Our Wildwood, Volume 51

FEATURE Where Social-Emotional Learning and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Meet

REGULATING EMOTIONS WITH HELPFUL STRATEGIES

Guided by a long history of progressive pedagogy—which emphasizes social skills, collaboration, community service, social responsibility, and democracy— Wildwood’s founders also found themselves moving forward in the wake of the civil rights movement. Along with social-emotional learning (SEL), they embraced multiculturalism, now called diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), as an essential aspect of SEL. More than a half century later, SEL and DEIB remain a hallmark of Wildwood’s education, woven throughout academics, athletics, Advisory, and beyond. “SEL and DEIB are part of the students’ everyday experience,” said Karen Dye, Wildwood’s director of equity and inclusion since 2019. “They are part of the education we provide for our students that makes them good citizens in the world. ” Recent years have brought new frameworks to the SEL and DEIB practices that have been an organic part of the way teachers teach and students learn at Wildwood over the past 53 years. One is Courageous Conversation About Race ® (CCAR), an award-winning protocol for effectively engaging in dialogue about race. The other is RULER, a systemic approach to SEL for PreK-12 schools developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Together, these two formalized approaches are helping to guide Wildwood School into the next era of SEL and DEIB efforts. This is the second year that Wildwood has been using RULER as a framework for SEL. After initial training for the school community, RULER was integrated into the classroom and Advisory in the 2023-2024 school year. “RULER is really targeting emotional regulation,” said Deb Christenson, upper school Modern U.S. history teacher and advisor. “It begins with recognizing an emotion as you are experiencing it and then regulating that emotion.” Specifically, RULER is an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence: ■ Recognizing emotions in oneself and others ■ Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions ■ Labeling emotions with a nuanced vocabulary ■ Expressing emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context RULER — A FRAMEWORK FOR SEL

Four tools aid in the development of these five skills: Charter, Mood Meter, Meta-Moment, and Blueprint. The Charter builds and sustains positive emotional climates by creating agreed-upon norms for how people want to feel and how they can help each other to experience those feelings. The Mood Meter enhances self- and social awareness and supports the development of a nuanced emotion vocabulary and a range of strategies for regulating emotion. The Meta-Moment provides a process for responding to emotional situations with strategies that align with one’s best self and that support healthy relationships and personal well-being. The Blueprint supports the development of empathy and conflict resolution skills by serving as a guide for reflecting on conflict and restoring affected communities. Research shows that the benefits for students and adults who use RULER include greater academic performance, better social and leadership skills, and stronger relationships, as well as less stress, burnout, and aggression. “Social-emotional learning takes place all the time, but it’s really a centerpiece of Advisory,” Deb said, which begins in 5th grade. Advisory’s structured curriculum—one hour a day four times a week—integrates academic support, team building, DEIB programs, community involvement, and other activities developing higher-level thinking and communication. “Advisory is the class where you learn to become a person in the world,” said Sam Lyons, middle school humanities teacher and advisor. “It is about figuring out yourself and where you fit in, while being aware of everybody else.” Sam has noticed, in conversations and in Advisory, significant growth in his students since implementing RULER in August. “RULER encourages students to take a step back,” he said. “For instance, this idea in RULER of the Meta- Moment is when something happens that really activates us—I’m thinking about my students who are excited about a concert that they’re going to—or when there’s interpersonal conflict. The idea behind RULER is that we’re developing our emotional intelligence and we’re not just acting on autopilot. We have that moment where we can pause, acknowledge how we are feeling, think about who our best self is, and then respond.”

Regulating emotions with helpful strategies

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