastly, the students shared why their family “rocks,” or what makes it unique.
“I want you to think about how special your families are,” O’Brien said. “When you go to another house or meet another family that looks different, I want you to have an open mind. Don’t think it’s strange and weird, think it’s unique and cool. Don’t define a family by what your family is.”
As students encounter other family structures, it is important to help them recognize and accept differences. If we reinforce these lessons, children will learn to appreciate, rather than fear, differences and to recognize bias and stereotypes when they see them.
Another SEL tool the students and faculty have access to is the “Take What You Need” bulletin board at FRES. Students write something they need and want others to have on a sticky note and leave it on the board in the hallway. Anyone walking by can take a sticky note to remind them of the supports they have available and place it on their desk or locker, use it as a bookmark or bring it home. The notes students wrote said things like: Love, reading, mom and dad, animals, and hope.
Restorative Practices is a social science that studies how to build social capital and achieve social discipline through participatory learning and decision making. It is based in developing social and emotional capacity to create relationships. These practices may include peer mediation, community building sessions, and student/staff mediations.
Community circles are an element of both Social-Emotional Learning and Restorative Practices. Lanni Maszerowski started her fifth-grade remote class with a community circle every morning last school year. The prompts can be silly, such as: What movie can you watch over and over again without getting tired of it, or serious: What is something that you worry a lot about?
She used them weekly or on an as-needed basis over the past three years, but decided to do them daily with her remote class.
"The hardest part of the spring (of 2020) shutdown was losing that feeling of daily connection with my class,” Maszerowski said. “Connection is key when it comes to Restorative Practices. If your students don't feel a connection to their peers and teachers, restorative work will not be fruitful. Morning circles help us grow together as a community. We hone skills that we don't get to practice much during academic Zoom classes. We learn about each other. We practice skills like empathy and active listening. We are given glimpses into each other's lives that we wouldn't get otherwise. COVID has separated us so much, both physically and emotionally. Circles bring us closer.”
In Brighton, Restorative Practices may be used in conjunction with traditional discipline measures to repair harm and restore relationships. These practices provide a safe environment for people to communicate and express both feelings and emotions. Once trust and mutual understanding are built, individuals are often able to work through difficult situations and develop greater respect and caring for all in the environment in which the conflict occurred.
Restorative circles are being used intermittently at Twelve Corners Middle School and Brighton High School when a situation calls for a relationship to be restored. Plans have been made to continue training counselors and administrators in the practice of running restorative circles so that they can be used as part of our tiered intervention system.
Creating an inclusive environment for all students and building learning partnerships ties into Brighton’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Mental Health and Wellness Blueprint goals.
“We want to continue creating an environment that feels safe for students and adults alike and that happens when students are able to connect to the curriculum, can form connections with their teachers, and also connect with their peers,” Balling said. “When Culturally Responsive Practices, Social-Emotional Learning, and Restorative Practices happen simultaneously, the positive potential outcomes for all are endless.”
For more information on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Brighton, visit See Here.
This is a District Newsletter Article from Fall 2021
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