In this episode, we consider how visioning can enlighten education, and in particular how mindfulness and student engagement can enhance our educational experiences today and also our planning for the future. Guests Kahlil Kuykendall, a mindfulness instructor, and Dr. Christine Mason, Executive Director for the Center for Educational Improvement, explain.

Given the experience of the last two years, educators are increasingly aware that they have to address students' emotional needs as a prerequisite to focusing on academics. Some do that through social and emotional learning, restorative justice and mindfulness programs, and others are integrating a dedicated program called the Positivity Project. Educators Nichole Flynn, Heather Meredith, and Sandy Rutledge of the St. Clair Middle School in St. Clair, Michigan orient us.

Teachers have the opportunity to impact students in ways that can change the trajectory of their life. To do this, teachers have to be prepared to embrace students emotionally by knowing how to regulate their own emotional stability. Diane Wagenhals, a Program Director for Lakeside Education Network that manages therapeutic schools and services for students who have experienced trauma and been unable to successfully adapt to the traditional school environment, explains.

A student's community influences their overall well-being, academic success, and social development; meaning the people in a community must interact with students in various situations. As part of that community, teachers need training to be the strong and trustworthy core adults to support students holistically. Jeff Donald, the Mindfulness Coordinator for Montgomery County Public Schools, offers his insights and argues that the days of just focusing on academics should be long gone.

We prepare students to leave high school into a broken system. This situation can only change by answering the questions: > When students graduate, what do we want them to be able to do with their knowledge and skills as they confront uncertainty in our complex and rapidly evolving world. > How do we help students develop a sense of purpose and meaning, so that they feel they can have a positive impact in life? Guest Mathew Portell explains what it means to have a trauma-informed school.

A number of the people we have interviewed in this series have used the word “stigma” to refer to much of our society’s reluctance to openly discuss the origins and consequences of trauma, and mental health issues in general. Unfortunately, what remains hidden remains untreated, and the impact on youth can be severe. One person who is motivated to change that reluctance because of her own experience with trauma and grief is Peyton Barsel, founder of ACE Aware.

All educators — all school staff — need to see themselves as part of a formal or informal mental health network whose members routinely collaborate to support sound student mental health. But they need to be supported by mental health practitioners and parents tp provide the widest possible safety net for students. Martha Staeheli, Ph.D., explains.

Open any educational news source, and you’re likely to find a story on social and emotional learning. What is S.E.L. and why do some leaders champion it and its integration with academics while others see it and any focus on mental health as a way to indoctrinate students in “socialist” ideology? David Adams, the CEO of The Urban Assembly and a board member the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning, makes the case for why educators should contribute to students' mental health.

One of the goals of our series is to raise awareness and the level of discourse around student trauma and mental health in general. And if we’re not bringing these subjects out into the open, kids keep all those emotions bottled up inside of them. Dr. Glenn Albright and Kim Weiland from Kognito, a firm that develops avatar-based simulations to help develop trauma-informed educators, explain.

Students need to be in a psychologically safe place or it will be hard for them to engage that part of their brain that supports learning. That fact underscores why many schools are developing SEL programs and trauma-informed instruction. It underscores the role schools must play along with parents and mental health providers to support needy students. And some of that support must help students who have operated remotely to transition back to the classroom. School psychologist Dr. Terri Erbacher explains.