Context: The Social, Emotional, and Cultural Lens

Throughout this next year, the Center for Reaching & Teaching the Whole Child will take you along a journey on how to unpack and consider the development of a social, emotional, and cultural lens. To do so, we started in our last newsletter with examining the importance of goals as the foundation for developing the Framework lens. In this newsletter, we invite you to consider how the next circle of the Framework–context–shapes the individual and collective lens of social, emotional, and cultural teaching and learning. Context embodies four distinct considerations—the cultural, socio-political, community, and the family/individual. We believe that the interplay of these systemic factors for educators and students shapes the narratives that impact their social, emotional, and cultural lens. We imagine ‘context’ as a ‘kaleidoscope’ of understanding the individual and collective stories, values, and perspectives that shape each of us. Context shapes the development of our anchor competencies within ourselves and with those we teach. By considering our individual and collective context, we sharpen our lens. We begin to ask new questions, gather new types of information, and as a result, we respond more effectively and equitably. Developing the lens, the third ring of the Framework, exemplifies the integration of teaching and learning brought about through practice, modeling, and reflection with the continued consideration of the various individual and collective contexts. In our classrooms today, teachers often express struggles with facilitating and navigating challenging, courageous, and safe conversations with students, families, and colleagues – especially given the wide range of contexts that show up and influence the learning environment. We invite you to consider…

• How do you build trusting relationships?
• How do you engage in, and share contextual narratives?
• How do you create a safe and brave environment that encourages sharing of personal and professional narratives?
• What barriers do you experience when encountering challenging conversations?

Building trusting relationships and creating a safe and brave space in our classrooms are crucial steps for bridging the contextual divides we have with each other. Join us for our coming webinar as we take a ‘deep dive’ using the Anchor Competencies Framework to examine how ‘context’ impacts our narratives and how considering ‘context’ helps us to navigate challenging conversations in the classroom and to respond constructively across our differences. See below for more information about the webinar and click the link to register.

In ‘Joy’ for the ‘Work’….

The CRTWC Team