At the NEI, we prioritise social emotional cultural competency for education professionals. Our goal is to create inclusive adult learning environments that celebrate diverse cultures and perspectives.
When considering adult social emotional cultural PL for education professionals, the NEI gains relevant insights from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). They assert that a strong approach to strengthening adult social emotional learning and cultural competencies:
The Social Emotional Cultural Competency (SECC) Framework contains the social emotional and cultural domains and their competencies within the infinity symbol. The continuous looping of the symbol represents the ongoing professional learning needed to achieve social emotional cultural competency.
The infinity symbol also signals the intersecting and reciprocal relationship between self and others. The African philosophy of Ubuntu running through the intersecting point of the domains depict their interdependency toward the development of full humanity. The figure embodies the harmony and balance between the social emotional and cultural domains and the competencies needed to produce a Social Emotional Culturally Competent education professional.
Education Professionals live with actions and attitudes that position their humanity as intertwined with the humanity of others
Develop the ability and willingness to accept, affirm, dignity self and to accord full humanity to others (Ukpokodo, 2016)
Education Professional show Ubuntu Competence when they:
For effective application and meaningful outcomes, education professionals must integrate the SECC competencies into their collegial and teaching experiences. Social Emotional Culturally Competent professionals regard the SECC indicators and outcomes as essential components evidenced throughout the learning environment rather than add – on features.
Social emotional culturally competent Educational Professionals design interactions and learning experiences that:
Social emotional culturally competent Educational Professionals design interactions and learning experiences that:
Social emotional culturally competent Educational Professionals design interactions and learning experiences that:
Social emotional culturally competent Educational Professionals design interactions and learning experiences that:
The successful integration and implementation of social emotional and cultural competencies involves the development of personal and systemic cultures of positive classroom discipline. Many Bermuda schools, across type, embrace constructivist academic approaches where learners actively make meaning of experiences.
The NEI believes the culture of experiences as learning should extend to the prevention of and responses to misbehaviour. The organisation advocates for constructivist approaches to classroom guidance and views misaligned instructional and behavioural interactions as hindrances for overall student learning. To that end, the NEI looks for specific criteria within the guidance approaches it offers to education professionals.
Whether discipline approaches focus on prevention or intervention, the NEI espouses guidance practices and methodologies that:
To encourage alignment between academic and systems of discipline and guidance, the NEI promotes Charles’ 5 guiding principles education professionals should develop and practice. Education professionals practice healthy approaches to discipline and guidance when they:
Principle 1: Conduct themselves with professionalism
Principle 2: Clarify desirable behaviour – Immediate and future
Principle 3: Establish and maintain classroom conditions that help students enjoy and profit from their educational experience
Principle 4: Help students to develop responsibility
Principle 5: Intervene supportively and productively when incidents occur: restorative vs punitive
Get ready for your journey of professional growth and transformative learning with the NEI. Be open to embracing these three actions to start and to sustain a successful NEI experience.
an active learner mindset. Be ready for learning where you make meaning of knowledge and practice skills with colleagues
questions you, as a dynamic educational scholar, can research in your classroom or explore in professional conversations
with diverse education professionals from all types and levels of schooling. Discover learning and peer coaching partners.
Join the NEI today and embark on a transformative journey that will shape your professional career and positively influence the future of education in Bermuda.