Did you realize that private schools have also jumped on the social-emotional learning (SEL) bandwagon, along with pretty much the whole world?
Brunswick’s recent Summer Reflection talked about how SEL classes utilizing Yale’s RULER program and mindfulness techniques had been introduced, and led by their counseling team this year.
That puts them ahead of the public schools by at least a year on emotional obedience training.
Guess it's one of the reasons why you pay $42,500 a year for lower school tuition? To be ahead of the curve? It was also interesting to see such a focus on affinity groups at the school. It reminded us of the controversy over the Evanston-Skokie School District from a couple years ago when the district was accused by the Department of Education (DOE) of violating civil rights laws by, “offering various 'racially exclusive affinity groups' that separated students, parents and community members by race” among other things. Under the last days of the Trump Administration, the DOE concluded that the school district “engaged in intentional race discrimination by coordinating and conducting racially exclusive affinity groups, which resulted in the separation of participants in district programs based on race in violation of the Title 6 regulation.” “Deliberately” segregating students and employees by race reduced them “to a set of racial stereotype” according to the DOE. “These materials would have led students to be treated differently based on their race, depriving them of a class free from racial recrimination and hostility. Such treatment has no place in federally-funded programs or activities, nor is it protected by the First Amendment,” a DOE spokesperson said. However, the case was suspended after Biden took office due to new executive orders on “equity" to aid racial minorities and LGBT citizens. So what was considered a civil rights violation under one administration is protected by executive order under another.
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