Creating Emotionally Intelligent Schools and Communities

Yale School of Management

Emotions drive learning, decision making, relationships, mental health, and general effectiveness for both children and adults. What we do with our emotions is especially important. In this presentation, I will review the research on why emotions matter and describe the theory of emotional intelligence, including how it provides a framework to both measure and study the impact of emotions on important life outcomes. I also will discuss our evidence-based approach to SEL, RULER, which involves the teaching of emotional intelligence to all stakeholders in schools, including students, teachers, support staff, leaders, and families. How SEL decreases aggression and bullying, and enhances school climate, problem-solving skills, empathy, and academic performance will also be a focus. Additionally, I will describe the results of a national study of high school students which tapped their current and hoped-for feelings states. The study, conducted in collaboration with Born This Way Foundation, founded by Lady Gaga is part of a national initiative called the Emotion Revolution. A related website, InspirEd, which is an open-source resource center for high schools that our team co-created with Facebook also will be presented. I will end the presentation with a call to action for students, educators, parents and policy makers to collectively drive the national conversation that charges schools with increasing their focus on building positive school climates and integrating SEL to improve young people’s prospects for leading happy, healthy, and productive lives.