An understanding of the dynamics of our own and our students’ feelings can shine light on classroom impasses and emotional blocks to learning. While we have seen that talking helps, we continue to experience institutional resistances to emotional learning in school. When the subject of social emotional learning comes up, we sometimes hear words like ‘venting’, ‘complaining,’ ‘time wasting,’ ‘touchy feely,’ and ‘inefficient.’ These labels may serve to limit meaningful talk altogether. How, then, can we work with these resistances in order to introduce the notion that feelings, especially our own, are critical data points in the classroom? In this workshop we will begin a discussion on the integration of mindsets from psychoanalysis and education in order to enhance social emotional competence in school.

Objectives:

This workshop is designed to help the participant:

1. Identify and discuss examples of emotional blocks to learning.
2. Identify and analyze methods of integrating emotions as critical data points in classroom learning.
3. Discuss how to address the institutional resistances to working with the concept of emotional learning in the schools.

Presenter

David Rothauser, M.S.T., began his career in New York City public schools teaching middle and high school science. His interest in his students’ emotional relationship to learning led him to train at the Center for Group Studies, where he learned to work with and channel his students’ energy towards classroom goals. David is the Director of the Sci-Ed Innovators STEM Teaching Fellowship Program. In addition, he is the Instructional Specialist for Social Emotional Learning at New Visions Charter High Schools, where he works to help school teams develop effective SEL strategies, including training and support structures for adults.

David presents regularly at national psychotherapy and education conferences and recently joined a teaching team from the Center for Group Studies to teach Modern Group Leadership in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In addition to a masters degree in childhood education from Pace University, David holds a certificate in STEM education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently a psychoanalyst in training at the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies in New York City.

No charge or $15 for 1.5 CE Credits