Social-Emotional Health and Learning

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Comment by Elle McSharry on March 6, 2011 at 2:30pm

hi All,

 

I am posting this invitation on the group's comment wall, because I'm not sure if all of you received this when I sent it out.  I hope some of you can make it! 

 

peace,

Elle

 

Hello!  I want to thank each of you for joining the Social-Emotional Health and Learning Group.  My hope is that in these challenging times we can weave a dialogue about social-emotional health that will be renewing and inspire wise action for ourselves and our community.

Please join me on Thursday, March 31st at 6:30pm for a potluck dinner at my home to discuss possibilities for this group and how we as individuals can work together in the face of social and cultural changes.

Some questions that I imagine us reflecting upon: How can we understand and harness the power of our emotions in support of our own and others' efforts to create a more empathetic and compassionate community?  How can knowledge about social-emotional health and the practice of reflection play a role within the creation of a compassionate community?  How might we as a group want to share our collective vision, wisdom, and resources with other groups in the Compassionate Action Network?

These are just suggestions, so please come with your own topic of interest. I look forward to seeing you there and am confident that the conversation will be rich.  Please RSVP by March 28th and in your RSVP tell me what you'd like to bring to share at dinner.  For the folks outside of Seattle who are in the group: I am still uncertain as to what technology would be best by which you could "join" us for all or part of the evening, so let's communicate one-on-one should you decide you want to participate in some way.  

warmly,
Elle

Comment by Elle McSharry on February 20, 2011 at 12:04am

hey everyone, here is a fun quiz from the Greater Good Science Center.  It tests your ability to read emotions on faces--developed by Paul Ekman.

 

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ei_quiz/

Comment by David Hazen on February 15, 2011 at 2:10pm

Jennifer, I appreciate your comments about meeting in person. I agree with your comments about FB also. I've participated in the same way, sharing inspirations, and for me right now I am simply choosing to focus on writing a book. I'll be back on FB when I'm done.

Comment by Jennifer Mahern on February 15, 2011 at 11:29am

Hi all, I'm new but would like to throw my two cents in. I would very much like to find out more about this practice but to be honest, i would much prefer meeting in person if possible. I feel the connections we make and the engagement we have is much stronger when we are physically present. ;-) Course I understand if some can only join electronically, but my preference is to be actually present with others.

 

My take on FB is that, yes it seems to lack some heart but the only person who can change that is each one of us. I belong here and on FB and I make it a point to share inspiring links, articles, quotes, music and my compassion each day on FB and really enjoy it when my friends there do the same. I also have joined several groups focused on making the world a more compassionate place. I have also gotten feedback from friends in very far off places that they really appreciate my spirit there and get uplifted from it. I am a member here as well. I don't think we have to do one or the other. I think you might reconsider rejoining FB cause the only way to make it a more heart centered place, is to keep heart centered people there spreading the love. ;-)

Comment by Elle McSharry on February 8, 2011 at 7:18pm

hey there, I love starting conversation!  Thanks for both of your contributions.  I'm going to check into how to do a group Skype or something similar for the first meeting of the Social-Emotional Health and Learning Group, which I hope you can both attend.  More later.....

Comment by Christine Joann Callo on February 5, 2011 at 4:01pm

Hi, David. Just got your message! I'm going to call you in a few minutes. I'm actually at school, so I can't Skype in now.

 

I agree. I think FB could have more heart if people are just willing. I think it is magical when we share our thoughts, ideas and feelings with people all over the world. The concept of empathy and compassion in social networks is very interesting, and I read Jon Ramer's and Phil Lane's paper on 'Deep Social Network' and the 4th way.

 

I wonder how we can make deep connections with people half a world away, and at the same time not have social networks take over our presence with people sitting next to us. With that said..I should call you!

Comment by David Hazen on February 5, 2011 at 1:47pm

Thank you for the welcome of your friendship, Elle.  I recently de-activated my Facebook account because I felt FB "lacks heart."  My hope in befriending and becoming more active on CAN is to link with more like-minded peace, nonviolence, and empathy advocates.  My additional hope is that these online "door-openers" could lead to more authentic complete communication, as is possible in face-to-face interaction.

     The multi-channel Skype software is new, in beta version for Macs, and I've tried it without much success.  It's supposed to allow for 5 users, and my guess is that it will only work with connections and processors that are very fast.  I've had better success with Adobe Connect.  However, it costs $15/month for 5 users, and $40/month for up to 20, which is actually one of the better price bargains out there that I know of, and I don't know all the latest newcomers to the field.

Comment by Elle McSharry on February 5, 2011 at 12:55pm

hi David, Welcome to the group! Thank you for joining! I like your idea to create a multi-face video chat. Do you know of a way we can do this? I have heard that skype now has a function that allows individuals in a group to see each other and talk.

The objective of this group is to support what is known as "reflective capacity". It is an evidenced based practice and comes from the field of early childhood health and education. It has been scientifically demonstrated that reflective capacity (i.e. the ability to demonstrate empathy, to "hold another in mind") is correlated to healthier outcomes for children (i.e. children who feel safe and secure and who also demonstrate empathy). I have worked in this field for some time as a mentor/practitioner and am now wanting to apply these principles to creating communities that are reflective--after all, parents and children are not living in a vacuum. In my view, it will be a much better place for all children if adults around them and the communities they grow up in understand how to skillfully and purposefully harness the power of reflection. Also, from my experience, those who practice reflection as health providers have benefited greatly and felt renewed and sometimes healed. I have a vision of offering this experience to anyone and everyone who is interested, but specifically have been thinking about people who consider themselves activists in their communities because I have seen people who give a lot of themselves get burned out. This is a way to prevent burnout.

There's more that I could write about this, but I just wanted to give you a bit of background. I will be sending an invite soon to everyone so we can meet as a group for the first time. Maybe you and I can figure out a way to get you here electronically.

I checked out the Rhythm of Peace group. It looks great! Creating peace demands practice, I like their vision!

best, Elle

Comment by David Hazen on February 4, 2011 at 8:27am

I found this group through linking with Christine, and it sounds/feels comfortable and fascinating to me, although I have difficulty with the coldness of online text communication.  What would it be like if we could create a multi-face video chat?  I'm guessing you have face time with each other in Seattle, and I'm in Eugene.  There's an initiative here called Rhythm of Peace which seems to have goals similar to yours, Elle.

Comment by Elle McSharry on January 29, 2011 at 2:27pm

hi Christine!  I love your questions!  Without thoughtful questions no answers would ever emerge--thanks for putting yours forth.

 

I look forward to meeting with you!

 

Elle

 

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