As new technologies reshape educator preparation, the Center for Reaching & Teaching the Whole Child (CRTWC) is helping to ensure that innovation remains grounded in human-centered approaches – approaches that support the development of the whole educator to reach and teach the whole child or student.
Through a collaboration with Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) and Edthena, CRTWC is supporting NDNU’s teacher preparation programs with the integration of video-based coaching grounded in CRTWC’s Anchor Competencies Framework.
Using Edthena, teacher candidates will be able to record classroom teaching, engage in structured reflection, and receive feedback from supervisors using video coaching tools. This feedback will be informed by the Framework, which makes explicit the social, emotional, and cultural dimensions of teaching. And while technology makes it easier to capture and analyze classroom practice, CRTWC’s role is to ensure that these tools highlight the human-centered, and equity-centered, practices that support students’ own social, emotional, and academic development.
Representing CRTWC, Dr. Halley A. Maza shared the Center’s belief that “[…] technology should deepen human connection, not replace it. [And] our partnership with Notre Dame de Namur University and Edthena brings that belief to life by pairing video-based coaching and supervision with a strong focus on the social, emotional, and cultural dimensions of teaching and learning.”
By grounding the use of video coaching in the Center’s holistic and culturally responsive Anchor Competencies Framework, CRTWC’s contributions to the initiative help ensure:
- the social, emotional, and cultural dimensions of teaching and learning are integrated into teacher preparation and development, making preparation more holistic.
- reflective, human-centered coaching practices are being used to support candidates’ growth and development.
- Research is done to understand how:
- video-based tools can enhance—not replace—the relational and reflective elements of teacher preparation.
- the use of technology and AI can strengthen candidates’ development of social, emotional, and cultural competencies.
As education and technology continue to evolve, CRTWC remains committed to supporting teacher preparation programs that use technology in ways that prepare educators with culturally responsive SEL practices that are essential for reaching and teaching the whole child .
