l
Resource Packet
Robert Swartz
University of Massachusetts
at Boston
and
The National Center
for Teaching Thinking
and
David Perkins
Project Zero
School of Education
at
Harvard
University
. Singapore Summer Institute
on Teaching Thinking
June, 1998
In the Grip uf Ernolions
Promotirty Critical Thinking in Emutionnl Circ~~mstances
(Created by the Working Group on Teaching Thinking sponsored by Bob
Swartz and the Natiorlal Center for Tcachirlg Thinking)
CASE I: ,John
John was really a n g ~ a his
t neighbor, Eddie -- so angry that he got very agitated when he
saw the fallen trees. hls face got red and he slarted shouting obscenities. He then stormed
into his kitchen, grabbed a kn~feand went into 'Eddie'sdriveway and slashed his tires.
When asked why he was so angry, he said that Eddie had cut down some trees that were
on his (John's) property. He saw Eddie oiling his chainsaw that morning and when he
came home, the trees were cut down.
CASE 2: Mary
Mary went r v i her
~ famit y to the beach. Even though she enjoyed sun-ba thing and walking
on the beach, she wouldn't go into the water- When she got near the water, she started
shaking and when her parents prodded her into going to the waters edge, she started crying
as well as shaking. When her parents asked her, she said she was afraid of the sharks. She
didn't go into the water that day.
History of Emotions in Critical Thinking
'I'he criticat thinking movement taking place this century has made many inroads
into different formsof human thought, but one place most researchersitheoristshave not
ventured is into the red m of emotions, such as those depicted in the cases above. Critical
thinking has tradiriondIy been presented as an area of cognition where emotions are
hopefully m present, where decisions are made only by means of rational and IozicaI
.:
.
thought processes, unclouded by the effluvia that high emotions bring.
Uncomfortabie with this dichotomizing of thought and emotion, researchers have
late]y been examining processes which motivate g w d thinhng, called by some the
'dispositions'of good cnticaIlcreative thinking, which are not exactly emotions (such as
anger, hope or joy) but are "clustersof inclinations, d u e s , sensitivities, and habits of
mind that are expressed in ongoing patters of intellectual beha\rior." (Tishman and Perkins,
????)There are several frameworks of dispositions for good thinking that have been
developed by various researchers: Tishman and Perkins have identified the fullowing seven
critical dispositions "theabiIity (1) to be broad and adventurous; (2)to wonder, problem
find and investigate; (3) to build explanations; (4) to make plans and be strategic; (5) to bt:
intetlectudfycareful; (6)to seekand evaluate reasons; and (7)to be metacognitive." Robert
Ennis, long time critical thinking theorist has a list of (13?) (what d~ he call them?) which
include such skills or inclinationsas Iodlung at the total situation, beingable to look for
alternative solutions, taking a positions and being able to change a patron when facts
nfarrant,etc. Arthur Costa has a similar list which he c d s "inkllectual behaviors. "
(***':''r!Not sure dI this is necessary, but Bob did bring this up.)
But these dispositions, although vital to good thinking, do not directIy attend to
thinking which is needed under situatioos of fear or threat, such as the ones that John and
bfary faced above. A working group on critical and creative thinlung under the leadership
of Bob Swarz (National Center for Teaching Thinking) considered questions related to the
use of critical thinking in heavily emotional circumstances. These questions included:
W hat art: ernutior~s?l-iorv can useful cri ticai thinking be invoked during times ol' emotional
stress? How c m educators intervene to help popIe think through their cmolit~ns?
I<etuming to the two cases with which we opened this discussion, let us examine
the real circumstances behind the incidences.
CASE 1: John
-4s it turned out, Eddie didn't cut down John's trees. Rather, a tree cutter, Eric, had cut
down the trees because fie had been sent by his tree-care organization to cut them down.
However, in wri king up the job order, the secretary at the tree-care firm had made a mistake
and transposed two numbers of the address, thereby sending Eric to the wrong house, The
diseased trees were on 324 Pickering Street, not 342 Pickenng Street.
CASE 2 : Mary
As it. turned out, Mary had been watching TV the day k f u r e and saw a film about people
being attacked by sharks while they were swimming When she heard that they were going
to the beach, those images kept on coming back into her mind, and she started feeling
afraid. When she got to the beach with her parents, she looked out at the water and saw
what looked like a shark's fin. ActuaiIy, what she saw was a part of the flipper of a scuba
diver. And in fact, there never have been any reports of sharks at this kach or anywhere
nearby. The accepted explanation for this is that the waters are too cold for sharks.
Discussion of the Incidents and their Implications for Teaching Critical
Thin king
.
.
In both of these cases, the participants feel strong feelings and make some
assumptions which it turns out, are wrong. For the purposes of this discussion. we will
accept the reaiity of their feelings (anger and fear), even though inappropriare, m d use them
to malvze what is ~ o i n g
on to cause them to act inadonally.
- ~ h e s ernottons,
e
anger and fear, are not simple feeling states, but are rather
complex states of mind which contain certain cognitive components These are h f s , or
prr~positions,that are accepted by John and M x y , and the emotions that they felt represent
that they had towards that belief. The physical manifestations of these
specific
emotions that often accompany them (getting heated up, agitated with h e a t pumping fast;
or crying md shaking) are all physical effects of these emotional states. These need not be
klt when the emotional state is present. (-- ???? **"I'm not sure this is true) and the same
is tme of any overt actions taken by the people feeling the emotions, e.g. slashing the
neighbor's tires and not going into the water.
The attitudes involved in these e~notions,indeed the emotional states themselves,
art: often dependent on the acceptability of the beliefs that are components of these
what they do that they have the
ernntionai states. It is because John and May
attitudes they do. If they didn't have these beliefs, they would not have the attihrdes and the
accompanying emotions.
So how can we teach ourselves and our children to think critically in such
incidents? Certainly these sorts of situations do happen in real life - most of us can reel of a
fist of times like these where some of our most unfortunate thinking has gone on.If John
or Mary had stopped to think or question their beiiefs, they (and Eddie) would have been
saved much unhappiness.
But all incident such as this does not begin and end at the moments of the high
emotions. and i t is important to recognize this in order to build in cognitive and emohve
components to prevent or remedy the situation.
own veiy cornpiex feelings ('I'm recl ing h u l l that I was not chosen, a ~ that
~ dmakes me
angryn). Knowing themselves and orhers as actors in cultural frameworks promotes
understanding, and hopefuIly more acceptance of difference. Students can get to know
themselves better by participatine in role-playing situations, looking at rnocfeis who enact
different scenarios. and participat~ngin creative play bvith discussion of emotiond reactions
that emerge in that play. Students should be able to understand and predict what they will
do i n certain circumstances and have a repertoire of actions to take to stop thernseives from
holding to improper emotions. Cultural exchange of beliefs and frameworks will provide
people the wherewithal to create relationships that are tolerant of differences
Controtling/redirection of emotions
EmotionaI rnetacognition sfiouid provide the understanding of their corn piex emotions, but students should also be able to hold or redirect their emotions until they
estabiish the reality of the situations. Teachers can provide opportunities to experiment
with establishing justification for beliefs under highly emotional situations.
Controlling actions
Conflict management programs focus a good deai on this aspect of emotional
situations, trying to provide students with more possibilities of response than just verbal or
physical violence. Skills in communication (particularly listenin?) are needed here.
W e also spoke here about reparation and resolution coming at this point, but I'm not clear
what we said.)
Although critical thinking theorists have not dealt exiedvely with critical thinking
during highly emotional moments, it is an area which deserves attention and analysis.
There are many things that community feaders and teachers of all levels can do to help
students get a grip on emotions and respond to situations that are anger or fear prolonging
in ratio& ways. These include introducing students to emotional rnetacognition, and
promoting programs that help students control and redirect emotions and actions to prevent
violence and to fight fear.
DlSPOSlTlONS AND A81UTlES OF IDEAL CRITICAL THINKERS
Robert H. Ennis. University of Illinois, Urbana
July, 1994
-1
.
,
Ideal critical thinkers are W s e d to:
1. Care that their beliefs be true, and that their decisions be justified; that is, me to *set it
.the
- R
This indudes the interrelated dispositions to
A.
((hypotheses. explanations, conctusions, plans, sources), and beoneno
them;
. . to t h ~@h
.~t .IS lustlfred
. *
B. -a
a
-ut
onlv td the
by the
information that is available: and
C. PR
infa..
2. Reoregenta honestlY. theirs as well as others'. This includes the dispositions to
a u t the intended meaning of what is said, written, or otherwise communicated:
A. be
8. Determine, and maintain fdcus on, the andusion or question;
C. Seek and offer reasons:
. .
0. Take into account the
E. Seek as much
as the situation requires;
F. Be reflectivety b
and;
G. Consrder seriousb
a# vtitan their own.
.
This indudes the dispositions to
3.
A.
*
B.
rnm
trdnatr
Qthmwith their critical thinking prow&s. taking into
account otherspfeelings and level of unde~unding;and
m;
.
.
m
G
.
I
S
.
'
.
C. W
.
A few interpretive comments:
1) Several of the dispositions (2, F; 2. G ; and 3, A) ~ n t t i b u t 8to being wet!-informed f l,C),
but are separate dispositions in t h e own right.
2 ) In my expressed concern with true belief. 1 a a p t the view tbat our cuncepts and
vocabulary are constructed by us, but dso that (to oversimplify somewhat) the relationships
among the referents of our concepts and t m s are not constructed by us. We can have true or
false beiiefs about these.
3) The disposition (m)
to care about the dignity and worth of every person is not required of
criticat thinking by definition, but in order thaf it be humane. l call it a "correlative
disposition,' by wtlictt 1 mean one that. Jlhough not papart of tha definition of 'critka! thinking',
it is desirable for all criticai thinken to have it. and the ladr of it ft'Iak@sthe critical thinking
less valuable. W pernaps of m value at all.
A crithm of critical thinking kr a definitianal omission of caring for the worth and dignity of
every p e m
well be bsad on the unreasonable assumption that ?he concept, critical
thinking, should represent everything that is good. an ovennhelming requirement indeed. On
the other hand, any ~
~program a
Bat includes
l critical thinking, but not the correlative
disposition to a r e about every person's worth and dignity would be defkient and perhaps
dangerous. The power of aitlcal thinking unaccompanied by this mrrelative disposition couM
lead 10 serious trouble.
This set of somewhat overlapping & p & n S
is the resuh of years of attending to - in many
contexts the kinds of ways that peaple seem to go wrong. The thirteen sub-dispositions,
though interdependent in a number of ways, each respond to a significant and common failing
that i have found. Jointly, they seem to cover the waterfront fairly well. The set has been
refined as a result of the mmments and criticisms (by many others, to whom 1 am indebted) of
--
From my
..
~h,-
- . (Englewmd Cliffs, NJ:
P r e n t d Hall. forthcoming-)
my eartier anernpis to conceptualize critical thinking. So the set represents a cuimlnating
attempt to wfiyan important, comprehensive, and fairly manageable group of dispositions of
the critical thinker.
~ b l l i t , e s . 2to:
Ideal crilial thinkers have the
..
(The first five items involve
1. Identify the focus: the issue. question, or conclusion;
2. Analyze arguments;
3. Ask and answer questions of clarification ancVor challenge;
4. Define terms, judge definitions, and deal w ~ t hequivocation;
5. Identify unstated assumptions;
(The next two invoke the basis for the decision.)
6. Judge the credibility of a Source;
7. Observe, and judge observation reports;
(The next three involve Mere-.)
8. Deduce, and judge deductions;
9. Induce, and judge inductions
+
a- To generalizations, and
b. To explanatory conclusions (including hypothews);
10. Make and judge value judgments;
' '
abiiities invohring
and
(The next two are
*I
11. Consider amj reason ftom premises, reasons, a ~ ~ u m p t i positions,
~n~,
ancl other propositions
with which they disagree or a b u t which they are in doubt
without letting the disaqreement
or doubt interfere with their thinking ('supp6sitional thinking");
12. Integrate the other abilities and
defending a decision;
. dispositions
. . in making
. . . andhaving
them is not constitutive of
(The next three are
being a criticai thinker.)
13. Proceed in an orderly manner appropriate to the situation, for example,
a. Follow problem salving steps,
b. Monitor their own thinking,
c. Employ a reasonable critical thinking checklist;
14. B0 sensitive to the feelings, kvel of knowledge, and degree of sophistication of others; arid
15. Employ appropriate rhetorical strategies in discussion and presentation (orally and in
writing), indudng employing and reacting to "fallacy"labels in an appropriate manner.
m.)
m
-
--
--
A few interpretive comments:
It does not specify level. curriclllum
f ) This is only a critical thinking cantent outline.
sequence. emphasis, teaching approech, or type of content invoived (standard su@m-matter
content. general knowledpe, specraj knowledge, etc.).
2) W this outline k ujed as a saquema k r a separate c r W I thinking mum, the definitionat
and auumpkn-identifbtkn abilities would probaMy atme later than i n b i t d , because of
their diffhlty. In any course. whether a separate critical thinking course or not, all of the
dispasitknr. the suppositIona4 and inlegrational abilities (W 11 and tt2). and auxiliary
abilities #l 3 through t 1 5 woutd permeate the course.
3) The fallacy-labeis part of # l 5 is pan4 rhetorical, and partly constitutive of critical
thinking. The constitutive parts are covered in R1-5212. leaving the rhetorical part under
P1 5 .
2 ~ r o mmy "Critical Thinking: A Streamlined Conception.
25.. with a minor adjustment.
wehllosoohu,
14, (1 3911. 5-
husbands and wives rarely verbalized face-threatening feelings ("I'm
disappointed in you") or hostility ("I'mrnad at you").'6
Surprisin&, s o d ruies even discourage too much e x p s i o n of
positive feehgs.17 A h, and kiss for Mother is all right, though a
young man should shake hands with Dad Affection toward friends
becomes less and less frequent as we grow older, so that even a simple
statement such as '1 like you" is seidom heard between adults
SOCIAL ROLES
-
Expression of emotions is aiso iirnited by the requirements oi manv
social roles. Salespeople are taught always m smile at customers. no
matter how obnoxious Teachers are portrayed as pamgons of
rationalitv, supposedlv representing their field ofexpertise and
their'studentswith total impartiality. Students are
rewarded for asking "acceptable"questions and otherwise being
submissive creatures '
The result ofall these restrictions is that many of us lose the ability to
fed deeply Just as a musde withers away when it is unused, our
Qpauly to recognize and act on certain emotions decreases without
Practice. It's hard to cry after spending most of one's life fulfilling the
role society expects ofa man even when the tears are inside. After
Years of denying your anger, the ability to recognize that feeling takes
effort For someone who has never acknowledged love for one's
accepting that emotion can be difficult indeed
cn
A
rT
E R
F
o
U R
A
Emotions: Thinking. Feeling, and Acting
133
FEAR OF SELF-DISCLOSURE
In a s<rcietv t h a t discoura~esthe espression of feelings, emotional seifdisclosure can seem riskv-Is For a parent. boss. or teacher whose life
has L>~IL
bull( tin
image ot contlclt.nc.-t *and certainty, i t may be
irighlcrling ttrl sit: "I'm surrv- 1 lva5 wn)n$." A person who has madc a
life's (cork out ~ )not
i rclving on others has hard tirnc. saving, ,,I'm
lonesumc. 1 w a n t your friendship."
Morcovcr, st)mtgune who musters up the courage to share feelings
such as thcsc still risks unpleasant consequences. Others might
m i s u n c l u r s t ~ ~ ~At)
l f :expression c l t stkct ion might be construed as a
romantic invitatitrii, and a confession o f uncertainty might appear to
he a sign ofweakness. Another risk is thal emotional honrstY m i ~ h t
make others feel uncomtc)rtable. Finaily, t I 1 c . r ~ 'al~vays
~
a chance Ihnt
rmotional honesty could be used o p i n s t vwt, citl~rrout rrt'cr~~~lh.
or
tl~oughtlessnttss.Cl~nptcrEight discusst-S nltcrnativc5; t c l ;rlmpletc'
~iisdosureand suggests circumstances whrn ~t can by twth wi~.e
a1lrl
ethical to keep your feelings to yourself.
,411 crjroik~tr
1(,ifh0~(t
~vIcICII
,~r[jL.5
i.y,,rL,
1111f
(,,,
l
,.
,,llc.,l
o,li j
,,.
(7 S ~ I L * ~11! :~~UOf.'l/ If3<'s5.
Czrol Tavrls
A GUIDELINES FOR EXFRESSING EMOTIONS
Emotiom are a fact of life Nonetheless, communicating them
effectively isn't a simple matter. It's obvious that showing every feeling
of boredom, fear, anger, or frustration would get you in trouble. Even
the indicri minate sharing of positive feeIings-love, affection, and so
on-isn't dmys wise. On the other hand, withhotding emotions can
be personaIly frustrating and can keep relationships from growing and
prospering.
The following suggestions can help you decide when and how to
express your emotions. Combined with the guidelines for selfdisdosure in Chapter Nine, they can improve the effectiveness of
your emotional expression.
RECOGNIZE YOUR FEELINGS
Answering the question "How do you feel?" isn't always easK .A5
vau've alreadv read, there are a number of wavs in which reeling5
become recoinizable. Phvsiologic~lchanges can be a ciear si,=n cr 1 . or~
emotional state. Monitoring nonverbal behaviors is another exc~iieni
way to keep in touci-l wlth vour feelings You can also reco~nire?.our
emotions bv monitoring your thoughts, as well as the veroai mezsa3es
you send to others. It's not far from the verbai statement "I hare ~ n i s l "
to the realization that you're angry (or bored. riervous, or ernbar-
rassed}.
CHOOSE THE BEST LANGUAGE
,
.
Most people sufkr from impoverished emotional vocabularies. Ask
them how they're feeling and the response will almost always include
the same terms: good or bad, m ' b I e orgreat, and so on. Take a moment
now and see how many feelings you can write down. After you've
done your best, look a t Table 4-1 and see which ones you've missed.
Relying on a small vocabulary of feelings is as limiting as using only
a few terms to describe colors To say that the ocean in aII its moods,
the sky as it vasies from day to day, and the color of ydur true love's
eyes are all "blue"
tells a fraction ofthe story. Likewise. ifs overly
broad to use a term like god or great to describe how you fedin
Situations as differentas earning a high grade. finishing a marathon,
and hearing the words "1 love you" from a special person.
c
T E
R
F
o
U R
A
Emotions: Thinking, Feeling, and Acting
135
S O M E
afraid
aggrawted
concerned
amazed
confused
ambhtent
content
angry
annoyed
anxious
c=zY
defeated
defensive
delighted
depressed
apathetic
ashamed
exhausted
fearful
fed up
fidgety
confident
flanered
foolish
forlorn
free
friendly
frusrrated
furious
glad
glum
grateful
F E E L I N G S
hurried
hurt
nervous
hysterical
impatient
impressed
inhibited
insecure
interested
intimidated
irritable
optimistic
paranoid
passionale
peaceful
pessimistic
playful
pleased
possessive
pressured
protective
numb
--
bashful
bewiidered
bitchy
hlner
bored
brave
detached
devastated
disapminted
disgusted
disturbed
ecsratrc
loving
catm
edgy
canrannerous
elated
tukewarm
maa
zareiree
cneprru!
ernoamsseu
emory
entnusias~~c
mean
envrous
excirea
morr~iied
romanrtc
saa
?egecteo
sentimenzal
COCK!
CCtO
rr-rvraole
jealous
iwhl
jarl
lonely
miserable
mxed uo
puzzled
refreshed
regredul
retiwed
resent,:
iesf)ess
ridiculous
shy
sany
-g
subdued
surprised
suspicious
tender
tense
terrified
tired
trappea
W Y
uneasy
vulnerable
warm
weak
There are several ways to express a feeling verbally:
m
r
Through singie uurds: "I'm angry" (or "excited," "depressed,"
"CU~QUS," and so on).
By describing h t 3 happening to you: "1 feel like giving U,, "My
stomach is tied in knots," "I'm on top ofthe world."
By describing whnt you'd like to dor "I feel like running away," "I'd like
to give you a hug." "I feel like giving up."
Many communicators think they are expressing feelings when, in
fact, their statements are emotionally counterfeit. For exampie, it
sounds emotionally revealing to say, "I feel like going to a showu or "I
fee1 we've been seeing too much of each other-"But in fact, neither of
these statements has any emotional content. In the first sentence the
word fpel really stands for an intention: "I m t to go to a show." In the
second sentence the "Feeling"is really a thought: "I think we've been
seeing too much at each other."You can recognize the absence of
emotion in each case by adding a genuine word of feeling to i t For
instance, "I'm bored and I want to go to a show" or "I think we've been
seeing trx) much of each other and 1 feel confined."
SHARE MIXED FEELINGS
Many times the feeling you express isn't the only one you're
experiencing. For example. you might often express your anger but
A
MANAGING DIFFICULT EIMOTIONS
Atthough Icclinl; and ~xprc'ssin):mar~ycnioticlr~sadd to the quality
interpersonal reiat ionsh ips, not aII ( c c i i r r ~3re
~ beneficial. Fcr instance,
~icprcssic>t~,
tcrnjr, a r ~ Jjc.>tc,kisv t i c > l i t t i c
I
I
I
l
~ ~ r i n t ~ tIics<l
r~~z~
c l n l ~ r o c i i ~~~~- tt ~i IOII-..
o~ t. ~ 7 b
,ILL,
I
10
Ildp
I
YOU
fcci bei1c.r o r
c
I
t
I
~i-Il<T<.
is tlotltili,y ,<OOL/ o r f W ( /
f i z i ~ ~ A - i I~ ~~ ,I y~ ~11L m.
Y
[TI,/
~''ah'~~Car'
!7~3lIllCI
FACILITATIVE AND DEBILITATIVE EMOTIONS
We need to make a distinction between facilitative emotions.which_
contribute to effective functioning, and defrilitative emotions.
..-Bwhich
keep us from feeling and relating effechvely.
One big difference between the two types is !heir_inE*fy- For
instance, a certain amount ofanger or irritaL~nc a ~ . ~ ~ . - , . - , & i v e
because it often provides the stimulus that leads you to improve the
unsatisfying conditions. Rage. on the other hand, will usuafly make
matters worse. The same holds true for fear. A little bit ofnenfousness
before an important athletic contest or job interview might give you
the boast that will improve your performance. (Metlow athletes or
employees usually don't do well.) But total terror is something else.
Even a little suspicion can make people more effective communicators.
One study revealed that coupIes who doubted that their relational
partners were telling the truth were better a t
were trusting mates.19 Of coursk:
.. .
an extreme
-
c
H 15 1. T E R
F
o
. j.
U
A
Emotions: ThhIcing, Feeling. and Acting
l39
have the opposite and debilitative effect, reducing the abiiity to
m
is its own
and
in itself mn make n H h ' n of
Hell, a Hell of Hm'n.
M n Milton,
Patadise LOS[
interpret the parmer's behavior accurately.
A second draracteristic that distinguishes debilitative feeIinps from
fadiitative ones is their extend& du-.
Feeling depressed for a
while after the breakup of a relationship or the loss of a job is natural.
But spending the rest of your life grieving over your loss would
accomplish nothing. In the same way, staying angry at someone for a
wrong inflict4 long ago can be just as punishing to you as to the
wrongdoer. Our goal, then, is to find a method for getting rid of
debilitative feefin@while remaining sensitive to your more facilitative
emotions, which can improve your relationships. Fortunately, there is
such a method It is based on the idea that one way to change feelings
is to change unproductive thinking.
THOUGHTS CAUSE EXELINGS
For most people, emotions seem to have a life of their own. You wish
vou couId feel calm when approaching strangers, yet your voice
quivers. You try to appear confident when asking ior a raise, vet
.
.vour
eye twitches nervously
At times Iike these ifs common to sav that strangersor your boss
make you feel nervous just as you would say that a bee sting causes vou
to fel
pain. The apparent similarities between p h ~ i c a and
I emotionai
discomfort become dear ii-vou look at them in the toiloruin~W ~ V :
Bee strng--
physical pain
Meeting strangers
. nervous reelin?
When tooking at your emotions in this way, you seem to have little
control over how you feel. However, this apparent similarity between
physid pain and emotiod discomfort (or pleasure) isn't as gmat as it
seems t o b e Cognitive
pslvchologists argue that it is not mnbs such as
meeting strangers or being;jilted by a lover that =use people to feel .
t m t b m rather the belid thn, hold about these wen&
7 T l E X E E , who developed the cognitive approach called rnfiomlemotivr thmpy, tells a story-that makes this
dear. Imagine
yourself walking by a friend's house and seeing your friend stick his
head out of a window and call you a string of vile names. (You supply
the friend and the names) Under these circumstances it's likely that
you would fee]hurt and upset Now imagine that instead of walking
by the house you were passing a mental institution when the same
friend. who w a s obviously a patient there. shouted the same offensive
names at you. In this case, your feelings would probably be quite
different-most tikeiy sadness and p~ty.YOU can see that in this story
the activating event of being called namrs was the same in both cases,
yet the t.mt>tlonalconsequences were Leery diiferenl. The reason tor
your different feelings has to d o with yclur thinkrns in each cnst.. In the
f i ~ instance,
t
you would most likely think that y u r irirnd was very
angry with you; further, you might imasint. that you must have done
something terrible to deserve such a response. In the second case, you
J
would probably assume that your friend had sonle psychological
Jifficuity, a n d most likely you would f~vlsympnti~etic.
From this example you can start to see that it's the ir1kq?nrtatio)1$
people make ot an event, d u r l n ~t h i a a - t a l k , that
.
determine
L,--..- their teelrngs.' 1 I ~ u s ,F h i C l Ki~~tIEiGliaiislooks
Ijke~li-is:
~
-"-,
-
LZYII!
I3ci11gcalled names +
Beins called names +
l l,t~ry/r/
',I've done
FccIi11,y
>\,lnctiling \ v n ) n ~ . "
*
"My iricl,d tntst bc sick."
I~urt,upset
concern, sympathy
You can k 0 m e better at understanding how your thoughts shape your feelings
by completing the following steps.
1.
Take a few minutes to listen to the inner voice you use wtten thinking. Close
your eyes now and listen to it. .. .Did you hear the voice? Perhaps it was
saying. What voice? I don't have any wice. . ..'Try again. and pay
attention to what the voice is saying.
1
Now think about the following situations. and imagine how you would react
in each. How would you interpret them with your inner wice? WhaL ieeiings
Would follow from each interpretation?
a. While sitting on a bus, in class. or on the street, you notice an
attractive person sneaking glances at you.
b. During a lecture your professor asks the dass, 'What do you think
a b u t this?' and looks toward you.
c. You are telling friends abour u,r
vacation, and one yawns.
d. You run into a friend on the street and ask how things are going.
"Fine."he rept~esand rushes oft.
5-
N o w recall ttrree recent rimes wnen vou i e l i o srrong emotlon. f o r z a c r
one. recall rt-te acrrvzung evenr ono men rne Inrerpre:ar!on rnar ioc io vour
emorionar teacrion.
-
.*
IRRATIONAL THINKING AND DEBILITATIVE
EMOTIONS
k s i n g on the self-talk that we use to think is the key to understanding debilitative feelings. Many debiiitative fedings come from
accepting a number ofirrational thoughts-wp'l! @W
-.-m
-.
here-which lead to illogical condusions and in turn to debilitating
m ma
n two other ways ernoti~nsare caused that do not involve self-hk. The first
a aimuius that was originally paired with an
motion-amusingevent triggers the same emotion in future instancer YOU mi@t for
jnaanc+ fecl a wave ofsadness when you atch a whiff o[ the perfume a former lover
mat the time of your bwakup. The other cause demotions that dos not involve selfindv
afconditioned
f
response, in which
m r s when a pcmn has learned that a certain feeling (or more corrraly.behaviors
that reflect that feeling) results in a desirable a-esponscfrom ohets. For a m p l e . some
cry or mope &use
doing so gets them a symvthetic response.
c
14 A I.
.r E
U
F
o
U
w
r
Emotions:Thinking, Feeling. and Acting
141
feeling5 We usually aren't aware oi these thoughts, which makes them
1 nm
you would
call a fnncy shter-ond while I
d d o m actually fell, it might
haw been more i m ~ i v ife 1
had. A god reminding fall is
no d i s p c e . I is the fantastic
writhing to mid a fall which
destroys any illusion of being a
gentleman. H m like life that is,
after RI]!
e s ~ ~ i ~P l l y
~
~
~
~
~
L. TF-ii~dacy
of Perfection People who accept the fallacy of
! perfection believe that a worthwhile ~ ~ m m u n i g t oshould
r
be able to
han& every situation with complete confidence and skill.
Once you accept the belief that it's desirable and possible to be a
perfect communicator, the next step is to assume that people won't
appreciate you if you are imperfect- Admitting your mistakes, saying.
"I don't know," or sharing feelings of uncertainty seem like social
defects when viewed in this manner- Given the desire to be valued and
appreciated. it's tempting to try to appear perfect, but the costs of such
deception are high. If others ever find you out, thev'll see you as a
$onv. Even when your act isn't uncovered. such a performance uses
up a ireat deal of psychological energy and.thusmaKestherewards of
approval less enjoyable.
Subscribing to the myth ofperfection not only can keep others from
liking you, but also can act as a force to diminish your own seIf+steem
How can YOU like yourself when you don't measure QD to the wav
- vou
.
ought to be? How liberated you become when vuu
comiortably
accept the idea that you are not perfect! Thai
Like ev?:T:one else, you some:~mes nab:? a hard ::?p exwressrny
:-oursei:.
Like m-ervone e k . YOU make misraKer rrom
ib n o rezson to hice this.
i l T t :d
rLme. and there
You are nonestll; doing the best vou can to r e a i i z ~your potential. to
become :he best person you can be.
L- The Fallacy of ~ ~ p r b v a
The
l mistaken belief kiiown as the fallacy
of approvaI is based on the idea that it is not just desirabie but vital to
get the approval of virtually every person. People wno accept this
belief go to incredible lengths to seek acceptance from others even
when thev have to sacrifice their own principies and happiness to do
so. Accepting this irrational myth can lead to some ludicrous
situations:
., Feeling nervous because peopie you reaily don't like seem to
* disapprove of you
#
4 Feeling apologetic when others are at fault
., Feeling embarrassed after behaviiig unnaturally to gain anothefs
approval
In addition to the obviolis discomfort that arises irom denying you,
t)wn principles and needs, the myth ofapproval is irrational because
it implies that others will respect and like you more i f you go out ot
your way to please them. Otten this simply isn't true. How is i t possible to r~t;pectpeopie who have compromised important values just
to p i n acceptance? How is it possible to think htghlv of people who
~
~pcatedlydeny their own needs as a means of b u ~ ~ i nnpprovd?
g
rhough others may find i t tempting to use these individuals to suit
:heir ends or amusing to be around them, tlley hardly deserve genuizlc
~ffectionand respect.
Striving for universa1 acceptance is irrational because it's simply no1
mssible. Soo~iero r later a coniIict oi expectations i.; buund to occur;
.me person wiil approve i f you bri~nvc.onlv in a certain way, but
another will only accept the opposite course u i action. What are you
:o do then?
Don't misunderstand; Abandoning the fallacy of approval doesn't
mean living a life ofselfishness. It's stiIl important to consider the
needs of others, and to meet them whenever possible It's also
pleasant-we might even say necessary-to strive for the respect of
those people you value The point here is that when you must abandon
your own needs and principles in order to seek these goals. the price
Stephen Crane
is too high.
The Fallacy of Shoulds One huge source of unhappiness is the
fallacy of shodds, the inability to distinguish between what is and
what should bc. You can see the difference by imagining a person who
is full of complaints about the world:
.
3.
.
"There~houIdbe no lain on weekends."
.
"People ogg& i o Live forever."
.
-
"Money should grow on trees."
" W e m l l be able to fly."
I3ehefs like these are obviously foolish. However pleasant wishing
insisting that the unchangeabte should be changed won't at'iecr
mav be,
realirv one bit. And vet many people torture thernseives b?- ensa5inz
in this sort of irrational t h ~ n k i n cwhen thev contuse I.; rvith Or*!.I!i. The.:
saxr and think things like this:
"Mv friend ~h o..u
--l dbe more understanding."
"She sh~uldn'tbe so inconsiderate."
'They ought
to be more friendly."
-.
"You &0_1;11dwork harder."
The message in each of these cases is that you would p4er people
to behave differently. Wishing that things were better is perfectly
l%itimate, and trying to change them is, of course, a good idea; but it's
unreasonable to insist that the worid operate just as you want it to or to
feel cheated when things aren't ideal.
%coming obsessed with shouIds has three troubIesome conquences. First, it leads to unnecessary unhappiness, for people who
are mnstantiy dreaming about the ideal are seldom satisfied with what
t h y have A second drawback is that rnereIy complaining without
acting can keep you from doing anything to change unsatisfying
mnditions A third problem with shoulds is that this sort of corn-
c
1 4 A in
T e R
F
ov
R
A
Emotions: r h i n k i n g F e ~ I i nand
~ Acring
143
plamrnp can bu~jaa deiensive climate with others, who will resenr
being nagged. It's much more effective to teil people about what vou'd
like than to preach: Say "I wish vou'd be more punctual" instead of
"You should be on time." We'll discuss wa)rs of avoiding deiensive
climates in Chapter Nine.
4. The Fallacy of Overgeneralization The fallacy of overgmeraIization comprises two types. The first occurs when we base a belief on a
limited amount of aidmce. For instance, how many times have you
found yourself saying something iike
"I'm so stupid! I can't even understand how to do my income tax."
"Some friend I am! 1 forgot my best friend's birthday."
In cases like these, we focus on a limited type of shortcoming as if
it represented everything about ur We forget that along with our
difficuities we also have solved tough problems, and that though we're
sometimes forgetful. at other times we're caring and thoughtful.
A second reiated category of overgeneralization occurs when we
crxn,y,ytpmt~*
shortcomin~s:
'*YI>LI t t t . t ~ ' ~listen
.
to mt'.
"
"f can't think oi aarytl~i?~~."
On closer examination, absoIutc statcnwnts like lhesc. arc airntrst
always false and usually lead to discouragc~ncntor angcr. Yi)u'il Ice1 far
better when you replace <,vergent.raIiznt ions rt.it 11 morc accura tc
messages to vourscli and others:
")'t,u'\,c
bee11 \atL- thrcc tjnic.5 t h i s ~ ~ c . c ! i . "
"I haven't i ~ a anv
d
ideas 1 Iike today."
Many overgeneralizations are based on abuse oi the verb t o be. For
example, unqualified thoughts such as "He is an idiot [alI the time?]"
and "I nt7r a faiIure fin everything?]"will make you see yourself and
others in an unrealistically negative way, thus contributing to
debilitative feelings.
The Fdiacy of Causation The fallacy of causation is based on the I
irrational belief that emotions are caused by others rather than by
one's own self-talk.
This hiIacy causes trouble in two ways. The first plagues people
who become overly cautious about communicating because the). don't
want to "cause" any pain or inconvenience for others, This attitude
occurs in cases such as:
5.
'
l'isiting friends or famiiy out of a sense of obligation rather than a
genuine desire to see them;
:
.-
Keeping quiet when another person's behavior is bothering you;
Pretending to be attentive to a speaker when you are ziree4.- late for
an appointment or feeling ill;
-:-raising 2nd r e a s s u r i n ~others w h o ask ior %:our oprn!o= even 11:ne~
:-our honest rrsDonse-\v.ould be n e ~ a t i v r .
-.
nere's cerraini?, no excuse iar golng out or your rzrar :c! say thinzs
will result m pain ior others, an$ tnere wiii we times \\-hen you
choose to inconvenience yourself to make life easier for tnose you care
about It's essential to realize, however, that it's an oversrz:ernent to szv
that vou are the one who causes others' feeling. It's more accurate to
say that they respond to vour behavior with feelings of their own. For
example, consider how strange it sounds to suggest that you make
others fall in love with you. Such a statement simply doesn't make
sense. It woujd be doser to the truth to say that you act in one way or
another. and some people might fall in Iove with you as a result of
these actions, whereas others wouldn't. In the same way, it's incorrect
to say that you make others angry, upset-or happy, for that matter. It's
better to say that others create their own responses to your own
L
tnat
,
.
behavi01:
Restricting your communication because of the h b c y of usa at ion
Can result in thee types ofdamaging consequences. First,as a result of
PIU
a t i o n you often will fail to have your own needs met There's
likiiltood that others will change their behavior unless they
c
14 A
r
T E R
F0 UU
A
Emotions: Thinking. k 1 i n l ; and cling
145
know that it's affecting you in a negative way. A second consequence is
that you're likely to begin resenting the person whose behavior you
find bothersome. Obviously, this reaction is iI1ogic;aibecause you have
never made your feelings known, but logic doesn't change the fact that
burying your problem usually leads to a buildup of hostility.
Even when withholding feelings is based on the best intentions it
often damages relationships in a third way; for once others find out
about your deceptive nature, they will find it difficult wer to know
when you arr really upset with them. Even your most fervent
assurances that everything is fine sound suspidous bemuse t h e ~ ' s
always the chance that you may be covering up resentments you'fe
unwilling to express Thus, in many respects taking responsibility for
others' feelings is not ody irrational but also counterproductive.
n e frtllacv of causation also operates when we believe that others
cause our emotions Sometimes it certainly-seems-as-ifthe? do, eithei raising Or lowering our spirits by their actions But think about it for a
moment: The same actions that will cause you happiness or pain one
dav have little effect at other times- The insult or compliment that
aifkcted vour mood strongly yesterday Ieaves you unaffected todav.
- Whv? ~ & a u s ein the latter case you attached less importance'&&tre'rr -..
certain~vwouldn't ieel some emotions without others' behavisr:
-- . ;it's vour rhinking, no: their actions. that determines holr 1 . o ~
tee].
--/
6. The Fallacy of Helplessness The irrational idea of the faIlaq oi
helplessness suggests th2-t satishction in life is determined bv forces
bevond vou; control. People who continuousty see themseIves as
victims m a ~ such
e
statements as:
"There's no wav a woman can get ahead in this smietv- It's
u.orId, and the best thing I can do is to accept it."
a man's
"'-
,_
.
1
"
p r f e c t and of living only for the approval oi others, realize that failing
in a given instance usually isn't as bad as it might seem- What if people
do laugh at you? Suppose you don't get the job? What if others do get
angry at your remarks? Are these matters really that serious?
&fore moving on, w e need to add a few thoughts about thinking
and feeling, First, you should reake that thinking rationally won't
completely diminate debilitative feelings. Some debilitative feelings,
after all, are very rational: grief over the death of someone you love,
euphoria over getting a new job, and apprehension about the future of
an important relationship after a serious fight, for example Thinking
rationally can eliminate many debilitative feelings from your life., but
not all of them. -
A How IRRATIONAL
AREYOU?
1.
Return to the situations described in the exercise Talking to Yourself o n
page 141.Examine each one to see whether your self-talk contains any
irrational thoughts.
. ..
2.
Keep a two- or ihree-day record of your debilitative feelings. Are any of
[hem based on irrational thinking? Examine vour concrustons: and see if
"ou repearedly use any of m e fallacies descr~ofoIn f n e '~re=edi"g'-
3.
B k e a ctass poll to see wnicn i r r a ~ i o n aiallac!e:
l
zrs mar? -~ooular.-Also.
-ciscuss what suojects seem 10 slirnulate most of :as rrrziiona~rnin~lng
!for example. scnoolwork. Garlng. jobs. iam~lvazr- :a on.^
%
MINIMIZING.
DEBILITATIVE EMOTIOXS
---.
How can you overcome such irrational thinlung? Sociai scientists have
developed a simple, yet etfective approach." When practiced conscientiously, it can heIp you ~ udown
t
on the selt-dcieating thinking
that Ieads to many debilitative emotions.
.l'-
-52thc pri~tcrand the priticrs
itnmd their e ~ + ~ f n t i o t ~arid
s liiui
nn.u>?mn!yccmtc~~tnfIy
jvmrr ~lrtt-r:
"
,C I-.
m
r
ra~)
Monitor your emotional reuctions. The first step is to recognize when
you're having debilitative emotions. (Of course, it's also nice to be
aware of pieasant feelings when they occur!) As we suggested
earlier, one way to notice feelings is througn proprioceptive
stimuli: butterflies in the stomach, racing heart, hot flashes, and
so on. Although such reactions might be symptoms of food
poisoning, more often they reflect a strong emotion. You can also
recognize certain ways of behaving that suggest your feelings:
stomping instead of walking normally, being unusi:-.!!y quief or
speaking in a sarcastic tone of voice are some examples.
It may seem strange to suggest that it's necessary to look for
emotions-they ought to be immediately apparent. The fact is,
howwer, that we often suifer from debilitat ins feelings forsome
time without noticing them. For exampic. at tilt' end oi a try"%
"f was born with a shy pcrsorislity. I'd likc tto be more clutgling. btli
Lhcr~b'>ncltliirrg I cat1 do abot~tt liat."
"f can't tcII my boss that sI1~'is putting tor) Inany dcrnatids on mc. I f
I did, 1 might lose m y jtlh
"
The mistake in statcmc~itslilic. t hesc becomes apparent once you
realize that there are manv t h i ~ ~ g\rou
s can d o i i you really want to. A s
you read in Chapter Two, most "can't" statements can be more
correctly rephrased either as " U W J I ~ '("1
~ " can't teil him what l think"
becomes "I won't be honest with him") or as "doa? know hail?'' ("I can't
carry on an interesting conversation" becomes "I don't know what to
say"). Once you've rephrased these inaccurate "can'ts," it becomes
dear that they're either a matter of choice or an area that calls for your
action-both quite different from saying that you're helpless.
When viewed in this light, it's apparent that many "can'ts"are really
rationaiizations to justify not wanting to change Lonely people, for
example, tend to attribute their poor interpersonal relationships to
uncontrollable causes "It's beyond my control." t h y think. Also, they
expect their relational partners to reject them Notice the self-fulfilling
prophecy in this attitude: Believing that your relational prospects are
dim can lead you to act in ways that make you an unattractive prospect. Once vou persuade vourself that there's no hope, it's easy to give
up trying.6 n the other hind, acknowledging that there is a way to
change-even though it may be difficult-puts the responsibility for
)'ou~
predicament on your shouIders. You utn become a better
communicator-this book is one step in your movement toward that
goal. Don't give up or sell yourself short!
7. The Fallacy of Catastrophic Expectations Fearful cornmunicaror~
who subscribe to the irrational faiiacy of catastrophic expectation
operate on the assumptibn that i i something bad can possibly happen.
-.
'it will. Tvpical catastrophic fantasies indude:
--
K
"If I invite them to the parr11 thev probabiy won't want to come.
"If 1 speak up in order to try to resolve a conklict. thinss wiii
proba bly get worse.
"
"If I apply for the job 1 want. I probably won't be hired."
"If I teII them how 1 really feet they'll probably laugh at me-"
Once you start irnaging terrible consequences, a self-fulfilling
pmphecy can begin to build, One study revealed that people who
believed that their romantic partners would not change for the better
were likely to behave in wars that contributed to the breakup of the
~ktionship.2'
Although it's naive to think that all your interactions with others
will meet with success, it's just as damaging to assume that you'll fail.
hway to escape from the hilacy of catastrophic expectations is to
think about the consequences that would follow even if you don't
mmmuniolte successfu1ly Keeping in i n d the folly of trying to be
crl
A
rr
E R
F
o
U K
A
Emotions: Thinking. &ling and Acting
147
day you've probabl\r caught !*ourselffrowning a n d realized that
you've been wearing tllat mask for some time without realizing it.
No orre cnlr trtnke yorr frcl
No& the nctizxitin~L T . x - , ~Oncc
~.
you're aware of how you're feeling,
ir~fcrior;rr~lrssyoir n ~ r c cto i f .
the next step is to figure out what activating event tr~ggeredyour
response. Sorneti~ncrit is <>bvious.For inhtance. a common Sourcc
of anger i s beinf: accused uninirI\l [ur fairly) of foolish behavior;
being rejected by somebody i~nrcrtantto you is dearly a source oi
hurt, too. In other cases, hcrwever, the activatin~event isn't so
apparent.
Sometimes there isn't a single activating event but rather a
series of small incidents that finalIy build toward a critical mass
and trigger a debilitative feeling. This sart ofthing happens when
you're trylng to work or sleep and are continualIy interrupted by a
string of interruptions, or when you suffer a series ofsmall
disappoinhnents,
The best way to begin tracking down acthating events is to
notice the circumstances in which yau have debilitative feelings.
Perhaps they occur when you're around specific people. In other
. cases, you might be bothered by certain
ofindividuals owing
to their age, role, background, or some other factor. Or perhaps
certain settings stimulate unpleasant emotions: parties, work,
school Sometimes the topic ofconversation is the factor that sets
you off. whether it be politics, refigion, sex, or some other subject.
3. Record your grf-talk This is the point at which you a d y z e the
th~ughtsthat are the link between the-activatingevent and your
feeling. If vou're serious about getting nd of debiiitative emotions,
it's important actuallv to write down your self-talk when first
learnins to use this method. putring your thoughts on paper \%.iii
help vou see wnether or not the!. actuaI1>-make anv scnse.
-. .
. ,..
Monitoring your >e!i-caIk nienr be diiiicxlt at firs:. i n l s is z
.
new skill. and any n e w - ~ c t ~ ~ rseems
i i y awktx,ara. 11 >.otpersever.;.
hawever. vor?'ll
~*ou
uvill be abie to iuenrirj. the ikioughts rbsr
lead to v&r debilirat'ive kelinss. Once :wu set in the habit oi
recognizing this internal monolog. you'll he able to identify your
thoughts quickiv and easily.
4- D-te
your i m t i ~ mbei*.
i
Disputing your irrational beliefs is the
key to success in the rational-emotive approach. Use the list of
imtionat fallacies on pages 142 to 248 to discover which of your
internal statements are based on mistaken thinking. -.,
You can do this most effectively by foilowing three steps. First,
decide whether each belief you've recorded is rational or irrational. Next, explain why the belief does or doesn't make senseEnally, if the belief is irrational. you should write down an
alternative way ofthinking that is more sensible and that can Ieave
you feeling better when faced with the same activating event in
the future.
,.
After reading about this method for dealing with unpleasant
emotions, some readers have objections
.
2:+hegddrjvi&
..
.
r
i
'-
..
...
me:crazy:
f
..
tive' .,.
.
,
. ,!. .
.
;
.
;
.. .- * ' P . .m;ZLnrwardfwnocspeaking.up.and
*
telling:her
. . - . ..-.
4.
5.
&
..
~
~
~
~
E
~
~
~
-1.-
'
'
madat
B~~~~
myserf.
nappy. His response w a i "Yes. i'm nappy ior n o d
(empiiasis mine). Toward the end of the ct?nvemUon
sheaskeb him to Cell her that he loved he,: His
feS&IORSe -S.
-"I% rather nor. l don't wanc to ralk now.
I'fI rolk-ro you tornormw wilen vrru call about shipping
tfieivmiruezr
also felr crueland
heartless for wanting ro turn away such a lonely
fmsrrarm
ac nor being able ro-stu@,.
person.
Disputing Irrational Beliefs
..:.
l. This is irrational. ~f Bersy were peffect she
would be more sensitive and get my hints. But
.,
.
.
she's an insensitive person,-and she's behamng
just as I'd expect her to do. I'd like her to be
more considemre. though. That's rational!
2.
A
K1:qUicbothering me.
-.
. liwa~t+jdriend.Mikek
house^ the:othe~night-.:.r
. .
,
.
If I'dwtelI~her;lsherlI
be ctwshed.
. =wkn!he!mmi~edra~.phm
call
e from his.ex-wite-.. .
~ E 'no
Ssolutionto this me^ 1.m hm&d-if
(~e(ve.fis~~~~~.a~Uf a yeaorf~ f t e ,: r ~
tell her to leave me alone and damned.if I-don't. supen~Cja,conversat,on
she
hirn ,r he
feelings
I
..
B&&sand-SeU-T&
2.
This is a bit melodramatic. I definitely don? like
.
her intermptions. but there's a big difference
between being irritated and going crazy.
Besides, wen if I were losing my mind. it
wouiddtbe accurate to say that she was driving
me crazy. but rather that I'm letting her ge: to
3.
4.
m e IltSfun-to feel sorry for m~selfsometimes~
,. 5.
.-
).wishshewouldn't calI hrm! Why cad; she leave
him.alone?
i w.ishshe didn't exist!
1
.
.
doe:
.
.-2.::
mat
he mean, -\'m
happy for now?- Does
he have +ubts.about us?
- . .
Why c&? h e tet l.her firmly that ifs over between
them? And why does he want to talk to her
tomorrow about it? Maybe he has sorn&ng to
say that e k n & to keep from me. . .. - .
~fhe . .
back.to her. I would die.
l
d.
'
though.j,k7 . . .
. -.L..-,.
C. .
'. : .--.. ., . .;
..... .
.. ... .
.
-.:
3. Thii i 5 . a ~ g g e m t i o n f. am afraid to tell'her;:i;<Feeling$i.
:i-:, .
.
.-d...<I .
-b:)
but that doesn't mgke me-a.'cowardlIt makes me....
I
fek&gw:toF$.
~
i
k
e
k
&fe
and
toward
Mike'
j-felt .
.
. .
a less than totally seff-assured person. This
hurt and j&louLl$i
also'veryfeadul a&Lrt lo&"g
confirms my suspicion that Pm not perfect.
Mike.
4. mreb a chance that she'll be disappointed if
'
Disputing Irrational Beliefs
she knows that l've found her irritating. But f
1. My question. lhmy can't she leave him alone?"
h a e to be arefut not to catastrophite here.
is really another way of saying I wish she would
She would probabiy survive my comments and
,-
.-:c-
._I
'
'
-
2,.
.
.
~ . .. ~
~
. . .. ..
.
..
., ..
...
.;,.
..:.+?L,;. ..'.'.. . . .
,
..,,.
... i
l%.~quit.phonink~i~.i~
a.rationalrthingf0t:me.to ..... .:.-4;+,.:What I'm really saying here is that he shodd tell
_
C
.
.l>,..
.'T/.
. rntional-motive nypmuck sounds like nothin? more tiran :ryi~r,o
11s
.
tnik y ~ ~ ~ s of.e .feeiijzy
f ~ ~bad."
t
This accusation is totally correct.
.&er all, since we talk ourseives i ~ teeiin~
m
bail. r v h a t ' ~i\-renc
?.:rin iaikinp ourseive~r!lir oi baa reeiings. e s ~ e c ~ a iwnen
iy
:nry ET?
rasea on ~rrarionalI ~ ~ U ~ S I Rzrionaiiz~nc
I ~ S ?
ma\. Fe an esc-S= a n t
:ttir-deception, D u r tnere.5 n e r n i n ~wrone w r r . ~ e nraaofia:.
~s
"Thekind of d k w r i n y we jzrsr rend aunas pizonu anc unnarzinir.
ion? talk to m w i f in sentpncs and pampmpns." Tiere'sno neec io
dispute your irrational beliefs in anv specid literary style. You can
be just as colloquiai as vou want. The important thing is to dearly
understand what thoughts led you into your debilitative feeling so
)lou can cleariy dispute them. When the technique is new to you,
it'! a go& idea to write or talk out your thoughts in order to make
them dear. After you've had some practice, you'lI be abIe to do
these steps in a q u i h r , less formal way.
""17tisn p p u c h is too mid and impersonrrl. It seems to aim at turning
people info cold-blooded, ml~11lnting,ernotionis machines." This is
simply not true A rational thinker can still dream. hope, and love:
There's nothing necessarily irrational about feelings like these.
b s i d l y rational people even indulge in a bit ofirrational thinking
once in a while But they usually know what they're doing Like
heaithy eaters who -sionally
treat themselves to a snack of junk
rational thinkers occasionally indulge tbemsejves in irrationaI thoughts, knowing that they'll return to their healthy .
lifestyle soon with no real damage done
10
fa,
c
II A
r. r
l.: 14
I:
o UH
L
Emvtions: Thinkin% Feelin% and *ling
Wf
%
I belirzr that collrn,qt. is nil too
ofterr mistakenly seen ns t l ~ c
absence of fear. If you descend
by ropefmm a cliffand are not
fearful to some degree. you are
eilher m z y or unarmre- Courage is seeing your fmr in a
miisfic perspective, di$ining i f
considering the aifernntives
and choosing to function in
spite of risk.
Leonard Zunin
"Tllis tmhnique promises too much. There's no chance l could rid myself
c , j n l / ~ r ~ ~ ~ ifeelings,
e a n t h m r nice that might be." We can answer
this by assuring you that rational-motive thinking probably won't
totally solve your emotional problems-W hat it can do is to reduce
their number, intensity, and duration. This method is not the
anwer to ail your problems, but it can make a significant
difference- which is not a bad accomplishment.
I.
Return to the diary of irrational thoughts you recorded on page 148.
Dispute the self-talk in each case. and write a more rational interpretation
of the event.
2.
Now try out F u r abiiity to think rationally on the spot You can do this by
acting out the scenes listed in step 4. You'll need three players for each
one: a subject, the subject's 'little mice"-his or her thoughts-and a
second party.
3.
_
-
Plav our each scene by having the subject and second party interact while
-rhe -little voice- srands just behind the subject and says what the subject
is arooably thinklrlg. For example. in a scene where the Subject is asking an
InSIruCiOr 10 reconsider a low qade. rne voice mlght say. *Ihope I havent
m2cf rnlngs worse ov arlnglng rnls u ~Meyoe
.
he'll lower The grade arter
-reaG:ng rne i P S . : m sucn an iaiori Why aran't l keep quiet?"
L-.
whenever m e voice exDresses an irrarronal tnoughr. the observers who are
me snrt snoulO Call out. "Feu!.- at tnks uolnr tbe acrion should
sroo gvniie the grow aiscusses me irrar~onaltnougnt an0 suggests a more
v,arcnlng
ractonzi line of self-ralk. The players snould then reOlay the scene with the
voice SDeaking in a more rational way.
!+ereare some scenes. Of course. you can invent others as welt.
a. A couple is just beginning their fim date.
h . A potential employee has just begun a job interview.
c. A teacher or boss is criticizing the subject for showing up late.
d. A student and instructor run across each other in the market.
A SUMMARY
Emotions have several dimensions. They are
signalled by internal physioIogica1 changes,
manifested by nonverbal reactions. and defined
in most cases by cognitive interpretations Some
emotions are primary, while others are
combinations of two or more emotions. Some
are intense. while others are relatively mild.
There a r e several reasons whv people d o not
verbalize many ot the emcjtjans they feel. Social
rules discvurage the expression ofsome feelings.
particularly negative ones Many social roles do
not allow expression ofcertain feelings. Some
~ e o p I express
e
emotions so rarely that they lose
the ability to reognize when they are feeling
them. Finally, fear of the consequences of
disclosing some emotions leads people to
withkold expression of them.
Since total expression of feelings is not
appropriate t i adults,
~
sttvcrai guidelines help
deiintt when and how to share emotions
Many of these debilitatlvc cmotions arc caused
by \.arious types of irrational thinking. I t is oitcn
possibfe to comrnunicatc morcs confidetltly and
c!tectiveIy by identifying troublrsnrnc cmotions,
i d ~ ~ ~ t i f y ithe
n f ;activating event and self-talk that
triS~ercdt h e m , and replacing any irrational
f hol~gl?ts
~vitlin more logical ariaiysis oi t l ~ c
effectivcly. Self-awareness, clear Isnguagc, and
expressio~~
of mixed feelings are important.
Willingness t o accept responsibility ic,r (celings
instead oi blaming them on othcrs Icads to
better reactions. Choosing the propcr timc ancl
place It, share feelings i s aiso important.
\Vliile some cmotions arc. faciiitativc., o t i ~ c - r
debilitat~vt.feelings inhibit eifectivc*t't~nctiuning.
.itu,>ticrn
A KEY T E M S
debilitative emotions
faciiitative emotions
fallacy of approval
fallacy of catastrophic
expectations
fallacy of causation
fallacy of helpiessness
fallacy of of overgeneraliza tion
falIacy of perfection
fallacy of shoulds
A MORE READINGS ON EMOTIONS
Beck Aaron T, Cognitioe Therapy and the Etttofional
mixed cmotions
primary emotions
proprioceptive stimuli
self-talk
Izard. Carroll E Hu~nnnEmotions. New York: Plenum
Press. 1977.
D i s o r d a New York: International Universities
Press. 1976.
.Although Izazd spends a major part af the book
defending his awn thmries about emotbns. ekere
is also a good explanation of the sub,iea ~ Q T
interrzted readers.
Beck is one of the Leading figures in the
expioration of how thinking shapes emotions. In
this book, Reck makes the cognitive approach to
adjustment accessibie to nonprotessionaIs. He
describes how rational thinking and dear
iornmunication can help couples eniov better
:eiarionshius.
iazarus. .4rnold. and . U e n Fay. I Cm 1f 1 Iqanf Tb
Sew York: Morrow, 1975.
.
.
-+i ne a c t ~ o r expand
s
on the 11s: of irratlonai
ia1iacie-c descri~ea!rt this cha~rer.pro\*lainr:eaiiire exampies oi eacn and then sugFesrInr
correcrlve behavioi. .A usetul book.
Phomzs
bowers. Iohn L\., 5anara IM.Metts. anu
Duncanson. "Emonon and interpersonai
Communicanon." In Handbook or 11rrerperr;ott~l
io~ornrnunicario~i.
Beverlv Hills, Caiif.: Sage. 1985.
-iavns. &sol. Angcr: Tirc Misurracmrod Emorro?:.hew
This is a scholariv review ot theories of
interpersonal emotion. Bowers and his associates
also examine haw emotions are interpreted
through messages and the roie of emotions in
creating, maintaining, and dissolving
interpersonal relationships
York: sirnon L Schuster, 1983.
Tawis cites manv studies to show that the -let it a!!
hang out" approach to anger d o e liatle good for
either sender or receive^ This deem't mean that
unassertiveness is desirable either. The most
effective way to deal with anger in interpersonal
disputes, Tavris argues, k to express feelings
dearly and politely.
EUis, Albert. A N m Guide fa Rational Living. North
Hollywood. Caiif.: Wilshire Books, 1977.
Ellis is probably the best-known advocate of
changing feelings by thinking rationally, and this
is his most widely read book-
c
tr A
rT
E
n
F
o
U R
A
Emotions: Thinking. Feeling a n d Acting
353
PROMOTING
EMOTIONAL
Developing Social and Emotional Skills in
Classrooms
STUDENTS
OFTI-IE1
~ D I 5I ~ R KFKOW R~I.IAT MCXT
veteran teachers h a i ~ exper~enced
e
in the
past. For example, a 3rd p d c class can have
readers that are reading from the K to 6th
gr,~delevel. Kids are all over-there is ntlt as
tight of a bell curve a5 thcre n n s t was.
.
"
.,
,
I ~ a u eto teach the kid. W I I O a r e ic the dassroom, not the kids l\e \%,antto be tl~cre.
Thrrr backgrourlcl s h w ~ i not
~ i be judgecl, l7ut
r~;iIizt.you 11nvt. to t r n c i ~nil the kids thch
skills they need to btxsucct'~';iuI
in the cinssrtwrt-teach t h e kids where they are.
educators today are mournirlg the loss ofstudents t h q u3cd to have or would like to
llav~.
-Kevin Hagger ty,
Social Development Research Gro~tp
Fostering SEL to enhance knowledge, responsibility, and caring is both a dialle~igingand a highly
rewarding aspect of teaching. Dcrspite the fact thn t
manv preservice t e a c i ~ e reducation p r o g r a m s pay
scant attention to tile importance of social and rmot l ~ n s infltrcnce5
l
on ,311 iearning in thv cia5.~roorn,
i l l c r c a s i n ~null-tbers of cducntr~rsliavt. colnc t o rcc-
osnize i t as a kevstnne t<r ci(ectivc t r i t ~ c a t l i >A
n ~c-oordinalcd approach ~ I Iwhich t e s c h e r ~rcctli\.e
noct.hscll.y training. surport, 311ci recogl~itior~
i.;
cIassroorn practices that foster SEt, adaptations for
diiferent populations, and cunditisr-ts thclt prepare
a n d sustain a teacher who provide.<S E E instructio~~.
How Do Teachers F o s t e r Social
and Emotional Skills, HeaBehy
Altitudes, and Competent
Behavior?
Although our focus is on SEL, it is increasingiy
clear that teaching practices tI1nt promute. SEE are
intrinsic to good teaching practices in g~lsrml.We
can see this in the observations of a 4th grade
teacher who took great pains in t h e first week of
class to huIp her studcnk bccolnu coal~fortnblc.with
one another a n d work on cnnvnon e l e ~ ~ ~ eof
n tthe
s
cIassroom routine. Silt started by cspluring the
stanciards for classroom b r h a v ~ u (r e , ~ . "IYith
,
your
prlrtncr, make a li.;: of things
c.111d t ~
111 o u r classroom that si~otvrcspcct for.otliurs, rct5pect fur o u r st.lvc.-..or rcq~t\ctfor o u r ~ . n \ ~ i r o ~ i ~ ~T!>v
~~.l~t").
reacher then pointed out Illat tl~cscy t , a ~ ~ J ~ ar rdcs
the l?;lsis ftlr a11 clnst; r c r t l t i l ~ ~cvcb!>
s;
sirnpic ti7ii1gs
likc linirlg u p a n d !istenins tk, r ~ t h c r sspcnk c a n bt.
J o f ~ cit1 nVnv!-!that 5llo{\ rc':;pcct. T l ~ c
ci>ttr.ccisc;.;
spcrtc~ft'fi>f-de";ilxtli 1125,WIIICII itt'rc f ; i l l , ; l r l ~ i
rvliici~cndlbitu~i
ciScrvr)ni,to gt.t their work done.
( J n i c * stuJc'11t3clc~c~t<lc.ri (r ~i\c.tt>l>d,
\,oluntct.rs
dc~nonstr,l
ted anti t i 1 ~ 1class proi.idt'd feed b.7c.k. Fin<~lly,
t i ~ c\vl~olcclass pr;ict~icJt h e rout in^ unhl i t
iirr*ntsniot)llliy.
During this ;~ct~\.itg:
stuclL.~risgot to k n o w one
or~cltherbetter, ymcriccd c o ~ i ~ ~ n u n i c nskills,
t i o ~ ~nncl
developed a sCnscof responsibility for their behavior. 111 p.?r!iculnr, 1Iwy bccnmc ,)ware of differeilt
pimpectivcs in t h c classrr~om.
In the short run, this teal-her's effortsleft Iess
time for acarit.n~icpursuits th.~nthose of anotl~er
4th grade teacher tvho intr~1Jucedclass routines
with brief .tdmoni lions or "rclninders"of appropriate bel~nvior.One month latet; howrvefrthe
teacher who 11ad expended tilnt. the first week on
these elements spent very littlt. rime attending to
basic mn nagcn~sntissnes. Routine events occurred
smoothly with Ji ttle obvious input from the
teacher. In contrast, the other teacher was still
scnrching fur a n efficient mode of operation. This
difference continucrl tiirough the last observatiuns
in winter. Others 11ar.r found rlrat ovet the course
of the scIloc>Iyear, teachers M'IIO spend valuabIe
c1ass time on these so-called "nonacademic" pursuits c n ~ LIP
i w i t h consiJcmbly nlorc time for tt';lil~ins aindernic subjects.
Why is thc first tt.aclier's approach so much
more p w e r f r ~ tl~an
l
simple rcn~indersuf class prot ~ i u i None
?
ofthese class routines is new to 4th
grade students. Both teachers communicated the
uxpelttxl behavior. But the firs! teacher introduced
the conccpr ofshowing respect. By showing conccrn for students' feelings, encouraging a group
spirit, hilving students play an active role in deterniiliing ~ R Lyrotocc>l,
*
n11J communicating important reasons for h.lving rificient and respectful
rcxttincs, this tpaihc~rs t i n ~ u l a t a~ ~
sense
t
of be1011ging anif the motivation ti, cooperate. In the nest
section, rvc esplorc. I~owtcnch~.rsa t 211 grade Ieveis
cril,lte a stBnt;e0 1 rcspei-t,tiring, 2nd belonging hv
'I ttencli~i!; i o stu Jt-11
ts' sirCi,~lillid elllot i n n ~ ncecls.
l
Building a Responsive
and Empowering CIassroom
Atmosphere
SEL progrnms crrgnge s t ~ l r l c n t sas actitjr yartrters
in cr.ratirrg n cinssroo~na t ~ ~ o s p l l uzrrhcre
rc
crzri~ig,
rcsporrsibility, i-mst, and conunitrtte)rt to icariiirr~
cilrz
fl~rhrr.
Rationale
AdIer (1930) proposed that a sense uf belonging motivate5 children to develop their skills and
co~~tribllte
to the wclfare ofail. Much of the found.3
tion of SEL is the conscious effort of school personnel to increase a sense of belonging or attachment
with the sciiool (e.g., Charney 1992; Lewis, Schaps,
and Watson 1996). Research indicates that educators who establish firm boundaries, foster warm
personal reiationships in the dasroom, and enablr.
studcnts to have an impact on their environment
strengthen students' attachment to school, their intercst in learning, their ability to.rPh-ajnhorn selfdestructive behaviilrs, and their positive brfiaviors
(I-larvkins, Caialano, et al. 1992; Solorn(>~~,
Warson,
Battistich, Schaps, and Delucchi 1992)..:,
,
.
ImpIications and Applications
Students' participation in ciassroom decisions
and responsibilities provides an excellent opportuni ty for them to experience the satisfaction and responsjbility of influencing their classroom
environment (Classer 1969). An added benefit is
that students-like educators-are most likely to
act in accordance with group decisions or rules if
they have had some part in forming them (Lewin,
Lippilt, and White 7939).
So~ntrteachers make an explicit link to the U.S.
system of government by creating a "Clnss Constitutiorl" c)r "BiII of Rigllts n ~ i d1ZrsyonsibiIitic~"
.g., Elias and Tubi;ls 1996). In one such session,
le teacher starts out by hav~ngstudents discuss
iie classroom goals, teacher and student duties,
1r1dpossible problems. He asks students to bminl ~ r mpossible "laws" or guidelines. Tiic students
luickly suggest prohibitions for various p r o b l ~ m
buhaviors (e.g.,"no put-downs," "no rajking betind someone's back," "no laughing when soniesudy is tillking"). The teacher helps students
cstate their ideas in general, positive terms, such
IS, "Listen respectfully until it is your turn to
.peak."
As the activity continues, students are in7:olved and paying attention until one student
rnakes a rambling, confused suggestion. Ignvring
'he student's grammatical errors, the teacher clnri:. :iqthe speaker's intent with a brief
['hestudent looks.pleased to l ~ a v emndc n contrib~iion, and the attention of the class returns now t11at
;he sui;gestion is understood. Students who+nve
:,t t . 1 I ~ o l d i n
hack
~ i n order to sec how the tearher
the long-term consequences of uariuus actions, n11d
asks students to consider how their parents fccl
abr~utvarious behaviurs. Eventuaily, thc cIass arrives a t a set of classmorn t r r l c ~or rlgrcc.mc~~ts.
Often, the exercise concludes w i t h everyone signing t h e list of rules.
Developing a Safe and Caring
Classroom Community
!n a safeand caring community ofIcarncrs, s tudents feel they can freely express themselves and
risk making mistakes because they know they will
be accepted no matter what. TcauI~crs-cl.catc
sucla ,a
learning community by providing safe, firm
boundaties and modeiing respcactfuI, si~pportiveinteractions with others. They insist that their students alco be res~ectiuland sup~oriivc.
ofr>illcrs,
a n d they provide specific learning experiences that
nurture and serve the community-An emotional nttachment
to teacher>, peers, and .;chool i s a vitai
:~ ~ s p o n to
d ss t u d c ~suggestions
~t
and gaffes start to
Iink to academic success (Hawkins, Ciitalnno, ct '11.
contribute. When a lu11 occurs, the teacher waits,
1992; Solomon et al. 1992). Educators nccornplish
giving students time to think. More thoughtful and
thjs goal by communicating caring in their teachcreative responsa seem to follow.
ing and inspiring students 10 identify with them
The teacher makes a concerted effort to avoid
: and feel hopeful about their ability to learn.
!wing the brai~~storming
session become a mindEqually important is fostering students' abilitim t o
less parroting of "therules." This class has yet to
form and maintain mutually supportive relation.uggest any inappropriate rules, so the teacher
ships, which serves as a buffer against dt.veloping
y s , "How about this: students can leave the classsoci,qi, emotional, physical. and academic problems
ioom whenever they like"? Students laugh and
(Parker and Asher 1993, Rutter 1990). In this way,
~cIf,"Ye;th!"The teacher adds, in a matter of fait
thc classroom becomes a microcosm of the 1orgt.r
\<ay, his suggestiotl to the list of idcns. It1 this wax
community, giving students a n oppurtuilily to try
he models the nunjudgmental approach neccssiry
out a n d develop t h e social skills that elicit carit-ig
for bminstormin~,ta kcs the steam o u t of s11I.yrcand support.
yonses, a n d enablcs students to practice rtralu;lrThe persorl~lbonds between teachers and stuing 2nd c ~ r r ~ c t i npour
g ideas.
dc.nt.; influcttce much of tllc Icnrrting irj sc.1iclofs.
When thc class starts to discnss [he i m p o r t a ~ l i c
When tcacllcrs s h a r e parts of t h r i r persr~~:nl
l i s u s to
ot ;he various su~gestions,
rvt. sec the te;icht.r t l l i i i i
illustrate elements of a n SEL curric~~lurn,
they nourlot of rcDsso~~ing
about the etf~c'ts
of ottr bt)ha\.ior
ish thaw bands a n d excite student interest in tile
I U otl1c.r
~
Fcopit.'> f~clillgs,tvcil-beins, r r l i c i abilrtl*
It.ssc>n. E l c r n c ~ ~ t a students
rv
In particular lovt' hear10 ic'arr?. 1-iccsc'?,3 rich r~ocabt~lnrv
re1,ltt~lI o ~ 1 1 1 0 111s
;lbout t l ~ ot c ~ i t ~ t - ro' w
s n c h ~ l d l ~ o ocxpcrld
lions, tilirncsc, , \ n ~ hl n r c d gn,>is tic vrn 14ln~ize.:
c.~~r-i..c 13)- t.,lling alb(>ut
a n d r + t ' t ~ t r t t ~i c * n l l l ~ ! g
S,T
:'RD,jIOT!NG S ( K i A L AIVD EMCjTlONAI. LEAICNING: GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATOXS
The ch~ldrendrrh lnro school in the mornlng and make thetr way into the classroom. The leacher stands by the
entrance and welcomes them.
"Good rnornlng. Leah . . . Hi, Andy . . Marn~ng,William. Morning, Renee. l like your new scarf:
At morning meeting time. she informs the group, gathered in a wide cjrcle, that she looks forward to seeing them and she likes to show this wjrh a "Good Morning." What is she to think, she asks in a somewhat joking way, when she says hello and someone says back. "Mrnmf:' or "Grrd* or pulls back-she imitates a turtle
receding into a shell. Giggles. The children enjoy the pantomime. How nice it feels. she telis them in a mare serious ve~n.ro hear a hearty round of "Hello" or "Good Morning!" or "Nice Day:' Perhaps we just need some
warm-ups, s h e suggests?
"Good morning. Eddte:' Eddie smiles and looks around. "What might Eddie say now?" the teacher asks.
"Good morning. Ms. Charney?"
"Yes. I'd like rhat. Eddie?"
"Good rnorn~ng:' Edd~emanages in a quiet vojce.
"Good rnorn~ng,Justinl'
Justin rcphes with sp~rit."Good morning, Mrs. C."
"I like rhat nice strong vo~ce.Justin. l also like hearing my name."
Then. Just~nis asked to greet someone else in the circle. until there is a full round of "Good Mornings"
and every s~ngleperson in the class has been named. Every student has been greeted, and has named and
greeted another. tn this "gamebeach child is spoken to, named in a friendly manner, and is responsible fir contlnuing that manner. The mood of the circle is now awake. "Yes. we are glad to be here. Yes. we are glad to see
each other." The "Good Morning Game" initiates each morning meeting untii there 3s a spontaneous flow.
4 h a r n e y [1992). PP. 3-4
rclatiunsl~ips\\.it13 ii-itlnrls and family, a te~chc'rin
Kent, Washingion, c~orninunicatuda lot about the
ability of ~IIOSC b~lililsto weather adversity. S11e
aiso made her students fee! as though they were
somehow part of J healthy family
:
. CIass Meetings, Sharing Circles, Councils.
Many teachers tlse class meetings or sharing circles
as tools for building a sense of community (e.g.,
EIias and Tohins 1996, Lewfs et al. 1996). Tl~cseactivities offera structurtd 0pportunit.y for each student to speak witl~outinterruption. Students may
be asked to "check in" by describing how their
week has buc11,n h l t they think about topics being
explored in Irssons, or how they are feeling about
class, scl~ool,c>rii\,ic event. Often they are asked
to share sometl~ingabout then~selvt.~
to help other
i
students get to knorv them better, Those who dll
not wish to respond are "paswd" and may contril
utt. later. Such an activity of ers a welcome b u i h
at the beginning of the day to help students get
ready to learn, and 11asbeen used in both general
and special education settings to start oif every
morning and afternoon.
Some teachers pass "taIking sticks," toss
KooshTM
balls, or have another "Speaker Power"
object to designate the speaker and remind students to speak in turn. Turn taking provides a bui'
in delay that discourages impulsive responses to
provocative statements. Students are thus more
likely 10 relate titeir contribution to the theme of
the rnecting rather than buiid reactively on the Fr.
vious comment. More rescnrr_.d
students mav become more vocaI in this situation because they dc.
not have to fight for n turn. The safety and opportunity for expression provided by this format contributes to the growth of respect, empathy, and
recognition of shared experience, thereby strcngthening the sense of community in the classroom.
Using a Comprehensive
Framework for All Content Areas
i s adopting a consistent fr;inle\vork to foster the duv ~ l o p m e n tof social and emotional skiils, rnther
than a fragmented focus on is~iatt'dissues. Effective SEL teachers provide studcnts with generic
tools (as identified in Chapter 3 ) that can help
them maintain heaIt11y reln tianships and make
wise choices. Usins c t ~ n ~ i b t t ~langungc
nt
~ I I Lsxrrstt~
gies, the framework is then applied to t h specific
~
developmental issues of concern in a particular
cl;lssroom, schooI, or community.
G U ~ D E L I M
6 EV
lrnpiications and Applications
F
Acaderrtic nnd SEL goals arc 101 qied
by n corrtprc-
Izensive, theory-bnsedfi~m~rvork
tlrst is degelap~rrentalfynppropriate.
Rationale
..
Having a cortsistentlv used i r a m e ~ r o r kis a kev
comprmc~~l
of effective instructio~~
in a n v dnmain.
but-in the cxc of SEL, i t is e$pt.oi>lJj.
i m p o r t ~ n t..-\S
the 1111rnberof rvritten curricult1m5, workbooks,
videos, and other materials in the area of SEL multiplies, teachers, principals, and currjculum coordinators are inundated with d i v e ~ s eapproaches and
methods. Often, curriculums cover only specific
problelns or issues (e.g., bullying, substance abuse,
sexually transmitted diseases). As a result, teachers
in a single year may work from various curriculums, perhaps picking bits and pieces from each in
an effort to reduce the time comn~itrnent.Tlris
smorgnsbord approach can lead tu conftlsiot~for
students and teachers because of the differing o n cntiltions of cach curriculum. In contrast, t h e Inost
cffecti\~e
SEL instructiot~has a concrep~ualtilrt,lJ
woven through a11 topics and classrooms.
Thcrc are rt variety of frameworks un which to
base SEL teaching. While 511;lrins man\ terltur.cs.
mod~:i\ llsr diffcrcnt r l n l f y ~ r l gthcmcs alld htra h ~ I C SS ~ I C 35
~ I problem
~ l a s s i ' i ~ oC ~
O :!I~I I ~ ~ I I -
nit? bi~lidinl;,sr)clnl boniii:bg, o r t . ~ : ~ r ) t i u i ~ , ~ I
~~lt~lIii;c~~ct.
Essential tc> &in:; ,l r c f l c i t i i . ~
c r i r r i L ltor
A veteran 6th grade teacher reporred the following obsen-ations after two years ofusing the
PATHS curriculum (see Appendix C) i11 his school:
In 6th grade we're under a Iot of pr%sure to
stress basic academic subjects. and yet at the
same time we're being hetd respunsiblu to
co\,er net\, c u r ~ ~ r ~ in
l uhrllily
n ~ ~li/c ar:j
sexuality, and drug. aicohoi. ~ n I-iclttmce
d
prevent~on.In the past there 1 t . a ~I I O ~ i ~ t ~ g r a tion. and tilt. r;tndcnts rzptjrt)n'tx\,c.ii prc.;~aret.ci
to 11anJle these tc?plisSince our sck,ooi adopted
A consistent yroblern-sol1,ing model, we have posters o f thc
model in the dassroum and around the
srfrool environment. The teachers at Jiffer-
rnt grade Icrels arc teaching thew skjlls, and
we noIv have a common langu~goto t . ~ i k
about them. i t doesn't matter i f rvc'rt. lnlking
about health. srnoki~~g,
or scxmlity,
and
thy kids share s prubicm-.-;oivi~y.lypro;lch
to talking ahuut thcc ~ssucsL7t~J
dilcrnrn13s.
Instructional Methods That Enhance
Social and Emotional Learning
S E L rrt_cfr-llctio~r
t l s r ? A i7rrric7t!/
tiini~lrirrgj r i r . t l r o t i 5
f o 1rctii~r11~
prortro t ~ ~' ~ r r ~ i t itiu~rrttiii>
pic
ofi~ztc~lli-
g~rrcr.
---
EXAMPLE5B
WALLSSPEAK
VOLUMES
ABOUTSEL
11 1s drfficult ro lmag~nean effecrrve SEL classroom rhar does nor display on ifs walls the steps. rules, values, .
and pr~nctptesby which it operates. The best are generared by Ithe children. Typ~catly,one finds procedures and
problem-solving steps used by specific programs: here are some "created" wall vignettes:
Responsibility
1 to be respected
to be kind
1 IDbe safe
-
-to be careful
I to learn
--
to do my best
]to hear and be heard
friends
-
1
1
"No Violence"
by Emiiy, Grade 2
May 1996, Wash~ngton
There should not be any Violence at this scfiool. Not even at any other sctrool. We need
to Stop, Choose. and Move on. We need to persevere and not fight- We have to respect other
people's boundarres. No Violence! Persevere! Be kind to others! Take care of yourself! Keep
persevering!
--From Lynnwood Intermediate Schoc:.
Edmonds School District. Lynnwood, Washingrot
li
if= Skills: Learners Under Construction for a %ettee;~6n&r&,v"
-a
Pledge to Myseff
This day has been given to me fresh and clear
I can elther use r1 or throw it away
I promise myself l shall use this day to its fullest
Realizing it can never come back again
t realize this is my t~feto use or throw away
l make myself what I am.
Pledge to the Universe
f pledge alfegrance to the world
To cherish every living thing
To care for Earth. Sea. and A I ~
W t h t2eoce at10Freedom everywhere!
-Steve VandeGrind. Teacher
!
l
s!gn posted by Brenda Stlngley. Tead-te
varietv of intelli$enccs, tcnclicrs allow for tIlc
strengths and weaknesses nf a broad range of
children.
:
Implications and Applications
The most potent variable is being clear what the
vision is and what we are going to accomplish.
and having very clear modeis of d?ange. Just as
public health researchers have identified srnoking and a diet high in far as risk factors for heart
disease, we have ident~fieda set of risk factors
for adolescent health and behav~orproblems. In
the Social Development Modet, we focus on protective factors to reduce the risk: It's giving o p
portunities for kids to be involved in prosocial
roles. teaching them the skills they need to be
successful. and providing consistent systems of
recognirion and reinforcement for prosociai involvement. This is the foundation of where we
Varying the methods for introducing SEL lessons can be important to cnsaging the students. A
3rd gra Je teacher in Tyro~ic,['cl~nsyltfnnin,reported that "the class begins to zone out i f I always
: introduce a lesson on feeIings by starting with a
story." On the other hand, children often Iook for
,
Alfie Kohn (1996)provides an example of what
happens when there IS ~ncongruitybetween an
SEL approach and an example of hcw an approach was applied during the formal lesson but
r;or ;o nonlesson interaclic3n.
start.
-David
.
Hawkins and Richard Cataiano
Social Development ~ e s e a r c hGroup/
~
Raising Healthy Children
University of Washington, Seattle. Washingron
in a 3rd grade classroom in N e w Jer-
I
l
Rationale
Research makes it dear that various domains
j
of intelligence are interrelated (Gnrdner 1983, Sylwester 1995). An athlete's thoughts and feelings
i
:
while competing will dramatically affect the level
of pliysical achievement, a child's ability to Ieam
academic material is profoundly affected by emotional state, and social prc)bicrn soiving is a prodttct of the integration of emoiic)~~nl
intelligence and
analytical sog~liti\rcprt,cc.sl;c.-;(V;lnr.~sic>
1994). NWerthelcr;..;, Ally SEL ,lc:i~itywill t.n~phnsizesrlrnu of
thcse domains csver otllcrs. Witllin G.>rdnerdsmultipit: intt.iIi~cnccsfranjt.lt~c,rk,tor t.s,~mplc.,SEL is
most c l o ~ c l ylinked to tjlc. intrnpcrsonal a n d irttt'r~ t ~ ~ ~ ( l i! rl ~
; lt lt ' i i i g ~ 'SEL
t ~ ~i ~i ~~ n;11si1
; . e ~ ~ r i c I ~ - - ; b~
i~~d
cnriclie~l-by tilt. oti7c.r intcliiscnc'es: ~ ~ c r l ~artistll,
'
tic, lntlsic:~I,~ o ~ ; i c a ~ / r ~ ~ , ~ t ~t ~~ ~cc ~l t~~~ri ~
l ~
j~
, t1~ c~ , ~1 l ,
~ ' ; t c:JJI 011 J
horfilv/ kincstlict~c:. ~tsill;; r l ~ t ~ x i t i IILI
sey. I once watched a teacher whose
approach to academic instruction
could be described as a model of studenr-centered discovery and consrmc~ivist!earning. . . . Then the
class meeting began. "Where do
you sit?" s h e asked rhe boy-and
then cut hrrn off as he started to answer. chas~nghim back to h ~ ass
signed seat. The meorlng's purpose
was to discuss a scheduled field !IQ.
but it consisted mostly of telling sru-.dents what she !bought they needed
to know. . . Siudenrs otft:ted several suggestloi7s. whlch wele
brushed aside urit~lshe got th-P 313At no poinr
swer she wanted.
duang rhe tveeting
students
been asked to n-rake a dectsion OF
thlnk :hrough arr Issue or e v e r address tsch otner (DD. 91-92!
I
and scck rcgr11,lrlty.A 3rd grade teacher in NnsIivillch rt>portcci," T l ~ C-11iIrlrt.11
c
nl~.r,ct)rstvarlt to ~ I I J
each Icssc~nby m;lki~>s
,I c o m p l i ~ i ~ elist;
n t if I fc3rgt.t
t1-rc.y always r c r n t ~ i ~~nc..
l It gives a scnsc r ) f c1asurt.
t o tlic topic and encis t11111gs
on a positivc note."
These two exaniplcs indicate that sensitivity to the
interests a ~ l needs
~i
of one's class as well as tlexibility of rnc.tI~odsart. hnllmarks of etiective SEL instruction. By recognizing that the needs of the class
arc constantly shifting, teachers are able to fully respor~dto thc tenc1inbIe moment.
Which instructional techniques a particular
teacher will use to introduce or explore a particular
concept on a given day ill depend on a variety of
factors, including the dt.vulopm~nta1level of the
classroom, the teaching style and strengths of the
instructor, the needs and interests of the students,
and the goals of the lessons. Different rnethads
commonly used in SEL instruction include:
-
Storytelling and biography
Group discrlsion
Rchcarsnl nnd practice (roleplay)
%If-awareness a n d self-regulation
11icor raciiil conflrct, tcachcrs may use literature
a n d videotnpccl nccou nts of rnovelncnts for eqna Iit11 nnci h u n l a n rights a s ;Iway to hesin discussions
oi issues t l ~ tn;Ircl now aifccting st~r~It.11ts.
These stories or vidcos can be rfouct;ljIc.J with reading, iangtiage arts, or social studies goals for i~nproved
curriculum integration,
In one elementary classroom, tile teacher was
concerned and frustrated with the arguments,
pushing, and sl~ovingthat occurred when the class
lined up after recess. She brought in an artide from
the newspaper about the tragic death of soccer fans
a t a match in which there was a rush to the exit
and people were trampled. She had the children
discuss the fuulings of the different people involved and then examined how their own problem
of lining u p involved similar issues. Given the
wide availability of high-quality videos on many
social and interpersona1 issues, teachers have
many opportunities to enliven lessons and provide
examples of real issues that students are facing
(Elios and Tobias 1996).
Group disc~rssion.Group discussions are a pri-
Self-rt.itc.ctio11and goai setting
A r t i s t ~ cvxprvssicm
l'lnv
Cr,opcmtive a n d small-group learnins
nlnry instructio~ialrnctl~oc-lfor S E t programs.
There are ;i variety of types of disctission that have
ciitiercnt gods a n d t'unctiolls. A didactic wholeclass or sntnll-gmu~pactivity with t l ~ cteacher im-
Storytelling and biography. Teachers often use
storytelling or biography to introduce topics to a
class. This indirect apprnach can be especjaily efiective when introducing feelings, dilemmas, or situations that may be sensitive or difficult for
students. For younger students, teachers might begin by reading a childrc.t~'sbtmk that raises the
topic. If tn1thfu1speech is an issue, for example, a
teacher may use a store myth, or fable about other
children (e.g., ' T h e Bov W h o Cried Wolf") or a
story ,~h>iit
his or 11c.r own childhood to provide insigllt and niatcrinl t o which stucfents can react. For
oIder stucicnts, tenc11c.r~Inajl r c k r to a n aspect of a
story, Iiistori~alcc.rntextor figure, or current cvcnt.
If t h e class is struggling tvith issues regarding eth-
p a r t i ~ ~n ge ~ v~ ~ i t ' o r n ~ a tmay
i o n be followed by
discussion. These are likely to be curriculumdnven and follow a deveIopmentaI sequence of
topics. At other times, real sociai situations will
stiniulate group discussions (e.g., a new student arriving, problems with tattling, having wronged
someone, discrimination). Some discussions, focused on soIviilg a problem, will be structured so
that stndtnts (1) adopt the perspectives of ail participants in the problem, ( 2 ) generate ~ l u t i o n s ,
(3)discuss possible consequence^ and obstacles,
and (4) perform role plays ai viable solutiuns (see
CI~nptcr3 for examples of problem-sol ving models). Other discussions Inay tocus more tjn tIw teelings ~ w 1 ~ r a tthan
i ~ 1 on solving the problcm-for
t.xnl-tiplc., understanding the pcrspectivcs ~ )pnrticii
-
EXAMPLE?A
A CURRICULUM-BASED
SEL LESSON
What does a curriculum-based lesson on SEL look Itke? A single lesson is like lookrng a1 a frame from a movie.
Further, there are many versions, tailored to a program's age level and theoretical framework. tiowevel, some
examples from the PATHS program provide an ind~cationof the most common structure, which rnvoives integration of emotion, cognition, and behav~or-
One lesson that was really successful was Lesson 31. This is about a boy who separates himself from his parent a t the mall. We discussed how the boy was feeling and how his parents felt.
We made a tong list of consequences that the boy could exper~enceas a result of leaving h ~ pars
ent's side and what steps the parent would have ro take to find his or her son. Many children feli
the need to share stories of becoming separated from their parents and the feelings they felt. I enjoyed the many alldren's comments concerning the fear that the parents might feel and expressed
the danger of being alone in our world today (e.g.. being kidnapped and possibfy never seeing rheir
parenrs or friends again).
The lessons on Besf Fr~endswere really ~nteresrgrabbers for my students L%'? nad been [arkIng about play wrltlng and several klldren were wrrllng plays In small grOUDS These lessons
brought 11all home for rhem Thev quickly caught on ia the potential confltcrs rn ihe b e g ~ r l i ~ oi rbi ~
!he lessons w ~ t h
two frrends audrtlonlng for the same part. and the11predrct~onswere conflrmea as
the lessons went on They put themselves ,n the place of the characters The sltuarions porlrayed In
the curr~culumare generic enough that the ch~ldrendon't vlew the lessons as address~ngs p e c ~ f ~ c
Personal Issues that would make them uncomfortabte, ye1 sllow for dtscuss~on
I read "What Do You Say, Dear?" as an introducrion ta the manners lessons. The ch~ldrenenjoyed the book a lot. and tt helped to focus them on the common polite phrases wh1d-1were the
subject of the lessons. Many of my students were quick to strike out or call names when they
thought they had been dehberately insulted or bumped. pushed. kidred. or in some cases even
touched or stared at. Many tlrnes these actlons were unintentionat, but rhe "offending" student
d~dn'tbother to say "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry:' 1 found that I was able ro get a good ~deaof who
knew these manners words and who didn't. so I was betrer able to plan Ihe -;ucceed~~-rg
tessor>s.
The truth, 1 found. was char most of my s~udentsdid nor know a IQTof the apljroprrate manners r e sponses when we began, but as we continued w ~ r hthe manners lessons,I begs11liearlr~gt h e n
S i a r l :o use these phrases proudly {and WIT?an eye Toward m e far aclnow:I~dyrneflt} Manners
ohen avsrt conflicfs. JUST saying "Excuse :me"or "I'm sorry' c2n STOPa frgt11:rdrlr ~ [ a r ~ ~ n g .
p;i~ts,~ " v i ~ i i n gstudcr~t,t\ri:l~ ociportun~tit'bt i t
share their emot~r,n;lireactions, a n d developing
cmpnthy for the cliffc'rcnt teelings o11d persyrctivcs
l)i the participants.
'
dunts p r . l t - t ~ i t : ri.;lLi~nj:; I ! O U ~i 1~1 1 ~ Ji C I I I I S o u t did1r)gue from as.;i:;nc~i books, or to practice telling
jokcs, !ikc t h e Czrncgic idail story o r knock-k~~ol-:
jokes. C7111y ;lftc>r working for o tvhilc with 1 1 ~ ~ 0 ti~t'ticalsitunl~onsc m most students shift to re:
Ilcarsnl arid practice with actual situations they a.
tacing iElias and CInbby 1992).
Rehearsal and practice (role play). A man In
New York City is walking ;iround with a n~ilsli'al
instrument. He approaches a stranger and asks,
Self-a wareness and self-regulation. D~VCIOF
"Excuse me, can you tell me the best way to get to
ing awnrc~~ess
of one's own feelit~gsand behaviol
Carnegie Hnll?" "Certainly. Practice, practice, pracis a critical s t ~ in
p development (Grecnberg and
tice." Humor t t i , l i l ) t ~nwny Irss;ons. Here, i t reSncll 1 997). Many SEL programs provide concept
minds us that when we rvani children to learn
like "Feelings Fingerprints" and tools like the "A:
something and be able to use it, especially in a
stressful situation, we need to provide many reger Thermometer" to assist in'the self-monitorin;of feelings (see Example 7a). The next step, of
hearsal and practice opportunities. In almost every
schooi, who gets the most practice? Those performcourse, is to balance awareness, expression, and i.
ing with thc band or chorus, on sports teams, or on
hibition-the domain of self-regulation.Many
the stage. They come into school early, stay late,
things that go on in the classroom influence chiland work on tiieir own on weekends. Why? Bedren's ability in this vital area.
cause this is how skills are learned. When students
The complexity and sopldstication of these
do not have extensive opportunities to rehearse
tasks naturally varies with age and experience,
and practice valued skills--such as those invotved
and so do the methods of instruction that suppor!
in being civil to one another, or helping, caring,
them. Teachers of primary-grade children encour
and working well in academic groups-we should
age students to pause and consider how they arc
not be surprisej to see that their behavior does not
feeling. When getting students seated on the floor
meet our expectations.
tile teacher a s k , "Are you comfortable? See if yo!
Rehearsal and practice to>ter assertir7enr>s,emhave rnin:gh room ~ r a u n dvou." "Ask yourself 11
F A ~ ~ I Yancl
,
s o c i n l l ~responsrlde bellavior t f ~ r o u ~ i ~ v t art)
~ renrlg' to pay careful attention to the ~ t ' r s l
the developlnent of three l;kj;ls:
rttho is speakins. I, everyone ready?" A 4tIi grcldc
The ability to understand ruhat another person is likely to be thinking and feeling.
Knowledge of rvhat to say or do.
The ability to use the appropriate voice tone,
gestures, and expressions that promote construetive communications.
Youngsters unwilling to attempt a new social
behavior are often uncertain of their ability to succcsstully 11nvig;ltt.tlic situation, such a s initiating n
con\~ersntin~~,
handIi11gcol~klictwith a peer, or describing i I~circluiiliiicntions ior a potential job. Rehc.,~rt;;ll dcvclops bc)t11 k n o w l d g ~and
. coniidence
th.1 t rbncr)llmgcsd~ilcjrcnto put their skill5 to red
~ s cA. n o n t l ~ r c > n t c r l ~w.lv
n g tu bcgi11 is: to 11;rvc 5t1.1-
teacller cues self-monitoringand suggests how S \ .
dents can regulate their behavioc "Ask yourself !.
there is any part you do not undershnd. If so, y01
might need to ask for more information." A 7th
grade
teacher also encourages students to appla~i.
i
their successes: "How many people felt they reall
used their time wisely? If you didn't, think about
' what you could do to iniprove next time. If you
did, tell yourself you did a good job." A high
school fontball coac11 instructs players to monitor
their emotiun;ll states: "If you are thinking about
punching t l x ~ guy
t
who has been giving you a
rough tirnc, you are not thinking about the gsnir
and you are nut playing your best. You 11~r.dto nm;
osnizc Illil t i11ic1get yut~rselfback 011 track."
ing the length of time Ilt. or silt. is o u t of sigilt. A
5th/6th grade teacher in Kirkland, Washil~gton,
taught her dass to start t l i ~ i work
r
without 1-m.She
worked in her adjoining officefor several milautes
after the be11 rang. Studcnls were usually working
quietlv nvhcn s h e came ill. This was simply part of
the routine.
I
Directions: List your body's cues, setisations. or
actions that let you know you are angry.
Red Hot
(Livid)
Sel f-reflection and goal setting. A crucial dimension of developing decision-making and psoblem-solving skills is the ability to set goals that apie
meaningful and appropriate to the individual student. Small day-to-dsv decisions, as well as Iargcr
ones involving career and family, require the abili ity to set both short- and long-term goaIs. With increasing cognitive and social development,
: identifying personai goals becomes more important and assists students in planning and setting
'
-
Warn:
(8eginning
ta get
angry1
priorities that lead to personaj success and t o sat isCool:
fving lives.
(Not
Quiet periods fur 5t.if-rctlectiolr art. important
angry)
to this process. By pmviding freedom trt.>moutside
stimulation or pressure, Icacllers enable s t u d c n t s
to access their own values, priorities, and sense of
purpose. High school studcr~tsin particular may
find quiet, reflective periods to be sources of reTeachers may also demonstrate self-monitorfreshment and focused attention. Others, especialIv
ing by thinking aIoud: "I a m feeling frustrated beyounger students, may become fidgety and discause we have Iots to get to and Ice are running
tracted during quiet times. Relaxation exercises
out of time.I need to cairn down and think. I will
and art materials can help these students focus
take a deep breath. Now what? I can list on the
their attention, a n d enable t h t . n ~to graduaIIy exboard everything we need to J o and tlaen ciccjcie
tend their periods ot' conccutraticm.
~ v h i c hones are really important to d u today. That
The types of goals choscn by stndrnts wiII
sourids Iike n good idca. Wherc is m y markcr?" l3y
vary widely depending ntl the grade and dcirelopverbalizing what othcrwisc is only an internal Jinmental level of t h e ciassroo~nas wcIlas the irnmelocut.. and linking it with the stcpls ui problcm w i v Jia te context. 111 his11 sci~c~ol,
sonw goals rei-3cct
ing. this teaci~era1Icru.s "11icidc11" cogniti\-e
student efforts to t i l l ~ 2i S C I I S ~ '1ji pirrposc i i l~ i f ~ .
clcmcnts of the prr)blem-ruIvins pro~.cs.; bciorne
Others sin3 y 1y reilcct iiic desire t o raise. unc's gi-acle
vi5ihlc a n d u~>cIcrytsr~djt,le
to > t u ~ i c ~ r i t > .
in biology class. Usin5 I'crsonal I'roblt.171$:>!ving
Finrlllv, t i * ; t c Iol;ly
~ ~ ~glvc
~ . t ~ ~ r I ~ o[ i lt ~~~ t r r t ~ l n i - i v o r k s l t c e t ~ant1 Studcl1 t C(3nilict tLlnn,~<c; .;ofttics t o F ~ < ~ L -q~~I LI ~
- c- r q - ~ ~I i~ j Yt: ti. ~, ~ ~i c ~i i ~ ~ tn.ert
<
5111t.nrc (Elias 2 n d kb1,ts I'!'?h). , ~ n bv
d rr~:licnrili!;
a n d prxticin?; pl,in<, ~ I L I L ~ L > ~ I 1r,1r1i
~<
t ( 1 tl1111k
F \ ' I - \ ' I ~ I O I I of the ik.lss forr;jlort [7c.!-lods.I-llc tc'~iIlL'r
.
~~)~i~itlrr
1 1 l ~b
y r c < ~ n ilj 1~
\ * [>
> 1 \,rci1 1 1 ,> c011i.cr>,it
~ o r~ ~ tn r p) I . I ~ - t l i r o ~ ~ s'1l11i asp.^:^^ i ~ tt l ~ t ~<ttr) ~ l sTII~.\
tflil TOIL>
ot ot11c.r pc.(r ~ ~ i c * - - - ) ~ ~ r r . Ic*.~c-t?+-.~
n t , i . ; . .S, r - l r r y ,
5irtc. i11cil;lc>rt,om vt:rir [>ric~l
l\>, < r ; l c l ~ ~ . i l l \ i~~c.:t.as.
the snnlc timc." A cl;iss il t DEC-S~UT
E l c ~ n c ~ ~ tin
ary
Ii'ashington wrote 2nd staged a " ~ ~ J Cupera"
C
uk
in$ p r i ~ ~ c i they
p t ~ 11ad
~ learned in their SE1 prog r ~ r nThe
.
tt';lchi'r assigned stucIe11t5 wit11
problem-soivins difficulties the role of c1laracter.
rcho displayed expertise in that area. As rehearsn'
progressed, she noticed a particular improvemen
in students xvl~oseparts required rcpented rehear.
.li of problem-solving strategies. Rehearsals also
provided a natural, real-world context in which tl
work on skills development with students.
~ C W - S , anti p t ) i v ~ l n culture-in
r
>I1ayjj~!; th'tr p:rsonnl goats, , l n J tllcy learn to identify tile steps netvssary t < , ,~cl\ievpthcir goals. Some programs
clc.;lriy definc a i~n~ctablr
for t l i ~ ) ssteps
e
ill "COIII m c t s " bctrvt'en t~bacl~crs
and students. Tlm approach twables si~rdentsto cvaIuate progress,
know w h e n nddjtiunal eitort or adjustnlent of
goals is I I P C ~ S Sa~n d~ celebrate
V,
rvl~engoals are
nltained.
Artistic expression. &cause art often hiis e~notional content, it can enhance student understanding of er~~otions
and how to express them in
safe and nppruy riate ways. Artistic activities are
often an exccllcnt "starter" to gain children's engagement in a new topic. Elementary students may
work with a palctte of coIors to symbolize various
emotions. As a transition between analytical and
self-expressive activities, a high school teacher in
Boulder, Colorado, asks students to w l p t day into
a symbol of how they are feeling. The students de-
cide whether to display their sculpture to dass- . .
mates and describe the feehgs that stirnuIated the
sculpture, or to pass. According to this teacher,
'The freedom to choose one's Ievel of participation
conveys respect for the students' right to control
their inner worid and provides a sense of security
~ I I J t fosters seIi-expression. Particularly for adolescents, illis indireit cuniniuniintion of'their emotions prk'vicles t h e irecdirm to esp1ore a n d esprrss
icPlinp which they may find uncomiortable to
discuss."
The drninatic arts form a natural rink between
literature, writins and social and emotional skills.
Working with other students to produce skits,
plays, and musicals fostersexpressive communication skills. At Assumption Shoo1 in Seatrle, the
J ramn teacher worked closely wit h cIassroom
teachcrs to incorporate rehears1 and SEL-program
practise vigncttt3 ill ro his dass. "Sir~cethe lessons
fr~cuson nccuratc mmmu~licationof emotional
sta tos through \,c,ice tone. iacial expression, gesturc, and post~rrc,it is a great \\*ay to develop ncti112: skills ancl suppcwt our school's jc)iiaI 150,115 at
.
,
Play. Play also has a role in SEL programs, p
ticulariy in secondary school classrooms, where
there is a tendency to view social behavior as a W
.
ries of problems or conflicts. Observations of exel
plary teachers suggest that using pIay provides a
strong readiness to learn. A high school teacher ir;
Santa Monica, California, uses games as warm-U)activities. Gro~tpjuggling requires that each student receive a ball from one specific person and
toss it to~awtherspecific person. As the game-prri
gresses, more balls are added. Concentration increases and laughter erupts frequently. When
discussing the game afterward, students rnentio~
i
that having a group goal led to a sense of respon:
hility to group r n e m b e r s ~ v e r y o r i ehad to be
fully alert to achicvc tllc group goal. The laughtcfurther added to the sense of closeness anlong
students.
Cooperative and small-group learning. The
ability to cooperate with others is an important
ski11 that is likely to become increasingly crucial In
future success. Having students work in wellstructured cooperative learning formats helps 3t.
velop SEL skilIs that are particularly important i l l
today's team-oriented work environment. However, the use of cooperative learning methods in
any subject area requires that some component
SELskills be in place, sucIi a s basic s~ii-controI,
ro1g taking, a n d communjcation skills- Althoug11
many teachers report that using cooperative iearr,
in$ ~ I SEL
I
Ics~nnsis exciting and eficctive, this i>
true only
when thc ci~il~lren
a r t well prepared and
JeveIopmcntsll y ready for s u c l ~It.ssons.
When leachers prepare studcnts to work
through the ilisngreements t I l ~ naturallv
t
occur in
team situations, cooperative Ienrning proniotrs
sharing of ideas and resources, creativity, and a
sense ofslinrrd purpose (Jolinson and Johnson
1994). Cooperative Ienrning enables students to
practice listening to others, taking
others' points of
- *view, being sensitive to the n w d s and conccrns of
group members, negotiating and persuading, and
using the gcneric steps of probIern solving.
The instructional approaches prcsentcd m a y
be applied to a wide variety of contexts. Stories,
discussion, atid role playing, for exampIe, can be
shared by the entire class. Alternatively, tht. teacher
may ask students to work in pairs or small groups
for
p"ti~u1ar ~~til'i6t.s.
The use of p i m d or Sm,?11* .
group exfrcisc.~is often useful for building self-confidence and t n l s t . Witl~iiiInrse groups, t11ese
5rnall;~roupconii~uratic-rns
give more ~ t u d c l ~JtI Is
dpportirnltj, t i l be ht.;lrd 2nd to t l i t i ~ o l ycngnst' in
~onver5aticln;~ncfprobicm sojxring.
G U I D E L I N E8
V
Reyetition nlrd ymctice arc v i t n i to tlzc i r r t e p t i o ? ~
of cogrritiorz, celnotiorz, nnd belrnvior.
Rationale
Implications and Applications
Research on neuroIogicnl developn~tntprovides some insight i n t o the chal1enges of changing
problem behaviars and thcir ct~t;liitive,cmutionn!;
and i~iterpersonalcanlponcnts. Throughout childhood and adolescence, maturation and experience
lcad to both the strengthening of some neutral conanections and the "pruning" of others. Connections
that are unused are lost, while those that are stimulated by frequent behaviors or thought patterns become dominant pathways for nervc impulses
(EdeIman 7987).Well-entrenched behavjor patterns
are likely to have a rich network of neural connections throughout the brain. AIterrlatives to those
patterns rvilI not be able to "compete" on either beharrinral or physiological Ievcls unIess they iinvc
been Fracticed rcpca tcdly, thereby strengthening
the neural ~ntlirz.ay:: ihnt are necessary for integmtin? ~ r n o t i c ~ci~gnition,
n.
ancl action.
Promoting the Use of Social and
Emotional lntelligence Throug bout
the Day
Edt~cntorscn??crrirnrrcc tlrc lrrzrrsfcr ofSELfr:ro~n
lesson-bnserl or ofl~erfotlnali~rstrrlctior~
to everydrzy life b y tisirlg prorlry?ti?~g
n r ~ r citing
i
tcclr~riqrics
~irrorr~lrorrt
nil ng7ccts ofscltool l*.
Whctl~erapp1ic.d to recognition, scientific notation, irresular vcrb conjugation, or SEL, repcntcd
rrlicnnsl u s i r ~many
~ differcliti~~structiorral
moJalitius prnv1clc.s hc~loiits( t n c i ~nncl
l
Mizc 1983,
Mize ancl Idadcl 1990). "Illere is one main diffcrcnic
h~tl\.ccrlSEI- a~irim a n y acnclclnic subjects, I I O ~ ~ . Cvcr. \Vlilic. SFI- cntails [lit. learning of' m s n y tic\\.
> k l l l ~i.t Inny < ~ l wr >
c ~ l ~ i ittlc
r c ul~Ie,lrningr)t 11,tLit-
Rationale
~ Lx.~l~,iv,ior.
~ ~ ~ ii ~ Y ~ ~ I ~ I L . ( : ,
~ ~ t l c l r,irclv
c ~ ~ (cc>rnr
~
t o clc~..;..;
I>,) v r n ~rcpcntc~l
l\,
i l t l l ~ J ~ ~ L + I - ot
I I > t110~1gIltt
prcl{-llcc*<i.l11 ir,ct)rrc.~tvcryron ( ~ tt~c!
t 11111Ilipllint
!i)n
table, bll t l l),>\, 111,1\r l,,,,,~
) l l l L , \\.Cli 5 ~ I l ~ ~ 111
O l
not rvniting their turn or not I i s t c ~ ~ i nci~refully
g
to
others.
~ ~ i
ice1 nl~xioirs,. I I I ~ ~ )o: r .sad, h e i r nbilit!? ro >ol\'c
problems or cc~rtcel1tr,3tt'
on Iearninf: diminishvs
(Forgas 1994). Sfudcnts rvho have shown improvenlcrats in their behaviur m a y revert to earlier, more
d o m i n a n t habits when en~c>tions
are strong. Lt'hen
this happens, i t is as if the "thinking brain" in the
frontal cortex is overrun by the more automatic responses of thc subcortical limbic system (Damasio
1994, Goleman 2995, Syiwester 1995). To avert this
occurrence, social and emotional skills must be
strcngtht.11~~1
t l ~ r o t ~ gpractice
h
in a wide raiige of
contexts. Direct facilitation of classmom instruction
may bc. pn>viclcdby te,~cI~t'rs;,
school counselors,
psyc~~nlogists,
sociai workers, or paraprofessionals
trained in SEL. 111whuolt; using the family group
model, each adult in the school-including administrators and staff-~vorks with a small group of
students to provide SEt. But whether or not each
adult has responsibility for a group, all personnel
play a n important role in actively encouraging and
reinforcing the use of skills and attitudes they see
displayed. T l ~ r o i ~ g htothe
u day-on the playground, in the halls, in the lunchroom, on fieid
trips, on the bus, in attcrcare programs-+very
adult has the opportunity to help students in re.11lifc situations usc w i ~ a they
t
have learned in :he
slsssrot~m.Typi~aIIy,this practice is aided
remil~dc.r>,
r~srralIyin the h r r n ot tangible prompts.
Implications and Appiications
Real-life situations during the school dav provide many opportunities to exhibit self-control, express feelings, or engage in problem solving. By
exploiting tcacllable moments, teachers provide
support when it is actuaily needed, enabling students to make considered choices about their beI~avinrand mnkins it less likely they will be
overrun by strong feelings (Gretinberg anii 5neIl
1497). in high schooi, for exampit., educators may
t , ~ r ~ sports
ct
programs for teaching social and enlot i o ~ ~skills.
al
These a r e ideal real-life laboratories,
bucrlus;eathlct ic compctitinn en~t'nidcrsrnai~y
t l n ~ o t ~ o n Irlsl~.<
al
Ilnci I ~ ) i v s Tlie
.
a b i l i t ~to
. rc~ul~tc
tl~oseemotions is o t t u i l credited as p r o \ . i ~ i i ~tihgc
"winning edge" (\so-Ahola and Hatfirid 1986). a
significnnt ince!~ttvcior studunts and c o ~ c l ~ eEdus.
cators appreciate that tile prestige a n d respect accorded to athletes by their pecrs often make them
roie models for other studcl~ts.By focusing efforts
on this highly visible group, educators hope to foster socially responsible behavior for students to
emulate. For example, a program run by the football coach and team doctor at FrankIin High in Seattfe makes use of the teachable moments inherent
in sports competition to advance SEL and ijcadrrnic achievement. In New Bmnsrvick, New fersey, teaching "Keep Calm" is part of every
after-school and midnight basketball program. SEL
prompting techniques such as modeling, cueing,
coaching, and scaffolding dialogue can be used by
a11 school personnel (see Esampte 9 ~ ) .
Modeling. Teaching by example, or modeling,
is the most powerful technique that educators employ, intentionally or otherwise. AH aspects of
teacher buhavior reflect their social and en~otionaI
relationships, making a powerful statement of values and expectations. Nut surprisingly, students
1%-hoobserve discrepancies between iyhbt is "prrtcticed" a n d what is "preached" are most likely to
illlitate ~ I J J I J ~ Eilev sec modeled (Mize and Ladd
1990). Thus, students are unlikely to respond LO
others empathically or use problem-solving steps
to resolve conflicts until they see teachers also employing those skills.
One aspect of modeling that can affect students' ~ d l i n g n e s to
s try new skiUs is the teacher's
use of humor. "I like to be goofy and remind students that it is OK, even fun, to make mistakes or
look a little foolish sometin-tes," reports a teacher
in Tacoma, Washington. Seeing a teacher enjoying
himself and 2t ease when he makes mistakes reinforces the idea that mistakes a r e an essential part
o t the learning process arid r t ' d ~ ~ c estudent
s
concerns ;lbout !(joking fooiish t t~t.wsclves.
EXAMPLE
QA
SEL AND S W ~ S
PERFECTTOGETHER
:
Michael J. Murphy, Athletic Diredor at La Salle (H.S.) Academy in Providence, Rhode Island, has fully integrated
SEL into all aspects of the athletic program:
Each student athlete receives a booklet That includes Player Guidelines, the Player's Contract.
and Player's Goais. me Contract affirms that students will abide by the Guidelines.
The following excerpt is from the introductory fetter to the conlract, from Michaet Murphy:
Every individual in this athletic program must become un~fied.We must function together,
"One Common Goal:' No contribution is too small; all contributions to these teams are significant.
Everyone is vital to the success of this program.
He introduces the idea of off-season personal and team goals:
''
',,
R@
goals are done in a confidential manner. Only the athlete and the Athletic Director ever
view these goafs.... Durrng the course of The season. many juniors and seniors are called in to dis
Cuss the~rgoals. The reason we focus on them 1s due to the proximity in their lives to rhe change
from high school to college or t h e workforce. This allows them ro see t h e importajlce 07 goai setb!lg in, AL asoects of life.
We hope, through this program, to teach our students how to prioritize events or circumstances in their lives. We aspire to also teach them the value of goai setting and hard work.
Michael notes, "There has been a surprisingly pos~tiveamount of support by the student body, and especially the seniors, about suspensions of athletes who did not follow the guidelines. We are tn/i~?gto teach more
than just athletics. They are not going t o ieave this school as a senior and get a job playing volfeybalt.They are
going To go out in society and function. It's telling kids that nobody is more important than anyone else no ma:ter how good an athlete you are, Eacfi.athlete is a representatwe of the school and the community.
"There was an incident during a half-day of school during a walkathon. The kids were allowed to show up
Out of dress code,and they walk and get people to sponsor them. Two athletes went out and had a "power
breakfast" and came back intoxicated.They underwent ?he (discipline] process and were suspended from
school and athlettcs. They violated not orlly school codes but t h e athler~cguidelines as well. Thrs shows that the
rules are enforced no maner who the party IS. i f you disobey. rhere are conseouences ro the actlons. It's no[
enough IUSI to s ~ the
g contract.*
~
La Salle Academy Alhlet~cs
PLAYER'S GOALS
am signing this GOAL SHEET to sigl.
nrfy that l have and wiil continue 10 make a cornmined effort toward reaching "ONE COMMON GOAL1' for La
Salre Academy Athletics. f further agree To fulfil1my obligation to he team and its members by achieving the
goals l~stedbeiow.
Signarure:
Sport:
OFFSEASON GOALS:
l.
TEAM GOPILS:
1.
Date:
situations, teachers are sometimes able to engage
in a more proIonged dialogue. In a scaffolding dialogue, teachers and administrators rely on ques-tions that senfea s a catalyst for creativt. thinking
and new insight on the part of the dlild. The goal
is to enhance the chilci's ability to think indcpendently and share idcns and feeli~igswith others. Here is an example of how one tcachur wclrkcrd
with an 8-year-old girl. Tlie student was in a yee.
vish mood all morning. During a n art Icsson, she
encountered yet another frustration:
Cueing and coaching. I t is a common error in
social a n d emotional instruction to assume that, because the subject matter--everyday actions and
feelings-is su "obviot~s,"children learn the skiIls
once they are presented. This misconception is a
key reason w l ~ ywe see less carryover from classroom to ssIioulynrd, b~ls,and Iiomc. liic. than n7t.
would like. W l ~ e nsome of us provide training to
teachers, we offer them a money-back guaranteeif they ever set. children spontaneously carrying
out something from a program after its first presentation in a class or group, they will get their money
back. Teachers ask i f we have it backwards-and
we say, "No." It is the fundamental responsibility
of adults to prompt and cue and coach students to
use the skills to which they i ~ a v tbeen
.
introduced.
This is the third "C"<hances-of
the four "C'S"
..
St~[dent:[Whining, ncar tears] Look! It's all
messy! ISho~vingpapcr to hur tencher.]
Tmcker: [Neutrai tone] Oh. Huw clcl you fcul
about that?
Stlirtetrt: Frustrated!
GmVrrr: You fecl frustrated. Wlrat i.ln y o u do
concerning sclf-esteem prcwnted in Chnpter 3 .
about it?
Teachers a n d pIayground supervisors may
Stlriie~~t:
[The srudcr~tuses a gesture i n d i c ~ t have t o cctach students to think ~i other perspec111s
"calm
d!nvtl."l
tives, construct positive solutioiis to ~ r o b I e n i ~ ,
make.a retpest,i.~n
a n engaging vvici. tone, or kecp
Ttnriir.r- Tllnt's onc t l r i r i ~vou ,:an r l o . L1.ivl.c
there's son?r.thing else 1 . o ~co~ticlclo too.
calm when u p e t . Teachers in tiigh1and I'ark, Nexv
Jersey, use the prompt, "Listening Posjtion" (fact'
Sfluicirf: I don't like black.
the speaker, keep your rear end in the scat, and put
Tcnclrt-r: You don't like black. OK, wh.it iould
your fect on the floor) to help their clcmentnry
you do a b o u t that?
school students focus on the teacher, a c l n s s ~ ~ ~ a t e ,
S t r r d c ~ ~I.i :don't know
or an assembly speaker. A Florence, South Carolina, principal has her waiting room supplied with
Tefldrcr:Hmm, let's see. YOU have a probIern
a n d you feel frustrated because you don't
notepads, penclis, a n d an anger management
like black, but you don't know what to do
poster. The schouI secretary instn~ctsstucle~itsto
about it.
answer cpestions on tlie poster ( e . ~ W
. , h y was 1 anStl~lli?rl[:l t v m t blue.
S ~ Y What
?
did I do? What would I dudifiercntiy?).
Accordi~~g
to the principal, students hnvc cnlmcci
T ; ~ i i / r r rOK,
:
w h a t crn~ldyou do if you want
down ~ i n dhavc often written a cun..;truc.tivc solublue?
lion to tljc prr)biem by thc time she ycrs tllC!li
Strrtlc,rli. Ask for the blue pen.
(Cuzzi, 1Y95). Tangible rcl~lincjt.rsin the l'c,rn~l;oi
T.triltc,~:That's a gor~dirlcn. You si~uldnsk
p()st"', s i ~ t i s a, n d b~rlletinl.r);lrrl5 arc ,3 i ~ n l l ~ t ? , ~ r k
Puricll inr t l ~ cblue pen.
t)f c l t ~ s ~ r o
i \~f i~~~~5c),5,1j
~, ri ~s ,ll~Ltc ~ ~ ~ ~ <l.)
~ l ~l > t i ~ ~ ~ ~ , i l
St!rtlc.)rt: [Tc. PurceIlj May I borrow t h c biue
~ 1 L~' S1~ ' ? I ~ ~ < I I p r t ot' t 1 j p i ~ I [ ~ ~ r ~ ~ .
~,
T
~
~
.
~
-
Scaffolding dialogue. I r ] r u s l ~ c iol r c11,iotii 1110tlic ~ I , I ~ ~ ~ O L II. CI !IILI I ~
I I L) ~ *-,W < ) ~ I # : P I I I ~ ~ Lk !o he L>riCf. 111 PIOTV ~ . o t ~ t r t ~ l I ~ ~ ~ l
111~11iS(L,.? , ~ j i s ~ n i s i aoi n
,
~
~ iPuric.11
1
7 hands the pcn to S a n l n r ~ t h a1 .
Th,i!~hyou. I S t u ~ t c t b~ct g ~ n sto drilrv JS,UII. 1
good idca. YON askcif
tiic. p c ! ~<111d
, y t ~ ualso tlrn!ikt.~i
T.nt.i:cr: N ' l ~ n 1
t' very
I'krrcell
rcjl
lot of benavior and emotional problems stemming from t h e 3rd grade {and probabiy earlier) had spenr a lot of time coming to the Sf'S iSociai Problem Solvingf Lab once a week. We found that his biggest problems happened when h e seemed to be in a free atmosphere (e.g.,physical education). Afrer speaking
to the phys. ed. teacher t found out that she would. at key tlmes, teil hrm, "7his is the time ro use 'Keep Calm.'"
The best w a s when he was able to car& himself before he'd lose his cool. He'd step into the hallway and use
Keep Calm in order to be able to think about what fie really wanted and things he could actually control and do
to reach his goal. He would then come back to the gym and continue playing. Self rnoni~oring. . . AAAHHHan educator's dream! !
Another 6th grader was having a problem with her leachef. She was referred to our Social Problem Solving
Lab to work on salving problems in a better way than verbally lashing out at the teacher and just not trying in
class. After about four months of anending SPS Lab once a week. this girl was not only doing better in class
but also was now actually coaching her friends when they were havjng probiems among one another. In other
words, if her friends started verbally attading other girls, she would ask them what the real problem was, how
they were feeling about the probiem, and what they'd like to see happen. She would then begin to pump them
for solutions, making them think through what would happen with each solution they would give her. She probably single-handedly kept a b u t five different situations from escafatirlginto something muoh worse. This girl
also received the health award for trying out the many skills {earnedin health in different situations. not just in
A 6th grade boy with a
the health room for a grade.
-Vicki Poedubicky
Health Teacher. Grades 3-6.
Bartle School, Highland Park. New Jersey
i~rm!H o l v c10 t.ou kt.1 i ~ o r v ?
S ! I I L ~ ~ I* ~ICIC!I .I I A P ~]She
~ resumes dr~i\.ing.l
Even ~vithouthearing this child's emotional intona tion, i t is likely that this exchange required real
patience from the tead~cr.It might have been
tempting for the teacher to tell the child her drawing ~ 3 all5 right or to sit down and draw another
one. Nei thpr a1ternative would have improved the
cliild's rnot~dor dcmonstratecl to the dlild that she
could create solutiorls for herself. Instead, the
teachcr provided it supportive scaffold for the
thilcl's newly acquired problmx-solving skills, az-rcf
thy child succ~ededi n reaching a n original resolution that was intcrnnIIy satisfying. Research indicntcs that this style c,i questioning is also important
fur d c v c l o p i n ~lirch~~cy
skills (Henth 19821.
Scaifolcling d i n I o ~ u e can
s be conducted with
the lvholc c l ~ s sand
, car) benefit irom making use
ot relevant SEL It.ssons. They not only provide ,711
esce1lt.n t opportunity for transfer of learning, but
also save the teacher extrd time and effort in dealing with difficult situations individuaIly Children
can accept responsibility for solving problems ancl
agree to abide by solutions they create for themselves. Extended samples of dialogues are part of
the Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving, Sociai Competence Promotion Program for Young
Adolescei~ts,Socia I Decision Making a i d ProbIen~
Solving, Second Step, and PATHS program materi
a15 (set. Appendix C).
Dc.irIr~~tirr~
5i1ikili z l i t i E,l~oriu~rol
Skills
G U I D E L I N E
1 0
Rationale
,
Research on brain function shows that Iearning
takes place in an emotional and behavioral contcxt
~Nurnrnelaand Rosengren 1986). To the extent that
students attach academic skills to feelings and actions that are part of their everyJily world, they are
more likely to use those skills in real life. In this
way, the skills and process of SEL enrich the teaching ofacademic subjects and infuse the curriculum
with interest and challenge. Further, because SEL
programs teach a range of thinking skills, they are
easiiy connected to other curriculums that promote
skills such as analytical thinking, prediction, synthesis, analogy, a n d metaphor,
EXAMPLE9c
SEL ON THE OP-EDPAGE
One of my 6th grade students defended social
probiem solving in a letter to the editor, A parent
had written a ierter to the editor expressing
many misconceptions about our schoolwide concept. This student expiained nor only the benefits
to himseff (he happened to be quite small ~nsize
and would use the many skills when deal~ngwrth
bullies or on safety patrol) but to his peers. Needless to say. when an educator sees h ~ or
s her studenrs applying sklfls approoriarely ro s~tuatronsor
they are able ro see rhe value on an adur level.
you lust wanr iO cheer! YESSSS! 1 I
-?/~ck~Pqedub~cky
Clrzcrn~o~rl::
Implications and Applications
V
rile intcgra tion of SEL zoitlr traditiorrd acndemics
greatly mhnnces Ienrtring ill botlr areas.
ikr
i
Language, literature, and writing. The world's
great literature deals with themes that are universal, such as friendship, courage, duty, jeal~~usy,
grief, and loss. And the not-as-great literature students also read is similarly imbued with issues of
loyalty; freedom; growing up and growirag older;
relating to strangers, family, friends, bosses, and
teachers; and even just plain having fur1 and fostering imagination and creativity. By asking students
to relate these themes to their own lives, teachers
vividly create a new context of mealling for what
otherwise a r e Iikely to be perceived as ime.lcvant or
"dead" works. Students' understanding of character is also enhanced when they are asked to identify with the viewpoints of each actor.
EXAMPLE1 0 ~
SEL AND ACADEMICS
A lot of things that kids used to come 70 school
knowing, the kids today don't know anymore, so
we have to integrate ttlern Into the curriculum
every day, Unless the kids know how To express
their feelings and talk about their problems. they
might not be able to increase their reading
scores. for example. F~rstthey are overwhelmed
with emation. and then they won't pick up on
what you are teaching. The teachers have to take
as many opportunities as they can to combine
the SEL lessons wtrh reading lessons or other
subjects throughout the day and throughout the
scj-~ool.If you are wrth chrldren who dori't have
soc~aland emot~onalsk~lls,it becurries a disruprlve siruailon. It's as t f w e have :hts huge piece of
turnlrure rn the mlddle oi the roorn, a r ~ d
we keep
burnp~ngtnto it. We need to find a way and rrrne
ro say, "How can we rearrange 1175 1001n?'.
That's what SEL programs do.
-V~vran M c i ; l i ~ ~ r F-~ncr,q~l
d
Healrh Teacher. Grades 3-6.
School $29, Rochesrur. Flew YOI k
Bartle School, Htghland Fark. P.fl?wJersey
Prrr-nsry Mental Health Protec:
EXAMPLE108
READING,WRITING,AND CONFLICTRESOLUTION
Kids want to open up and discuss books rhat we
are reading. and they follow rhrough in rheir wfrlIng. The children are anxious to help ger the characrer out of conflict. Their writings are different
now than before when they were asked how a
characrer would get out of conflict.
-Elementary School Teacher. RCCP
South Orange-Maplewood, New Jersey
diffic~rltclc.cir;iuns find to be mndc, ;rnd tilere were
of'ten conipctins n c c ~ f s.~ttitudcs,
,
n n ~ 111aiuc.s on
differet~tsides of tilt. Issue. For example, "Why did
the colonists throw the English tea into Ooston
H-lnrbor?Wh;l t werc t i ~ e l goals?
r
Why did they
think t h a t England's rulers were acting unfairly?
How d o you think the colonists felt when they h a t i
dumped the tea? How do you tliink England's mlers felt? Do you think the colonists knew what
would 11appenas a result? Do you think they
picked a good soIution?" When these qustioning
frameworks foIlow the same pattern as dialogue
around social and emotional issues, great synergy
is possible.
At the elementary level, teachers can choose
books for paired reading, silent reading, or readalouds that contain SEL content and the appropria t e developrncntal reading criteria. Teachers ask
SE1 AND LJTERATURE
questions for discussion or writing assignments
that encourage enlpa thic identification or use of a
problem-salving strategy (e.g., Howwould you . . .
feel if this happened to you? What is the littIe boy's
problem? How da the other characters feel? What
do you think he wilI do? What d o you think wilI
happen if he does that? What would you do in this
si tun tion?)
The essence of SEL is jn the su4s.stanceof literature. In "Encounter:'a Native American boy
speaks of how he lost his tand, his customs, his
dreams Havrng kids write a passage about how
they wauld have felt if they were h i k n r e g r a t ing SEL with academics-?he social web!!-also
irrs In ~ t U hS. h ~ s ~ o r y .
Older s t u d e n t s nlny create ~ 1 3 or
~ videotaped
s
d r~rnatizationsof the book's t t v e ~ ~ tAnothcr
s.
mclre
advanced ski11 is to anaiyte the author's intentions
in the bouk: Why was it itte ten? W11at thernets)
did the a u t h o r want to communicate? Thus, trnc11ers at all levels c211 meek the gods of language arts,
literature, ,lnd SEL learning simuItaneousiy.
History, social studies, and current events.
Emotional identification and the analytic reasoning
ofproblem solving can similarly be used with history lessons, social studies, a n d current events,
which can Iwlp make the facts more relevant for
s tuiients. Aln~ost' ~ n vhistorj~aior current event
cat1 be approached c.tfectjvc.Iy wit!) a problemsotvinS mc)clt.t (.';c*c: t11c snlnple ivorkshcet i l l
Examplc 1 9 ~ )In
. .~lmostall these situations.
EXAMP= 10c
--Lorna Dunson
Grade 4 teacher. Cedar \Nay Elemenrary Sqoot
Mountlake Terrace, washington
School Development Research Group
Using SEL in a n integrated curriculum. In a
similar manner, the general problem-solving
model can be used to create an integrated series of
lessons t h a t link many subjects together. For examplc, teachers ha vc created integrated units on ecology, usins reading, writing, mathematics, biology,
snd social stt~dies.The students use problemsolving models to expIorc the. interrelations among
plants, animals, a13~iwater supply in n plrticuInr
~ i o I o g y(e.g., the rain forest), discuss tile compet-
I
Decis~onmakingand problem-solving steps or srra~egiesused in interperS0nal situalrons afe fully applicable 10
the analysis of all kinds of stories. Here is a format used in Language Arts aS part of the Social Dec~sionMaking
and Problem Solving Program (Elias and Tobias 19961.
. ,
"
I
I
Questions Assignedto Studens in Problem Solving Applied t o Literature Analysis/Book Talks
1. Think of an event in the section of the book assigned. When and where did it happen? Put the event lrrto
works as a problem.
2. Who were the people involved In the problem?What were their different feelingsand points of view about
the problem? Why did they feel as they did? Try to put t h e ~ goals
r
in10 words.
3. For each person or group of people, what are some different decisions or soluttons to the problem that he,
she, or they thought of thar might help in reaching their goals?
4. For each of these ideas or options, what are ail of the things that mighr happen next? Envision and write
down short- and iong-term consequences.
5. Whar were The final decisions? H o w were they made? By whom? Why? Do you agree or disagree! Why?
6. HOWwas the solution carried out? What was the pian? What obstacles were met' How welt was !he prob!em solved? What did you read that supports your polnt 0 i view?
7 Notice what hap~enedand rethrnk it.-What would you have chosen to do? Why?
8 Wbar q u e s ~ ~ o ndo
s you have, based on what you read? What questions would you I k e !D be ;!b!e ti, a 5 6 3r1e
Or more of rhe characters? The aurhor? Why are these questrons important to you?
~
Simplified Book Talk Format for Yaung Readers
1 will write about this characier:
--
.
p
MYcharacter's problem is
P
-
I
P
-
I
HOW did wui haracrer get inro ;his problem?
How does t h e charac:er feel?
-
P
-
P
-
Whar does r k ~characrer
?
wan1 to happen?
P
_
-
_ ___
vLfll!chques:ions wc)ard you lrke to
p
.
.
c i ~ k .[tie
--~ i ; ; , ~ f ~ : p !\;01; D I C ~ P C ~ . One
--
of t h e orrlar c ~ ~ ~ J c ~OrWthe
S ,d u l t l c r ?
P
P
p
-
_-I__
. - C - - - . - -
I
-
,
p
-
-
-.pp
p
p
.. ..
I
I I Id
~ c i ~ ~ a rt ~l ~~icome
s~ t from human poyiilations
I I V I T I , ~i n o r ncar tl~cseccologies, explore students'
Iiopcas o r t<-.~rs
n h o t t~ tfir cnviro~lrnen
t,
~ I I C
con~
~ I A I I ; l i l e ~ dto mltillra111delicnte WOn u ~ n i cnnd ccolt ,l;ical i.la1anct.s (e-g.,Johnsen a n d
Brucr~e-Butler1993).Tllis can be clone in formats
that naturally use students' multiple intelligences.
By intcgrnting SEL concepts and skills with academic subjects, teachers enrich the learning of basic skills by placing them in the vivid context of
social relationships and creative activities. That
context provicies memory "promp~s"that help stuJcnts usc the infornlation a t a tater lime (5ylwester
1995).
Teachers rpport that the longer they teach social and emotional skilIs, the more likely it is for
SEL to be a seamless part of the school day. As one
teacher in Shoreline, Washington, reported,
siclcr tioiv
~lrcss~
~ s > u that
~ s m a y ,.Irtsc' ~ \ r h t %,In
t l SEL program is impiemcntclf in a11 I nclusivc classroom.
to
At first, Second Step seemed like just an-
cltl~rradd-on, and that's how I taught it the
first year. I had the usual trouble finding
time to do everything. Now it's just a basic
part of my school day. The problem-solving
stratt.gic.s. ~ r so
c applicable to what w e think
of as our academic program- They enable
me t o Jo J lot more interesting things and reallv chnllcnge thekids' thinking.
How Is S E L Adapted for Different
Popuiations?
The skills, attitudes, and opportunities that were
presented in Chapter 3 are needed by everyone in
our society (see Guictelines 7,2. and 3 ) . These social and emotional strategies arc critical life skills
that promote effective decision making in everyday interperzonal cl~allengesa s we11 a s in acadcnlic performance. At each grade level children
face ncrc developmt.ntni challenges that can be
rnnstercci by lcnrnirlg lift. skills, finding new ways
to managtbrisk situations, using peer and adult
support tor coping, a n d becoming involved ss a
positive ctmtributor to others. This section ad-
Tlre S E L czwricrritt~nlnny Ilnue to be arinytclifor
clriidren zuitll s!rccial neelfs.
Rationale
All drlssrooms contain learners of widely different ievels of accomplishment and need-. Given
thc movcmcn t toward inclusion, the avenge
tenchur fnc~.r;increasing variabiIity in students' abil
ity to control their own behavior and to interact
and communicate with others. Many teachers find
they are highly stressed by the inclusion of children who have problems with attention, agbwssion, and learning in general. In the inclusive
classroom, the use oi SEL programs can be critical
to supporting the deveIopment of all children
(EIias and Tobias 7996).Teachers find that building
a coiwsivc classroom community, focusing on the
dcvdopment of all students' social competency,
a n J providing opportunities for using.these skilIs
in n~ixed-abiIitygroups can greatly improve the inclusive experience (Gager, Kress, and Elias 19961.
Ultimately it requires less disruption of the academic program than isolating the misbehaving, impulsive, or immature student Uohnson and
johnsrm 1994).
,
Implications and Applications
A 3rd grade teacher a t Hazel Valley Elementary in Washington State remarked:
One concern we had this year in our class
was a chiId whn was far behind ~cailemically allJ not working very liard. At first
other students were angry and shorvcd little
comp'~ssion;they wcrr b,lsicslly m ~ c ~ ~ t f u l
and rncan t o tltis child. I JiJ J lot "j work 011
the "Colcien Rule" lesson and tried to f m s
the c11ildrc.nor1 iiow tn kepp thinking about
,
the other guy and hcrw you woul~ifeel if tl~is
was you. I begon t o pair hcr up \$pith both
older and youngrr stu~iunts,and a s they began to have more onc-to-onc intcractlon
with hcr, thcy showcd more compassion and
i~~tcrest.
By fvcusing on friendsl~ip,cnoptration, and caring ior others, everyone a y
p e a r 4 to benefit.
EXAMPLE7 1A
SEL AND Iruc~usro~
A psy&ologist in Seattle was planning an SEL
group to focus on the special social needs of
youngsters withcerebral palsy. Other staff members were enthusiastic, but cautioned against including one youngster with a reputation for
.~, disruption.-The psychologist did include this child.
and noticed that some of the more compliant
youngsters looked dismayed to see him in the
group. Feelings of the other ch~ldrenbegan To
charige, however; when it was apparent that the
boy had tots of ideas that were valued by the
leader. His enthusiasm and skiil wirh role playing
made the sessions fun, and encouraged the
more inhibited chitdren to join in. The new respect this boy received from the orher children
bolstered his selfconfidence and made him
eager to try newsocial and emotional skills. With
so much attention for his constructive contributions, disruptive outbursts disappeared. In retrospect. the psychologist artributed much of The
group's success 10 inclusion of this initially impulsive youngs1er.
ciassrourns composed oi children with a
Inrge range of abilities, it may be more cl-tallenging
to conduct whoie-class SEL Icssons. TeacIwrs often
report Succtss in usi11g sninll-gmirp activrt~ct;that
givc stucfcnts SreJtcr r t . s p i ~ n s ~ tics,
i ~ ~ lproi7~cit.
i
fclvcr dlstr~ctions,nnrl nIIoiv teaihcrs to Connect
with students' prrclr knr)\r.ledgc n t ~ dp c r s o n ~ Cl X ~ C riences. M'ork is pw-'.m~tcriusins rnllltiscn~oryin111
structional techniques and includes substantial opportunities for practice and rcpctitio~~.
The smallgroup strategy works well wlicn it is coupied with regular sessions that inciude the wl~olegroup (e.g.,
putting on plays, reading stories, holding group
problem-solving meetings).
Even special pull-out groups may inclusft. a
mix of abilities. Some programs f o r chiIcirem who
are rejected by peers allow other class n ~ e n b c r sto
be guests on a rotating basis. This approach pro:
vides skilled role models and also helps raise the
social status of children who art. rejected (Bicnnan,
Greenberg, and the Conduct JSwblemsPrevention
Research Group 1996). Also, youngsters wiao are
: . dismpfive may have aIot to offer to.their more restrained peers.
It is well documented that child re^ with Ieaming disabilities (Kavale and Fvrncss 19961, liinguage disorders (Cmig 1993>,mild rnelital ddays
{Brarnlett, Smith, and Edmonds 19941, nt.umlugica1
disorders (Moffitt 19931, and hearing loss (Greenb e r ~and Kusdie 1993) oftcn I ~ a v ereintcd ilifficulties in the areas of social and communicative
competence. They are more likely to show diificuli
ties in effectively reading social cues from others
I and managing frustration and other high-intensity
:
emotions. They are also more Iikcly to be rcjectcd
by peers. For these r e a s o ~social
~ s and emotioalal de:
: velopment is often specificaIIy outlined as an objwI tive in their Individualized Educational Mans
(TEPs). Self-contained settings fc~cnson building for
success in the mainstream a s ~ ~ t ?as
i l specialized
settings. SEL programs mock thc.;;cnccds and arc
often quite successful in spccializccl clnssrsorn sctti11g.s (Amish. Gesten, Smith, Clark, ct al. T%S,
Creenberg, Kusche, Cook, a n d Quam111a 1995). Atrisk learners, however, rcr~tliresupport as they
'
niove between tile self-con tal ncd cia~srooma t ~ d
t f ~ne~ a i n s t r e a m c dclassrcxjrn, Iunclirootn, ar~cIplay; ; r o u ~ ~CJ o. n s i ~ l u n tuse uf SE1- procccltircs across
tl~i'scenvironments is e ~ t r c m c l vl~cncficial.
Ciiild rcn in .;elj-iorl t i i i llcd classrooms h ~scr
LJyrclearnins nncj L~c,iin\-iclrcii5c)rclr:r~,qcnc~-,lllv
prc-
pKOMOTING SOCI.4L A N D EA.IOT?ONALLEA I;hf/NG;G1I! LII:LINI:S t ' O K f:l)tli,,3TOKS:
serviccs f o r chi1rlrc.n and f c ~ ~ l l i 1a it ~dsi i i c r c ~ It'v~Is
~t
ot need and concern. A l l c11iiJrc11in the sc-hool receivc SEL programmi [ig t i~rougtiou
t t h e cslcmcntary years. Thcn, cllilcircn i~lcntjficdas at rtsk for
behavioral a11d academic difficul tics receive smallgroup sociai skills trainins, rvhile their pnrents pal--'
Poor impulse control
ancl t h e inability to appropriately regulate emotiolls conlribuie to ou t-of-control, aggrcssi\'e bohavior ,~ndpoor attention and performance.
Standardized behavior management programs
often a r e used in such c l a s s r ~ m sWhat
.
is also necessary are strategies to hctp children develop the
inner competencies to manage themselves and handlc the stresses of a normal dassroom environment. SEL adds skill buiIding in needed cognitive
and emotional competencies. Thus, it is important
to develop a plan that integrates behavioral managemcnt with SEL (Elias and Tobias 1996, Kusche
and Creer~berg1994).
sun t significant chailengcs.
EXAMPLE118
AonmlluG SEL HJR STUDENTS
wrrn
SPECIAL
EDUCATION
NEEDS
The Children's Institute-a private special education school for dvldren with severe emotional,
conduct. and learning difficulties in Livingsron,
New Jersey-has been a flagship of the Social
Decision Making and Problem Solving Program
for nearty a decade. Staff members there have
become expert at creating adaptations of lessons to their populations. Among their innova
tions are 111 combinations of ctas3room-based
lessons with academic infusion and special skillbuilding groups; (21 activiries that use the computer; (3)uplinks to public school districts for
collaboration in science; and (4) activiries that pro-
Coordinntion behwevr the SEL curriculrr?rrn l ~ d
other sentices crenfes na efiective and integrnfed
system of service dclivenj.
Rationale
For many chiIdrcn with severe behavior disorders, either individunior some type of family therapy o r cou~lsclingis advisable. SEL programs are
valuable adjuncts to such treatment. When counselors or therapists are familiar with the skills and
concepts being learned in class, they are able to
draw on those skills during the treatment process.
In those cases whcrtl scIioo1-based psychoIogists or
counselors art. regularly involved with particular
:
children, there arc a d v a n t a ~ e to
s their involvement j
in SEL lessons. SEL programs can play a critical
role in the success of fitll-inclusion programs, even
for students who are severely troubied (Epstein
and Elias 19'34).
mare self-reflectloo and selfiregula.iion through
self-monitoringsheets, sharing circie questions
that ask about their preferences and experiences, and activities like. "Who are you?",as
ways to promote seif-understanding as a ;re&sor to building friendship skills. Foremost, however. is an extensive focus on feeiings, building
feelings vocabularies. reading social cues in
others accurately, and selfcontrol skiils to averr
"emotional hijacking:'
,
Implications and Applications
.4 prtlgrnln by tIic Conduct i'roblems Preventicm Rescnrcl~Group (1992) illustrates this guidrline qt~iicIXY.II. Thcy have cre,lted a l;c.rius of
l
We have got to give these kids skills
for living, and we can't wait For parents or anyone else to do it. The next
stop for many of these kids is resjdenttai treatmenr or prison.
-Dr.
8ruce Ertinger, Direcror
The Children's lnsritute
I
l
f
1
I
,
i
Dr~r.c.lcipi~j.y
Sr)ri~l,lt;d t ~ r r c d ~ r >Skill::
~ n t irr
Clrl>.~r~r~rtt~
Among the s t u d e n ; ~at North Country Schoof, a res~dentialschool in Lake Plactd, New York, are some who have
experienced significant losses and other d;fficulties in their lives. At one of thew weekly Town Meetrngs, students Commented on what it is about the school thar helps them:
l think it is r&lly a great learning experience because it's not a normal school. We get to get in
touch with nature, We g o out and hike on the weekends; we learn how to build f!res even when
the wood is wet. On the farm, you get to be with new people because you change chores every
week.
l
We get a tot closer to each other. You know i f something is wrong with Someone else if they're
quiet and they're normally not.
'.,
'
--
Tiis school isn't only about just taktng out your 300ks and pencils; w h e n I >a!s in public S L ~ O V ~ .
l dtdn't do anythtng on m y days off except war& T'V and go to movies. We never knew what to do
wtth cursetves. If some grown-up had s a d , "DO you want to cltmb a d.000-foot mountain?"
I would have said. "You've got to be kiddrng!" But now, it's different.
A teacher summed it up well: "There rs a real search for posirivejy identifying the chiid and what he or she is
good at. We really try to find success for the krds. There is SO much communrcailun among the staff about the
kids' ind~vtduaineeds:'
LIL,I~,>
tcb
ill
p.lrc'tlt c ~ i ~ ~ i i ~ancf
t i osupport
n
groups.
concc;lts e~tah1isi1t.din tllu SEL progrclrn for
thv cntirc scI\oc~la r c transferred and rejnforced rn
botlh the* cl)i t i l . ~ n dp,~rc-nt
prrsgrams. Thus, cornt ' used across the
nu principles a n d 1'1 ~ ~ g u a garc
cliffcrcnt It.tfelsof service.
'I'llc.
What Prepares and Sustains
a Teacher in Effective S E 1
t ; r c ~ ~ iSuch
v.
tn1111linrity L-i1;ibit.s teaclwrs t o sce the
links bctwt.i.11 simple scli-monitoring, for t.snmpItl,
a n d mnturc s v l f - r ~ ~ u l n t i oThey
n.
arc thcn better
able t o bet ~ o , l l2nd
s
dc~sipil~.sso~~s
npgroyriatc to
the d ~ v t ' i o p l l ~ t ' n qualitit*~
td
r>t their particular age
group (sec CIiapter 3). As teachers are able to infe-
grate the overall principles, scope, nnd sequence of
the program, they can bring more of their own
creativity and spontaneity to this work.
Instruction?
G U I D E L I N E7 3
V
S1.i$fiimcloy1~entoyyortrrnities provide teachers
7uitI1 tireorcticnl kno-rulcl-lgeessentinl to teaching
socinl rrrrd clnntiorrnl skills.
Rationale
%king c m an SEL program can seem daunting
first. With the possible exception of special education, tcacl~ertraining programs often provide inadequate training in understanding motivation.
emotions, ;lncf social competence. At first, some
teachers are cnnicrned that by taking on a social
s i ~ u!mcbtio~~al
d
surricujum, they are being asked to
takc on the rc~lc.of n school counselor or psychologist. I t is important to clarify that while dassroom
SEL programs can complement specialists' efforts
to help certain high-risk students, the focus of the
classroom teacher is, in fact, education and healthy
deveIo~mcnt.The goal of a classroom program is
to llelp devclop personal qualities essential to wellbeing and success in school, on the job, and within
families and camn~uni
ties.
at
Two boys were on their way t o the office all u p
set. They were go~ngto report each other to the
principal. l asked each of them what their problem was. Apparently, one boy made fun of the
other by saying he was annoying. The (annoying)
bay's feelings became hurt because h e thought
they were friends. I asked each of them what
they wanted, and they both said to remain
friends. They each came up with ways to remain
friends. one of which was to tell each other
when they would get on each oiher's nerves. We
never did make it to the office that day. Whar is
so very ;ewarding here is not just that they
parred as friends but thar a processlframework
was reinforced by our common language. Also.
if this concepr were to follow them, they would
no ionger need adults to "m&"
them as t did.
They would be able to deal with this situation
themselves.
.'
Poedubicky
Health Teacher, Grades 3-6,
Barge School, Highland Park. New Jersey
-Vicki
Implications and Applications
in the c.nrly stngcs of SEL program implementation, teachers art*given npporti~nitirsto learn
about tile fa111 l;copt. t,t the progmm and the dttvelopmcntnl seclticncr of instruction from grade to
Croup facilitation skills likewise arc not afways e~nyhasizedin preservice education. As a res ~ ~ mnnv
l t , teachers don't appreciate the usefulness
of trailling in the process of group dt.veIupment-
:
the stages through which most groups pass a s they
grow and reach completion. Teadiers learn to l l c . 1 ~
the class move from strangers who test one another and maintain maximum distance, to a cohesive group of individuals
find emotional
support and empowerment in their connection. Although some groups may reach stages that involve
trust and selfdisclosure, others may not progress
beyond becoming respectful acquaintances. Teachers learn to adapt their lesson pIans and pace lessons appropriately for their groups.
Another example is that training in group dynamics emphasizes the importancc of closure at
the end ofthe term. This process assists students in
saying goodbye to their classrnrr tes and provides
students with skills that are applicable to m a n y
situations that i~lvolvethe eliding of relationshipsTeachers who are aware of,and responsive to, the
.changing dassmom reIa tionships art. able to provide the most effective and positive learning experiences for their students.
fcreni situations.
setting firm boundarits, leachers help students (.-reatea classroom incre;l~ingly
free of disrespect; as described earlier, dear rules and standards are used to promote ri..~pnsib~litg.-y
in each student. Such a structure promotes a
healthy bonding tvtween studt.111and adult that
motivates young y:;.ople to learn from their teacher"
EXAMPLE 14A
HASSLE LOGS FOR
TEACHERS
You know a concept like social problem sotving
works when even other teachers use t h e skllls to
help solve their own personal/professionaI problems. One of our teacher associates was having
a professionai disagreement with a colleague.
Imagine my reaction whet1 Ihe reacher associate
asked me for a hassie log to fill out and gwe to
the teacher. I have filled outmy share of hassie
logs and have civen them to various peopie l lie
rnono that hangs in my room IS: "Hassle Logs . .
They're not just for klds!"
-Vickr
Poedubicky
Health Teacher, Grades 3-6.
Bartle Schooi, Highland Park. New Jersey
Rationale
Implications and Applications
Efftvtive staff development provides educgtors
with opportunities to explore and esperiei~cetheir
Those designing trailling programs in SEL wilI
own social and cmotionnl skills, so t l ~ e ybecome infind it useful to draw upon the following elements
creasingiy effective models for their students. In
of caring, openness, a11d ~ C S ~ C J I I S ~ V ~ I ~ ~ S S :
teaching stu~i-lcnts
to u ~ ~ d c r s t a nancl
d effcctivcly
Caring. Earlier chapters described how caring
manage ~ n i negotintc
i
t h e c11allcngt.s n~iciopportu is a key part of constructing thc relatiunshiys that
nities oi feelings s~i-d
s<lcinirela tio~is,tenchcrs m e
make Ieaming possible { N o d c l i n ~ 19921.
s
Teachers
n o t only tcchniiluc n r ~ r lt I ~ c ( ~but
r y a fU t\,ays [)l' rcdc.monstri~tecari1i;;-tl~c rcspect for a n d n ~ p r t ! c i ~ [;ttil?gwith slucicntr;. CtrnClllng;lnd i n . ~ c r ~ ~t'xcricc
tiol~of the essential wclrtil o f C J C st~~dt'ilt--in
~
ti\.o
ciscs hnvc supporteci ~c.;tciicrsi l l c;c,l t 111,q'1 po-;itlvc
jundarnrn tal \\,a>..;: c r n i w t l ~ i z i nwith
~ t i ~ ci'c~vli~~gs
view of ci~sciplin~
2 5 ; l 1 1 act of p r ~ ) t ~ c l Ii~i~i
i ~ ~ gr it ~ ~ ~ i -;11lri ciilcmmas of students a n d protectin,q s i r n ~ i c n t ~
bv providing clwr tclcrndnrics.
ancc. Tcacl~c.rsJl~vclop5kiIls ancl attlt~ldt.5t l ~ t t
Cari~igfrom tcnchcrs inciucics listenins ior 2nd
help them g i v c s t i r ~ i t b l l t - : ~ l t b a ric.ccfback n b o ~ IYIIJ
~t t
validating the r.nli~t\anri~ v i s r f o r nof 1.11l~st
c,>ci~
stuis 2 n d is nut ~ n i ac n d ;1~~1.0pt-iat~'
L ~ c i ~ n \ . ~rni . ~
diir
Tcnchcrs dctnonst rnlc t 11c.i~otvilncss not
tlcrlt is oiicril~gin..;tt.a~io f i i s t e i l i n ~ior ~111iy
111~
(11ii
thr~1~1~11
what they say but also through ho\v tlit.1.
listen to their studcnts. I : c f i n ~ n ~their ability to j ~ - I
terprct body Iangua~cand Iwar the fceljngs bctvveen and Pcnentll i h e words, teachtrs becan~c
increasingly skiI1ed at understanding the wholb
chi13. With experience, teachers find they can list.
with increasing compassion to their studcnts,
knowing that they nlny bring up feelings that arc.
initially uncomfortable for themselves and their
students a s well. A teacher's openness can conlril
:
ute to a climate of tolerance in which students
more easily learn to distinguish feelings from bthavior. When negative feelings can be acknowledged in this climate, students more easily learn
to manage them so that they do not lead to destrrr
tive behavior.
At times, students bring up issues and feelin;.
that are difficult for both sludents and teachers h*
manage. Those may require individualized sup:
Openness. Because much of the inspiration
port beyond what cIassroom teachers can be ex.
and reinforcement for social and emotional skills
pected to provide. Staff deieloprnent can providt
i teachers with guidelines and mechanisms for cm:
comes through the modeling of the teacher, staff
development opportunities should help teachers
dina ting with other teachers and pupil-services
become more open with their students in ways
staff to help their students find the right place a n
that feel appropriate for the particufar teacher. Like
time to get the professional hel-p'theyneed;
the teacher earIiur i;l this chapter whose students
loved to hear the ongoing "Iearning stories" that
Responsiveness. Another skill teachers decmerged from chalienges and fiascos with her own
velop througl~training and increased expetit.nci>
children, many t c a c l ~ ~ discover
rs
a new freedom in
teaching SEL is being aware ofand responsive t i ~
sharing their personal stories and wisdom with stuthe needs of students a t a given moment. Teachpi
ilents. Students delight and learn from the stories
often adapt or deviate from a lesson pian for a r n t
teachers share about their own reactions as chiiment to effectively meet tile needs of the class.
dwn or teenagers to the dilemmas students are disStaff devdupment experiences can offer teachers
cussi~~g
now. SEL training provides guideIines for
support in gaining skills that allow them to fully !
appropriate xlf-disclosure, and ongoing coIIabora- 1 spond to the "teachabIc moment": being respontion betrvec~lco1Ieal;ues allows teachers to check
sive to the changing needs of the group and its
out n particular story ivhen they are in doubt about
individuals, becoming increasingly comfortable
il..; t*a111cfor tl'ttir st~~tlcnts.
Tllruugh the experislinring ar~Jlmrning irom onc's own n~istakes,
ences of teaching a11 SEI, curriculum, educators reallcl being flexible enough to shift gears.
pt,rt that they becomc incm comiortitbltl rviti~their
Teachers report. that as they grow Inore exper
o w n it~trryersonrrland intrapersonal intelligence;
enccd in 1,vorkingwith curriculum h~ateriaIsancl
thcy Icam Ilow to express their feelings ancl wht.11
themes, as ~ ~ c . as
1 1 this respol~sivestyle of teachin;
thcy arc rcwarcied L-ry a n expanded repertoire, cn
to con t3 in t hc3m.
"right answer." With this atmosphere of' ncceptance, the SEL classroom is an ideal setting for
tcnc11ers (and st~tdents)to discover the value 0 1
mistakes and a p ~ a r t ~detours
lt
to the learning
process. When thc goal is understanding rather
than critical judgment, teachers model an acceptatlet. of a range of feelings and ideas, and students
r ~ ~ p t mwith
d greater sITtaring.
Firm guidance is the other side of caring indudcd in teacher preparation for SEL. Because of
the interactive style of teaciling in SEL lessons, students have more opportunities to be disruptive
than in a strictly didactic dassroo~n.
And because
the goal is to encourage open expression and independent thinking, SEL teachers may be particularIy
challenged to find a style of providing limits and
structure that prevents chaos without suppressing
any student's expressinn (EIias and Tobias 1996).
'
*
tivit~?
a n d imagination, which allow them to invent
new approaches in the momci~t.
The spirit of spun tnncity, ncxibiiity, and rc5pansivcncss is strengthened by Icnrni~~l;
cxpt.ri~nces
that cnnble tcnchers to express t1lcir own humor,
pia y fulntss, and creativitl.. J u s t like ciassroorn S ~ U dents, te~chtrrslearn bust ~\-.hcn
they fccl comfortable, are most creative when they arc playing, and
are mosi engaged when "serious" learning is punctuated with laughter. A succtssful staff development program gives tcacflcrs a range of SEL
experiences. This outcome is more than can be accomp1ished in a single session or even a series of
sessions. Ongoing support anti coaching provide
o~portunititlsfor teachers to gain experience. refl t x t on their teaching practice, and feel n sense of
renewal.
Implications and Applications
Some a d ministrations haw. act~\-t.i
y pf<>motcd
opportunities for teachers to obscr~vcotl1t.r tcitcliers and t o co-tead~n c ~ vprograms t\tith tenslacrs,
psvcholog~sts,or the principal. Ongoing faculty
meetings illat fostcr.collnborntionalnnmig coiIca~uesnlinforce and r c h e t l ~ cnpilcities
e
ancl
-
EXAMPLE1 5 ~
ONGOING COMMITMENTAND EXPERT
SUPPORT
PRODUCEGENUINECHANGESIN PRACTICE
:
1
Rationale
Because teachers are oftcn exploring new territory when they e n ~ b a r kon teaching SEL, most find
it essen tia1 to have ongoing support. A supportive
cnvironmcnt is one i n w l l i d ~t11c following are true:
Admil~istratorsempower teachers by encouraging tlicln to have a n acti1.e voiie in clecisions
that o ifci-t thcm.
Administrators mcldci nncf cncouragt. clcar
c o m m u n i c n t i ~ ~and
n a cot~structivestratesy for rcS O ~ X ~ ~contlicts
IIS
among the staff.
* A ~ i m i n i s t r ~ t ofoster
rs
a sc.115c.
ot ~ I l ~ i r c prirci
post.
cnjc)v~~lct-tt
among ~ l ~~t . lci t .
A ~ i ~ m i n i - ; t r , ~ tpo r s~ \ . , i ,~~lc~t i. v >u~y-c>rt
c
il!r
tct1c'f)cr.c Ilo lt.,~rit
to try I ~ C X V; 1 1 ~ p 1 - r x l c ~ h ~ ~ . :
CIIILI
The first year there was a 10-day conference. and
Developrnentai Studies Center fDSC, lhe program center in C~tifornia)staff gave training to
the core group. They came to the school for one
week four times the first year We cornrnunicated on the phone all of the time. Tile foiiow~ng
summer there was a-five-day conierence eo help
The core g:oup train orhers. T h e second year rhe
DSc staif vls~tedagain four times for one-week
periods. The following sumn,ler ther P..was anoIher five-day conference. The peopje are always
helpful and are always available.
The s-taff development uses frequent meetings to try to reflect the way t h e project operates
in the ciassroorn. The teachers use partner chas;s,
talk about goals and strategies. and !earn about
one another. The reams of primsry and secondary teachers share plannlng time while the kids
go to different spectals durlrlg the same tirne
s!ot. This is done because ir IStoo hard to get
people togefher outside of school h o u t s
Originaliy. we r-iidn't count on i t :z char,qe u s
a 5 people. We rrtteract differently n o ~ vw ~ t GrJF
/,
own chiidren ar home We have deveioped a
sense !I: awareness. We reevaluate .vhy th117qs
do and t!gn'r v ~ f i r k .It has dt?~~iop!::: n e ibecome! .- q i r a h rnore reffectlve ~ P I S ~ J I I
.
.
know]ed,qt?;e
gnlr-red by teathcrs :;: ~ntrotiuctory
t r a i n i n ~Such
.
m r r t i n g s c a ~inil:',jtr
~
t;rtlrip suptB'\'lsion i r t ~ l n1nr11tort c n ~ h ~ rarilli
s , I:~istratt!rs,ur so!icip tt.ac11c.r.;
~ 1 . 1 1service5 perso~r
11cIivho
idcntiiy rpd flags t h a t rquirc trr~.ther
spt:cialirecl
support or referral, or SELcol-r~~litants
~ v h oyrovicle ongoing curricriIum deveIi~y~l~ent
and troublcshooting for the faculty. Teachers are also
s u p p ~ r t c dby one-to-one coaching froni mentor
teachers or ~upervisors,and irrjm having the opportunity to visit SEL lessm~si i t other c~assrvoms
(sec rclatcd discussion in Chapter 7).
Teachers vaiuc Iiclp they get from o t l ~ e rteachers more tI-tanany othcr sourcc. Peer coaching is
nirjsi successfuI rvhcn tcachen have a framework
to use. during thc coaching process (Nelson, Lott,
and Glenn 1993)or when wrrrhing in a group (Elias
and Tobias 1996, S~rmrners1996). Ongoing colfaboration and staff development erlsures that teachers i
,
have support at their school and that they know
the limits of what they can and cannot provide for
t11eir students' social and emotional needs, as
noted in Guidelines 12 and 13. In the safe setting of
the SEL dassrmm, shrdents may reveal emotional
disturbances or tr.iumatic experiences that need to
be addressed outside the class1oom.Teachers usually welcome gui~fnncein identifying these situ~ t i o n s firl~iing
,
t r a y s t o protect stucients in class,
a n d obtaining the nccasarv services for students
r v l ~ oare troubled. Administr~liveleaders can create opportunities for teachers to get to know a n d
trust support permnnd- This cijort will help teachers to make the most effective use of the psychologists, social workers, or deans in their school.
Schools should a150 have a clezr system for dealing with discfosurc of abuse or nq:lc~tso that classroom teachers alone do not cal.ry the burden.
I
11t1d
SEL y rogrrrnts artw111ostcfiri:fii T U I I E ~ ~CIICIIL*TS
nll~rri~lisfra
tors ndolrt a lorr?; ) ; ; ~ ~ygar?;yectizle.
r
---.
Rationale
'
O I I ~ O I!It I~ >o ~; t -si~ppot-t
f~f~r
is ~ I ,l.spcct
N ~ of tliv
I o i i ~ - r ~I ~ iC~~ ~~ c~ Y -i Ii I~\e~dI c. f~ofr ~ f l ~ x - t i SEL
vc
yrrlgrAtlls. For tcnc11c.r~a n d st~rrlu~lt..;
'lltke, the eff ~ c r oi
s SEL,lppcar to get stronger the longer a prr
g r a m is implemented a t a partjcuiar setting
(Slsvin, Madden, Dolan, Wasik, ICoss. Smith, and
Dialin 1995). Teacher conlmitment to a new program develops during implementation as teacher:
start 10 SLY practical berwfits. Furthermore, tcachtvr
presentation of a program tends to be relatively sil
perficisl until the secolid or third year, when teacl!
ers really make a program their own (Hord,
Rutherford. Huling-Austin, and Hall 19871.TencI~
ers of many SEL programs, for example, commonly rkport that they do not spontal~twusIyuse
the tecImiques with their students, thcir own faml
lies, and colleagues until the second year of die
program.
Implications and Applications
Changes in student behavior seen1 to follow a
similar progression. An elementary principal corn
mented about [he changes she oburryd: "By the
end of the first year, i was hearing a new vocabuI ~ r vAt'tci tttrc) year>,bctth teachers anri students
were L I S ~ Ithe
I ~ problem-solving strategi- more
cunsistcntly." She continued to see improverncnf+
stating that "the longer students worked with thc
strategies and the more they saw thcir teachers us
them, the more students were able to problemsolve in 'hot' situations."
Like any basic skiI1, sociaI and emotional skill
develop gradualIy throughout chiIJhoad and
adulthood. And because emotional patterns are
reIrrtiveIy slow to shift, teachers benefit from gen
tlcl~cssand respect when encouragtd to develop
these new social and emotio~~nf
skills. Having real
&tic expectations about timing can buffer discour
agernttnt i l l the cal-ly phases oi implementation.
When teacl~ersfeel supported in taking this longrange view of developi~~g
skills and perspectives
i
'
l
i1
.
that t;<l beyond their original training, they oitcn
discover that teaching SEL allows them to experience ease and effectiveness in fostering the quality
of relationships that allow learning to flourish even
more in the classroom.
Students' benefits are accompanied by teadlers' benefits. Teachcrs report that problem-solving
strategies help them deal more effectively with
strwses in both their personal and profcssionai
lives (Caplan, Weissberg, and 4hriver 1990).A
teacher in Shoreline, Mshington, tuld intervitt.vcrs
that explicitIy teaching social and emotional skills
:
made it much easier to deal with late afternoons.
"I used to dread all the little conflicts that pop up . .:
i
when everyone is tired and needs to"rush to the
:
bus. I sometimes avoided the problems, or quickjy
imposed my own soIution on them. Neither ap:
proach worked very well. Now that I've been
teaching Second Step, it takes much Iess time and
is less stressful."
.
- Tcacl~ersalsa report that their growth a s caring. open, and responsive teachers spills over into
their relationships with colleagues, families, and
f ~ e n d sTlwy
.
discover more enjoyment, a greater
sense of effectiveness and reciprodty in their reIa- :
tionsfiips, and more satisfaction with themselves.
Ultimately, these intrinsic benefits will sustain
;
teachers.
-
Summary
Many teachers already use important eIernents of
SEL. What is less cotnmon is a comprcliensive
framcrz:ork tlrat provides coherence and consistency t~ specific objcctlvcs a r ~ instruct
J
imal nietfi01-4s- Effcctivc teaching rccluircs consirfcmiinn of
how the class structure, tcnching met I~r~cls,
and
class climatc will affect bot11 ncademic and :,q)cial
and cmotiotial rie\rclopmc.r~t.H n v ~ n ga specific SEI,
t l n ' p ~m brings u n i t y to these aspects Of SCIIOOI
lit^
:
and frees educators tu focus their C T C ~ ~ ~ energies
VL'
on special projects a n d adaptatio~lslhat e ~ ~ r i cany
ll
program.
Despite the importancc of SEL for ,711 aspects of
student functioning, teacher educators and administrators have been slow ti7 provide t~rlclier5wit11
training, suFpc.lrt, and recognition in this arca.
Adopting a new program inevitnbiy rcc1uirc.s the
use of some unfamiliar teaching methods; thus,
teaching SEL can be cl~nllcngingfor several reasons. First, educators who wish to create ,I caring
learning community must "walk thc talk" in a way
that may require them to change their rvny of rcfnting to others and structuri~igthe ciassroom. Second, the empowering nature of SEL may initially
encourage students' attempts at disruption, as the
"rules of the classroom" undergo change. Third,
potentiaI g r o ~ v t hin students' SEL skiI1.s and teachers' efforts is impeded to the extent that p d e level, school, and district colleagues are not joined
in a con-rmon eft,rt. Meeting these chnllengcs requires a n o ~ i g c r ~
commitment
~g
from teaclners and
administrators, ;lnd this is often provtded through
networking op~c~rtunitics
(see the list uC programs
in Appendix C).
Fortunateli: the motivation to make this commitment is strengthened by the intrinsic benefits of
providing SEL instruction. Educators discover professionai and personal satisfactions as both Learning and social. relatio~lshipsare enhanccd in the
classroom. Teachers often find that the ti~eoreiiral
framework ancl methocls of SEL are intellectually
stimulatin~for then~selt.t.sa s we11 as students. Perhaps most important, t e x h e r s derive satisfaction
from addressins the skills that cducntasrs briiciie
are most es.sentin1for tlic citizens t,f tonwrrtlrc As
just noted, tI~c,ulr,li,tcnchcrs arc Pest able' L<) persist
in their c u m m i i i l ~ e n twi.tcn their ptrr;cnal efforts
are enibudded \\-ithill those ot t l ~ c i sci~oof
r
,ind n
supportive C O I ~ ~ I I L ~ I I ~ ~ ~ .
A Foreword to the Future
The Nine Basics of Teaching T h i n k i n g
David P e r k i n s & Roberr Swqrtt
Volume Two
EDITED BY
Arthur L. Costa
James Bellanca
Robin Fogarty
Skylight Publishing, Inc.
Paiatinc, Illinois
pvcxyane thinks. Thinking is a mtunl fun=uan of the human organism. It does not
have to be taught any mort b a n waiking
do- YCLduoughou L human history, people
have sought to c u I t i ~ t ehinking- Scxratn,
k k t o t t e , Francis Bacon. and o h m set fordt prim
c i p i n for good thinking. The notcd American
L
philosopher of educationJohn Dewcy emphasized
the importance of thoughtful learning. Over the
past two decades, educators, psychologists, and
phiIosophcrs have worked hard to make the
teaching of thinking more of a presence in public
education. For something as nantral as walking,
b i d i n g seems to bt getting a lot of anentionl
Why? And if thinking deserves attention, what
kind of attention should it get? The answer to the
first of these qutstions proves rc!ativciy easy-Whik
everyone thinks after a fashion, people often do
not think nearly as well aj hey might to scrve rhcir
As to the second question, aver the past seven1
years, the two of us have been part of the concern
porary effort to encourage m o r t artendon co h e
crtlItivadon of thinking in x h w t . W e bcficvc &at
all srudtnu can learn to think better than they
d-including
the gifted ones and also those who
are slow fcarnas or at risk. W e have participated
both in research and in practical prograrrrj dcsigned to h tip students think bcrtu. In these few
pages, wc ay to h i 1 down some basic prinapla
about teaching thinking.
WHY, HOW, AND W E R E TO
IMPROVE THINKING
Wh Improve Thinking: Unio&nok
H
De
OWn best interests and those of others--to study
U//Pufferns
Since crtryonc chinks, why teach thinking? Ar already notcd, thinking should be taught because
most people do not think nearly as well as h e y
well, to make important decisions in life, to solve
problems, to respond inventively to arcumstancn,
to exercise judgment free of bias and prejudice,
and so on. So it is not thinking, per K,that attracu
all the fuss, but improving thinking.
might. E v q d a y experience gives us abundant rvidenct of this. Political speeches present tadlas
examples of shortdightcd rtasoning. Many teachm also note that their studenu do not rhink very
carefully abour what they hear in classroornr or
CREATING THE THOUGWFUL CLASSROOM
read in textbooks. In their oral and written work.
students seldom show meful criucaI or creative
thinking about the topic at hand Moreover, testing
by the Nationai Assasrnent of Educational Progress and other programs underwrites teachen' i mpressions that students do not think nearly as weil
Fuzzy. Our ideas are not clear, distinctions not
sharp, Everything is all muddled Perhaps you
did not take a long, hard Iook at your priorities during arcrcnt decision. And because you
were fuzzy about what was most important.
you made the wrong choice.
would like, Fmdly, we alI occasiodly sec
friends and coileagua make decisions that seem i lb
considered or express views that seem narrow or
biascd (for a research-based ptrspcai~~
on shortMh in thinking, see Pcrkins & Salornon, 1988).
Of counc, L d a m i d e a l thinking p r m e more
readily visible in others than in ourselves, & I t here
is a simple exercise that usually rev&
some ofour
own shortcomings (Swam & Parks, 1992a,b).
Think of chrct or four decisions you have made in
the last several weeks that ulrncd out badly. Almost
everyone has such experiences, Now review each
decision. Ask yoursetf, %at went wrong?" And
then ask yourself, 'is here something I could have
done while making the decision so that it would
have come out better?" Sometimes your answer
may be -No,"You did your best, but circumsmnc a
conspired against you. For orher decisions, h o w
ever, you arc likely to find that you could havt done
a better job. Ptrhaps you could have q l o r e d
more opcionr and found a better one- you could
have examined more fuUy and carefully h e optiom
you were considering.
It b useful to sum up the typical &ling5 of human
thinking into four &
j
&
A d $ d i s something h a t
pmpIc fall into aurornadcally, unless they m a k some
effortto behave diEcrtndy. Here arc &c prinapd defaults that p t a p e our wcryday thinking.
Spzwling Our thinking is disorganized all
over the place, faib to come to a point Perhaps you faced a complicaccd decision
recently and got lost in the maze of urcumstances Finally, in exasperation, you just did
something; unf'ottunateiy, not the right thing.
WC
W e reach conclusions and take actions
without sdEcient thought or attention to standards ofjudgmcnt Perhaps you did not give
enough thinking time to some of the dccisions that you havt recently made.
Our chinking is blink&
W e fail to
consider &c other side of the ost,the concridcncc, alternative frames of reference and
points of vim, more imaginative possibilities,
a d so on. For insmce. perhaps you did not
search widefy enough for options in one ofyour
recent dedsions and missed the b a t bet
Why d o &c dcfauIrs of hasty, narrow, fuzzy, and
sprawling thinking plague Womo s a p i c d Mm all,
we'rc supposed to be smart! The answer Iics in the
compItxides of human psychotogy. Oat factor is
the usually high payoff of reflexive rather than reflective thinking. For much of everyday lic, reffexive responses arc good. They do h ejob pukkiy
and save us time and effort Unfortunately, when
occasional problems and decisions require more
reflection, the mind often defaults to a rcflcxivc
response anymy- By definition, hasty, a.iidcxive
response, also tends to be narrow, relying on convenaon and past experience rather than on imaginative and unbiased orpioradon.
Another iactor is the tender human ego, Often,
we find oursekes invested in a parrieuiar virupoin t
or group identity. It is diificuit to chink broadly and
see rnatrcrs from another pmpcctive without
threatening our SCE-imageand stIf-co&dcncc.
Still another factor recqpku the genuine corn
pIexicy of the world Many distinctions are subtle
(bemen weight and mzn in
for insane).
many prioritia are o b t (which do y w rcatlywant
more, X or E),
and many situations are Myxinthinc
(if1 do& he may do B, or C,or+D;uld
ifhe
does B,I stlould ...). U n l a we work hard and sytcmacidly at mainmining distincrions and s q h g
orienrcd, thinking tends to get fuay and qrawhg.
AI this is both bad news and good news. Thc bad
news is that leanings toward Icu-than-id4 thinking arc built into the human mind, It is natutal not
to think so well. The mind tends to slide toward
hasty, narrow, fuzzy, and sprawling thinking in
many arcumstancea
I F MINDS M A T T E R :
VOLUME TWO
Iho Ninr B a s i c s bTeuding
d e the
~ point or imponancc of the rwiscd
pracdces. Nor doer it givc learn- ways ofreminding
htmselve lata about those bcue practicts. like
much eke rhat happensin ckrmrru, the q a i t n c ~
becomes -something you do on Fridays in E
n
m
m
a
r
the Eke
h our view, the answer to this dilemma U the use
of
thorgrxrizm to reorganize rhinking. (One
mary:
can also speak of thinking %amcs"+c P a E w
Basic#1. W @ i m $ m u e r h i & n g ? B ~ e , bg&f&
bgrntirm arc verbal ~r graphic
~ h u n t c m C I r i n L i n g k r z d s ~ o & h t y , 1986b,c).
~
h a t remind us how to reorganize our
d s p m ~ t i n gW
. e u m M ~ l c r m r n S d o ~ d symbols
thinking
away from rht four defaults and guide us
=mto
C t ~ ~ ~ ~ r c-Lt - c a l
harng.
dong as WC think While some approaches to im
How To Improve Thinking: Thinking Orgoniam proving students' thinking 'do not emphasi-rc
thinking organizers, many do.
The notion of the four thinking defauIts brings
T h e idea of thinking organizers may sound eminto focus the chaIIcnge of teaching thinking- To
tcric, bur ir is not Thinking organizers art quiu
help students counter the defiaulu, we need to help
commonplace, only we often d o not recognize
them give thinking more time, bioaden their thinkthcm for what they arc. To apprtaatc both how
ing, work for clarity and precision, and maintain
ordinary dunking organizers arc and how t h y do
some systcmatic organization,
How? The n a n d irnpuk is to give students arpe- their work, Ict as look at a familiar example: the
pro-con list Many people occasionally j o t dawn
ricncc with bester pastems of thinking. To combat
pros and cons to size up a ycs-or-no dccisiom It's
hastiness, Itt w engage students in discussion a d
common to use a wcxolurnn chart, cons an Lkc
writing--&ath'&e thinking time. To broaden thdr
finking, Ict us engage thcm in actliviticr that sactcfi left and pros an the right or vice
Notice how this simple saatcgy works against thc
heir minds, such as arguing &c side of a cue opp*
site one's own or brainstorming. Such cxpcricncn
four deiarr lcs. First ofat!. the m e fact ofM n g and
bcndit students and are to be a p p h u d d
filling a prpcon list paranlets that you are dprg'ng
finking time- Second, &c precon E s has built into
But they do not do the whole job. One of the
i t a strong call for c v e h d e d thinking, which looks
most telling discovtriu in rcccnt eEo- to teach
thinking comes down CO this: Mere cxpericncc is at both sid- of&c m e -It seo aside a c o h n fbr %$rc
pros and a column for the coru. Third, the p m s n
not enough. Even rcpctccdy experiencing a particular kind of thinking ofren does not help
list forces you to categorize factorx &theas pros or
cons. f ndetd, often facton emerge hat arc both p m
srudenb get better at that kind of thinking- For exand cons in &fTertnr ways, soyou n&
to add &m
ample, engaging sasdenu in debara does not in
to bath lists. AI1 &is works against h q chinking,
itself neccssariv make thcm bcttcr at debaung or
bringing clarity to how diSFmcnt k ~ o r a on the
reasoning more g c n d l y .
d h i o n . Fourth, the prmon list c o m b spmwiiwg
M ~ e c v e rexperiencing
,
b e w thinking practices
in a ~ o o context
m
doer noc reliably lead srudcnu
thinking by kctpingyou on mck Itis h d cs get lust
putting that kind afthinking inw action in o t h e
in the problem with a cfcv delineation of prus and
d n g s For insmcc, students who have Icarned the
cons staring you in the face.
impomnce of w d i n g m both side of a case
Let's gencralizt. A thinking organizer is a cob
*rough ckxoorn debarcs do not ncctssari'fyshow mete, verbal, and/or graphic smchrrc that guides
more attention to both sides ofthe case in oher r e
thinking. Later, we wiU give some e x a m p h of
saning druationr +in, ~ e n ' e n c is
e not enough
thinking organizers tspcdaI~usefu1for improving
thinking through subject matter irmsmcrioa. For
Whacgoegwrongl The problem b that m m cxpe
6encc with &Ufinking pracdca often does noc
now,we want io emphasize further how common-
The good news is that all this makes the goal of
better thinking quite undmtandabIe. To a first
approximation, better thinking is not anything
technical or academic It b giving thinking mote
time, making your thinking broad, and exadsing
care, precision. and systematic orgarrimaon. Good
thinking ls everyday thinking done better. In sum-
m,
make
~~
-
15
55
CREATlNG THE THOUGHCfUl aASSROOM
place thin king organizers arc, once you know how
ro recognize them. Here is a brief list of everyday
thinking organizm.
h d s . haverbs and the like art a folk repositmy of thinking atganixcrs For instance,
such sayings as 4 w k More you leap" and 'a
s t i t c h in time save nine" work against the
hasq thinking def;rult Such phraw
your imagination,' let's mke a n m a p
pro+" and p u t yoursclfin his shoes" work
against the narrow thinking default
a d lamt Many c o q a and
trims in En@h or othcr l a n w he@ us organitc our thinking. For acamplc, ifyou spcak
An+d
the "hguagc of argument," you can ask a*
other or yourself, What's the daim here? And
the arguments arc what? Do you havc any evidence for that g~ntralizatio~
Your hrst reason,
how d o u that suppm your condusion?"
Many have
D t r p unxzp~s
~ ~ and
pointed out that good thinking is more &an
technique, It's a matter of spirit or what are
ofttn more technically called md*isp&tions."
Many concepts and temm in the English lam
page -ress
a commiunenr to kinds of
thinking. W e encourage people co be f&,jurk
~ e m m i d e 4and k a p & ~ for
~ exampie.
Such tcnru do not have much mdytical content in the way that A
m
i ,adaw and
do. But they a r t loaded wirh d e c t For exmple, the terms mentioned all a p p d in one
or another
for broad rather than narrow
thinking.
Fomiliorshutqk Some thinking
are
W Eamifiar that thcy arc a common pan of our
mlture. Brainstorming is an obvious cxarnpIe,
with its h p I e rula about not critiazing. p i r
m c k i n g on one another's id- and so onAnother U the pr-on list Yet another is the
common counsel to find out somtone's rcaSOU behind an idea chat seem odd, ratfrtr
than rejecting it out of hand.
While h e pro-con
list b one common graphic organizer, there
are others. For instance, people frqucntly
(hmmgraphic organ&
make plans by listing steps. The list allow3 you
to stand back, I m k at your plan, and revise it,
hclping you avoid fuzzy and sprawling thinking. In yet another example, people commonly use table with nvo or more columnsfor inseance for budgcu or suppli-rganiztd by category or task and the pcopie to
whom they a .assigncd Such @b1u help p u
clarify thinking that may initidly be ftnqand
help you maintain some syrrtcmadc organitaa'on, rather than getting lost in the many
tmdeoEs ofcornpli~attdproducs.
W
i
r
h all rhue thinking o r g d ~ e part
r~ o
fcu1why don't we ail chink perfkdy? Unfbrcw
nattly, mast knowledge p p I c havc is WC"
rather than .Lacrivc"People know a b u t it, buc don't
do anyrhing wirh it This applie to cvcry&y thinking
or*
aj much as co other kinds of Ir;nowIedgc
For example, most people know such terms as
,
a a h q and so on. Yet,in cvcrydayrnumq
soning at argurncnb people often make Gde use of
such terms. This 4anguagc of argument" s e a lidc
use in ordinq classrooms as wclL
This is unforarnatc, but it does havc a bright
side. To a significant emcnt,thc teaching of thin king does not involve teaching entirely n m thinking
organizers. It invoha reminding ptoplc of what
thcy already know, making it more explicit and
cmphatie. and exploring and emphasizing its i
n
p m n c e , In summary:
Buic#5.&rtcr~~onbactQogmtriaW n#d to d h % t u ~ l i ~ * t
h To +a
l r t c o f r h ~ d g m p h i c o r g D t t i v r s ~ ~
~ m r d ~ u # L h c m t o s o n r a ~ & n o ~ ~
Where
~mpmvcThinking: Inhion
inb Confent Arw !nsttvchbn
Three h a d approach- to teaching thinking havc
bem p c t i c c d widely since the early 1980s direct
instruction in stand-atone thinking programs outside the regular cutticuturn (we ean call ttru the
teaching ofthinking); the stimulation ofhigheredcr &inking within regular content instruction (we
a n call this teaching fw thinking); and i n h i o n
(Swam, 2991alr;S w a m & PcrE ns, 1990;r q a d n g
fur and oJ sec Brandt, 1984; Costa, 1991a).
I F M I N D S MATTER:
VOLUME
TWO
f i m Ninw Basics d Toaching Thr'nlting
Stand-done approaches include separate courses
or minicourses (Baron & Sternbag, 1986; Nckemn,
L
Perkins, & Smirh, 1985).By and large, such programs
focus on rpcdfic thinking o~#trs.
Also, students
typically think about issues that arc not part of the
subject maacr. For example, in a weUhown standalone program, students imagine that all c a n are
painted yellow. They think &U; &c posidw. ncg;ttivc, and interesting aspecrs of such a sinration,
applying a spcafic s t r a w QUed F M (a thinking organizer), which they learn to use chrough this kind of
practice In another prqpm, studma compare and
conmast objectr in &c school &usroom by bdng
their similarities and differences 7Zornpa.cand CO*
rrast' is a verbal thinking organizer, eypidIy rci*
forctd by twcxoiurnn charts or other graphic orgartizem. Studcnti get better with practice and Icarn that
insights M be di&ovmed though such comparing
and conmsing.
In reaching for thinking, &c second approach,
stimubung rhinking in conunt area imuucuon
h= a distinctive character. It arnountr to what the
previous section called -giving students txpcrienkczWLaf
better thinking pracricts within contcnt
arms. Teachers do not ask students to think a h u t
yeflaw cars or objects in the d o 0 1 classroom, but
rather a b u t topics in the subject matter of conc m . Studcnu might be chalIcngtd to write about
why the plague qrcad so easily in medieval Europe, or how Macbcth cornparts to Hamlet, or to
prepare thcmscha to d
i t h a t qucsaons in
C!-.
W e see here a deliberate &ort to move beyond questions that merely prompt recalling to
more chalicnging higher-order or So-tic
questions. This can stimulate some interesting and
provocarivc thoughts, But imauctfon .&megets
spent soItl-y on the content--what smdtnts arc
thinking about--with no direct attention to thinking organizers or reflecrion on the thinking itself.
Thinking organizm may be used inadcntalky, for
instance a compareandiona=utc h m but without
i d e n q n g them
general tools for organizing
thinking. The &catmerit of thinking remains tacit
and tends not to carry over to other scrtings.
Thus, the teaching olthinking and reacfingjor
tfiinking both have their fimicauans. The first. with
snd-aIonc model, addresser thinking cxplicidy
but does not conuibute dirccdy to deepening CQW
tent arca insmction. Moreover, in many school
settings, time proves difficulr to schedule, Teaching
Jot thinking within contcnt arcas Pears contcnr
more deeply and gives students experiences of better thinking. but without thc direct culdvau'on of
thinking. Recall from the h
t section that thinking
needs direct attention to grow
Infusion b a kt-of-both-worlds approach. It im
voives the cxpticit artcntion to thinking, but in the
conrtxt of content arca instruction. It is the approach we rccomrncnd The ohem may be used
too,
valuablc compkmenu, bur in our vim i d %
sion is an essential ingredient
More spccifical€y, infusion involves &rea insmction in thc use of cffcctivc &inking organizers
during contcnt instruction, suppsned by student
reflection and attention to transfer of the ~ n k i n g
organizers to o r h a sitltarions. It aIso invoIp9~direct
enpgemcnr wi& challenging and important quutions about h e content The smdcnu apply the
thinking organizers to the contcnt, Icasraing a b u t
both at once. Bath improvement in thinking and
enhanced content learning arc &c p a l figure 1
cxprthe rcIationships among the stand-done.
stirnuladon, and infusion approaches.
There art
approaches to inhion, although
far fmcr than to stand-alone imcrior%.
Gncm-mg
o w own work we discuss infizrion hT
TXdingr 1isr.m a d A*.
fcrkinj has dmcloped
Know*
ar Design (1986a) and a recent ovaview of
the importance of thoughdraI teaming
S&ds
(1992). Pakim and colleagues have devtlopmi h e
Corrnrdions program ( M i m & Trshan, 1988;
Perkins cc at., in pras; Tihman, 1991). S
has
contributed infused science Insons to
119891,and Sand Pasks have dcvebpd
the p r o g r a m I t r j i r r i T l g W d
-1
( l W k b ) , wkieh knhdu handh h for ekmencary and sccundaq xhcsof teachers
Our comments here focus on the p k a p l u involved,
princip lu that can be found in other rxtatcds or ap
plied by committed and experienced teachas on
their own.
What does rhc infusion approach accuatly look
like in action? The way inhsion plays itself out in
the ciasrroom can best be sctn by lookirlg at thc
CREATlNG THE THOUGHTFUL U A S S R O O M
I
I
APPROACHES TO TEACHING W1NKtNG
m C H l N G FOR
THINKING
TEACHING OF
THINKING
thinking in noncurricukr cbntmts
INFUSION integracud i m insm~tiorrin specific fbinking sWls inlo contau
l e m x ttsJMs impmue student thinlung and enhance c m t m t kaming.
brainstorming, assessing the reliability ofa witness'
report. or identifying main themes of paragraphs.
Thcsc relatively focused wayJ of organizing thinking might be d I t d -qs&&.
Other approaches to the teaching of thinking
emphasize larger, more encompassing thinking organizers, such as a thre-sttp decision-makingp&
(1) gcncratc options; (P) assess each option in
term of corucquencu and payofti; (3) lynhesirc
mctacogniuvtly on their thinking, as well as m n *
the asscssmtnu to yield a decision. While the indie
fer of it to 0th- contcxrs. Mctacognition and
vidual stcps in this plan arc rchtivcly f m e d skills,
transfer are important aspects of teaching thinking
w e can =I1 the overall plan a lAinking pnstar. In
that we will discuss larcr.
ochtr words, thinking p r o c ~ t ate
s Iarger organiBasic #3. I n J h
dind and qlid UmZLian
to teaching aiding t v i h mwnt m a k f n r c h
tations of thinking that arc made up of thinking
s~uda&'~inkng
b f i t s , and mtrlrnt L a z d n g ~ c t L d s skills. Figure 3 ilIwtntcs this relationship for a pafwith much ma e
t
h
.E f l i to t e t d & h i d %should
ticular thinking process, decision making, showing
i-ncL~.&n
*i
(srcmd-alolrc i-&n
a d eflmts &Q
a number of the subskills h a t play thtrnseha out
stimu&te thinking dwing tonCmt inr~ncctionn r q be
as we work through an organized strategy for the
process.
~
~compirmcnls).
~
~
t
e
An ensemble of core skills can be organized into
thrcc basic occgori CS: gcnerating ideas, clarifying
THE ART OF TEACHING THINKING
ideas, and assessing the reaonabltntrs of idAHention b Skills, Pnuesses, and Disposinions
(S& Pcrkins, 1990). Skills in the first category
Some approaches CO the teaching of thinking em- are traditional crcadve thinking skiIIs; in the second, traditional skilIs of anaiysis; and in the third,
phasize very particular kinds of chinking, such as
lesson on the extinction of h e dinosaurs in Figure
2. Noucc the engagement with a topic of prime importance in elementary and middle school science,
bur also the way direct instnrcrion in che rhinki ng k i n g taughr-usal
c x p i a n a t i o n ~ c a vt*~
gerhtr with the content Notice, in particular. the
use of explicit verbal and graphic organizffs, together with s t r a t t g i t s for hciping srudcnu reflect
!F
MINDS MATTER:
V O L U M E TWO
i
n o Mnm Buriu d Teo&irrg
Thinking
THE EXTINOION OF THE DINOSAURS
GRADES
SCIENCE
LESSON 08jECTIVES
CONTENT
Studmtsd
l Itam
t h r e arc d i M t thecrries about
the e x w o n af #e &nosaw and that tbe oniy xiatific
evidence m haw today about what c a d &kif
THINWNC SKILL
dcvekp dtemative hyporhasg a d
consider p m t cvidaue vR\cn
m rmke a
judgment a b a r t *t
m& m&&
to happen.
Studmu w r i
m
ednctlon is from W I s and other prehistoric m a i n s .
l
I ~ O D U C T I O NTO CO-
AND PROCESS
'mthings h a p p that mdon't likt, moften by to find cut what is -9 m.H m find out the came, m a n
m e r i m n fix i t fl rhe picture m pu TV is frml' and yw know it ir because the l n m r u h pointing in the mong direcd#r,
can flx it by moving the antenna. H mat's rot the a-, )ou m y noC be able to fix the picture unoi p hnd out wtmt
the c a w really is. Tqng to find a caux q u i r e s m e car& uiblcal Winking.
.
Finding out
-&ng
is
c o u d u - p b n o t k This invdvtl thinking about vrriblc tau= and thm
deddig w h e is the rnal cab a d on & m e - 5cirnds.U da thir AU the time. When we don't know a curt tar a
the d i v a r That may help them find a c m - Whcn ttrwe'r a nrruml divucr It- a M,
xirntim by to End a t what
m find a
it =h,
in d a to prcvrnt it m the h
.
This k s z u is
~ going to g k yau a chance to ksm
dentist$
h w to think carefully abcut a situadrm in orda to bnd a Q-.
h t h p p m d a y . Thy are alza interertd in major chwtgtr that
Sdmfilu arc not +t m t t ~ c n r din things liLr
thing that h s p d e d xicntiItl frw a lug tfme is w)ut hppmd tm the
a long time a p .
happcned m $I=
chy became extinct, but Vs m
a b a r t wht c
d
M
b.No m e knows
dirmaw at thr end d
find o u t We might be M e U learn mething that m1 hdp r r prmnr
~
0th
and how m
h- a&
th&
s@a hbecoming &nct in fhc u m e way-
+
* Q i ~ u r r ~ ~ r v y ~ ~ ~ v a r h o u g h t h m m r c l o t r d t h a n a n d ~ m r t h u g t m i r m k r o ~ o
au meat and hunted o t h a mimb What oeha things do p i lrnow about what
t d y . Same
plant
b y ;
ttw? w d d of dinowuo m3 I l k ?
THlNKlNC CRITICALLY
extkKt, W& in cdbborativt kaming g r w p s m
List d i h t n t porwic conditions that cadd cause the dinovurs to
bninaorm as m a y porgkiitie~as p u can. Mak* aut you indude dif?cnn! and u
d polo'bititiu
Supp u l&
tw dun abart which d th- p o u r i f i t r was tfie W r e t i i eaphnadoh What
c4 things might )w
find today hat cadd givt ycu W e c l c c far U a p h t each pombility? How a d d yw go a b m t findingU t t s t thhgs out7
E#fi grwp sholdd pi& me of thev pozPbifitkr and make a Est ot the ptnsible H i d a ~ using
e
the graphic orgsPlka fm
Caud
txphnilticm*
CAUSAL UPLANATION
-
Imagine lhat Miit 1-Kfor dfind
lau at dinosaur tn& at m e M,
-
-
Mlowing in various Kdimcntary rock
at artothcr, and then m-
fossilized Ieiives a d plants at me l&.
and then vtry fmmorc rmmmal W and hin m e 1 4 s than in 0th-
Whmywbring -tor
dinornra uades.The b~
increax in mmmd
i d m a r a y f o r m~4&~ng,youfid~atthcpia~andle~cainddcwitha101d
thee wac fewtr, and rhcn no obcr dinosarrr mck The
just
with fcrn plna
came as h
W h C possible upkruticnsdoa Lhiz
m& w u e diminishing.
w n t in kof?
he -dent
e u i d e e to be swe h b h &dent
kimtists shouldn't accept an t~pl-rjm
W h a t a t h e r c v i d a ~ c w d d ~ n c t db k - ~ t thiswasthebcst~aualcxplrudm?
d a r e ?Why?
00puknwofa~ot)w~~thr~~~~MabouttfKudnctiand~tdinawursathafromyarrtat
am t In frwv of?What polybilitiu don this H i d a x e cbonr
otha -a? wt -W
a-)
against? FtB in the Nid-c
an a gnphic far t h o pashie
~
explarutianr.
THINKING ABOUT THINKING
Map out the way you trid to fig- &t c a d ths exb'nction of the dinaraurs.
&l d o s t h i s map of caud
-L
did you rhink about first, n e x t et<?
expiaruo'an r r p r e m t what yw did?
I
C m p a m what m consided to the wGV
d i n a r i l y think a b w t mudo p think is the k n n way to try to find causes? Why?
Which
Think about r 'causal' siutionr thu cup for ycu oftm, Iikc caof
or causes of problems u d the h-.
Plan what ycu might think a b u t rhe n u t
time p don't lrnow what c a d sam&ing and want to find a
t
I
CAUSAL ExPLANATtON
l. Possible Ca-l
2, P a r u i tuidencc?
3. Achral evidence?
4. Likely auscs?
APPLYING YOUR THHNKIHG
fmmcdiate Transfer:
*
species. Make a lilt of the and then pick one yafd lik+ tn
We tmvt d i d otha a n i m b h t m 4
S
.
study futther- Use )cow p h fcr 4c~plurrtiarto delwmme what is causing * e m to be endangered. Do you have a y
animats? Explain.
ideas a b u t what we might do tb hdp
ThcrearsanumbcrdthinQrtfurh~pcnat~~trrwy~adcnu~dtudrararccancrmcd~lottof~~k
the u f c m i r , a great mwry i i b q
gtt loff mry yew. etc Meet vmtttring that d d be changed to make ow #had
things u,ma n recmmcnd m e medb
kW. Try 0 find out the eau&) of mof
m
Rcinforcantnt Late
W@'- g u n g to be studying hbrc
in fht
d mmrnlls after the Mcwuoic
figure Out why this happand uskg th+ urn rtrrtrgy fm c a d expbrution-
m.Whcn m do, rnq
m
WRlTINC/ART ExlENSlOH
~ * t h e s t ~ d m t s h n e b r u ' n s t m m t d- i " - d t h c d k t h d t b d u ~ l y u ~
dmt~pidrmdthacurddt.
a Say about h this cwld hnve Luiilcd tht dinonA3r them also to dnw wvne pictura to go along with rheir noria.
USURY RESEARCH EXTENSlOH
Aftathr~tudtntrhrn~ldthdrtutboduk~id-a~&tMthctxdnctibnofdfnauuo,aJt~to~
pcoplc have d i s a r s d rht e d ~ 01 hd i m ~ Y them
C
h
h d d M r y and
Mor d d n in
uplarutlmr fw mdnctfon h t
find 4the 4 - t
&at is Oifcred to nrpport them. They h d d r ~ r tot
d i f f m t mearia and discuss whtthu thy an 4 1 ntpportcd.
WHAT MAKES A
DEClf ION NECUSARY?
WHAf ARE W
E FACrS?
WHICH OPTlONS
WHAT ARE
MY OPTIONS7
WHAT COLttD I D 0 7
W A ~ S RESPONSI~~EFOR
ARE B
CONfEaEOF-
M E PROBLEM?
HOW CAN
I DO IT?
W
VANE
OF
c o w -
~
~
(B-
O
omo~)
A
I:
l
mMT0
N Don
OECISWS
ABOUT
MEANS)
Flexibility
(Evidence)
Originaiity
Elaboration
skiIk of critical thinking related to making wellfounded critical judgments. (See figure 4).
OCroursc, the distinction between skills and pr*
ccsscs is onfyrough. But it has somc importance for
pedagogy. Both thinking proccssa and rht thinking skills they involve need attention. At each ofthe
rwo Icvcls we fall prey to the dcfauiu of thinking.
Unfortunately, many approaches ro the ttadzing
of thinking neglect one Itvei or the other. Samc
conctna-att on skills only- They reflect an acornistic
approach, all too common in other subjects such a
marhernatiu, which brcalo down the domain in
question into small units isolated kom one another
and teach- them one at a time. Often, the units
never come together in students' minds to c m power them to undertake broader, more meaning@ks. For instance, students may Itarn the skiU
of comparing and conts-aung but they should also
learn to apply rhis skill in the context of the
Infmatim
DcdLwrlon
of making dtdsions, together with other skills im
portant to g o d decision makings
While atomism k one threat, o l a approacha 1
to teaching thinking focus only on o v m U pro- l
I
like decision raking and problem solving.
with IittIc attention to developing students' tbiIiry ;
I
with contributing skills. Moreover, h o s t who conI
ccntnte on skilh only do not always attend to skilk j
in each of rhe three impomnc t a q c n i o . Some
emphasize analytical skills, same creative thimking :
skills, and some critical thinking skilb. In our wicw,
both skills and procusu should show a smong Fence in a welkounded effort to teaching thimking.
And the broader thc range ofski&, the better- If
you art working with one of t!e more limited ap
proachu, you may want to suppttrntnt i~
A third important dimension of thinking ilZSO
needs imauaiod atrention Whmm procusu and
skiIls c o n c m what you do eo think w e l l dkpsidons
ccua
,
!
THREE TYPES OF IMPORTANT THlNKlNG SKILLS
11. Clarifying Ideas
1. Analyxfng Ideu
A Camparing/Conrastfng
I. Altmadve PosskilJtlu
A Multiplicity of Ideas
,
B. C l a ~ R o ~ d D d i n i t i o n
a. vuied
L AnJyrfng Argumartr
A Finding CondushJ/ Rtuarri
B. Unc-ng
hmmpdons
CNcwldtas
D. Dcmied Ideas
Ili. Assessing the Rcasonabienelr o f Ideas
t . Supparr: of 8ulc Infomtfan
A m i n i n g k ~ tObsrfvatien
r
8, Oetamming RtIkMe Secondary Sourca
2. lnfutnct
k Vw of Evidmce
1. G d Explanation
LPmdktian
3. CtncrJlrarion
4. Reauniq by Analogy
B. DtdKtlon
.,.
1. Conditional Reasoning (If
then ..-l
R r a m i n g (AI/Some ...)
L G-d
or articudn concern your tendency amally to do it
(d.
Enr& 1986; Pt~kiryJay.& Tihman, [inprcs~l).
Students lcarn m a q t h i n e HOWCYCT,
often thq
do not use what t h y I m , accept perhaps forping the tut Why noc? Perhaps they hck the
modvation to use a particuIar skill or piece of
knowledge. Or pahaps they lack the habit of putting it to work. cvcn though they would like to*
perhaps they do not detca occasionswhen it could
be wed In 0th- words, a disposition b a mnttcr of
modmtion, but a k ofother factors m& as habiu
and sensitivity e o r + a H t h ~ conuibutc
e
to
the actual dcptayment of better thinking. TOteach
thinking, WC must go beyond dmloping skills and
proctssa. W e must ato help smdcnu develop the
d=positioru they need to think we&
Dhposidons come in ail s i r e One can speak of
vtry specific dispositions, such as h e disposition to
explore optioru carcfuIly when you face a dtddonmaking sirnation. But one can also rpeak of very
broad disposition+ such as ihe dirpoDidon to hold
OKfinaljudgment until you have thought arefully
about ail the facrowno matter whether you are
making a decision. solving a problem. or engaging
in some o t f r a chinking proctss.
Moreover. certain broad dispositions caxs be
seen as direct counters to the four d&lo of think-
m,
narrow,
and sprawling. In same
cumcu~umdevtIopment work and wriang, mand
our colIcagua Shari Tishman, Hddi Goodrich,
and Eiicen Jay have highlighted four dhpiti6nr
h can be x e n in figure 5. each in turn Wm on"
one of the thinking defaults and recommends an
opposite pattern of behavim Of course, the bare
statement ofslogans does not instiU dispositions in
students. How-,
when one keeps cotningback to
them and elaborates the proctssa and ski% thug0
with them, rhy will rake haid and help organize
studcnrs' bchavior away from the ddaulb and tc+
ward better thinking,
How, in general, can we as -hen
help students dcvclop dispaaitionwhetfitr overarching
or more specific on& W e c m modd our own c o n
mitment to both as natural occasions come up in
the clasroom. We can show our opcmmindcdness,
our attention to evidence, and our pursuit of o p
ing-hasty,
IF
MINDS MATTER:
VOLUME TWO
FOUR KEYS TO THINKING DISPOSITIONS
-
Give your thinking tlm1
p.
Make your thinking adventurous and broad1
P
M a k F u r thinking dear and cardull
a
Make your thinking organized1
Figurn 5 Four &p t~ Thinking Dirporitim
tions. to inspire students' attenuon to &cm. WC
a n also engage students in exploring when different skills and proctucs should be used. to build
their sensitivity to appropriate occasions. And we
can keep our students at the entqrixofrhinking
wctl in different content arcas and on different oc-ionsso b a r they deveiop habits of thinking wtlL
:
Basic#& T h d c w l o p m m c q s ~ ' t h m k n g & fm
"iu"mg*(a)
&ilk, (b) F a ,and (4 * s i h
b d&hg. A d - n n r n d a i apprrzach adh = c a--&diy
~
of d b
.
vcrbd thinking organizers already a part of &c
English language. But one can go further. To wkac
standards should we hold our predicrions? What
steps might we take to make a wclkonsidaed dccision? Explicit v m b l and graphic thinking ~rganizers that go wand the rcsourca of cveqday Engiish answer such questions by cxprtsing steps,
standards, and other eIcmentr of a thinking sEsiI1,
proctss, or disposition (Black & Black, 1990;Jsnes,
Pierce. & Hunter, 19881989; McTighc & Lyman.
1988).
This d o a not m a n that teachers must neccssabily teach thinking organizers dirtczly to students
f i e lrnpor)ance of Grplicimess
h inductive approach is also passibIe, Teachers
s ~ g g e s uthat thinking skills, process-,
can guide smdenu in developing their own thinkaatd dispositions arc best rreaced expliatly in the
ing
organizers. For example, tcachm can engage
cboom+pellcd out. talked abour. made constudents in thinking about decision making. idefi
dous. This mcans that teachers shouId commit
u b n g problematic aspects of decision making, a d
b o o m time to focwing on thinking4efadts,
patof thinking, strategies. standards of creating a graphic organizer for the proccse
judgmcn~ways to plan and direct thinking, and so Whether organizers are taughc or drawn from wuon-Stand-alone courses. which involve the teach- dents, expUdtnas is key*
For instance. the sample l t ~ s o non the extindon
ing of thinking, always have nken this approachWC urgc that when teacherj infuse thinking into of dinosaun makes expliat what skillfin1 causaI explanation invotvcs. The teaefter d'rrcuses =-I
heir content instruction that they also attend to
cvplanation at the ouucb using ttrms like
thinkingwith the same arplidma+
m e a n d lookingfur&
Latcr in the Ieson. the
How? Lecturing students about &inking i s rhe
imtmctor guides the students through a welhrga-1
d e b l e way. Rather, t a c h m should employ
nized proccv supported by a graphic organizer. As
a common organizing vocabulary of thinkins skills,
PT%-,
and diipositions (such as making drri- the students articulate a rnap for the thinking they
did, they make aspects of causal reasoning aplidt
and e n g q h ) .In the wePknown
"dde PO
You Speak Cogituc?" Arthur COSU again to themselves.
how che ordinary language of h e clatrroom
Earlier, we contrasted infusion with tachingfw
thinking, which simply crnphasitcs expcriencu of
a n be transformed to elevate the Icvd otsrudcnu'
thinking (1991). Such moves rake advantage of rhe
better thinking during conccnt immction. Explicit
*
A F o r w a r d to thr Fvtwra
CUEAWG THE THOUGHTFUL CLASSROOM
the key differcncc. It is good to ask
challenging content-oriented quadorw that engage s t u d e n ~in deeper chinking than they would
otherwise display. But it is better to give thinking
explicit attention. Only then can one rasonabIy
expect students to understand and appreciate the
enterprise of beucr chinkicing and make &or- to
put to use what thcy have I m c d a b u t better
thinking in many settings.
Basic #5, *&L
a t t m f h h t h h h g d1~Z;ngamattention is
not memcognicion. In conwast, supposc Mirabellc
says to hcrscE -1 sctdcd on the ending of my short
story COO quickly. I should have given ir more
thought" Is she thinking about her own thinking?
Yts,She is noting how she reached a condusion-
That is mcracognidon,
Mctacognition is supremely impormnr to the
cultivation of good thinking. Through metacogniaon, people become aware of their usual thinking practices and gain the pcrspehve chy need to
finttune or even radically rrrrise those practices
rcnfinrm&n(vip&dgrnphit~orgcm~ , d i r ~ m ~ o n d ~ r n o n ) ~ ~ How
o u this
c iworks
a l becomes cltarer if we dkinguish
d@mntc *-eb
gizringsLudnzrr
of kfi four degrees of mecacognidon, a kind of hdda of
the most powerfulvPieryu rhc
~ c r r h ~ # d ~ ~ ~ c r u r a r r u v r rrntcacognitionwith
~ f k ~ r
top (Swara & Perkins. 1990).
&*=g+=
amss d
t sctthte
Altenfion Ib Metacqnifion
Most ofthe power we human beings wield over our
environment c o m a from our abibty to &ink a h t
d
t
o invent, mhc problems, make rcffectivc decisions, and so on, By analogy, much of our
power to direct our own &inking, the internal
worId of our minds, would flow from our ability to
&hkkabour our t h k k g - Psychology hat a word for
this process me~ac~gnirion
In the context of m&ng thinldng,
simply means thinking about your own thinking
(Swarts 1989). (In somc technical psychoIogica~
conexcs it takes on slighdy broader meanings.) For
instance, when you ask yourself, *How wcIl did I
really handle that d h i o n ? "you arc asking yourself a metacognidve vestion. You arc setting out to
think about your own thinking. When you sit down
to tackle an assignment and ask yourself, Wow just
haw am I going to approach thcjt problems?"
arc again asking yourscifa mctacognitive question.
YOUare planning in advance what strategy to
with the assignment
Many people mix up mcclcognition with other
I
kinds of thinking. However, the quay,
LhinEng abouc my own thinking?"prove a reliable
k q to sordng out m e meucognition. For example. suppose Mirabclle says to herself, 'I don't
like h e my I ended that shon story.' b B e thinki n g about her a m thinking? No. She's thinking
about an arm4 producq the short story. That is
-
Tfrt bolrom nmg T d use M w t often, people
make ust of different kinds of t h i n k i n m k ing evidence, imagining options. criticizing
~~urnrnavithout~m~
They just
do it This irrvobcs no metacognition at all.
7X.e SA A w m u e Sometimes, people
use different kinds of thinking with more
awareness. especially if they have pardcipared
in some insmaion a b u t good thinkingpractices. They are somctimu aware
.I*?
making a decision. Now I'm finding evidence.
Now I'm inventing ideas." Such awareness is
thinking about one's thinking to only a Bmiced d w c c , just categorizing and hbciing.
7hr tAird ~ n g S=
W urr Sometime people
dcfibcratciy deploy thinking organizers to
,
*
guide their thinking. For instance, they say:
? h i s is an important decision. r m going ro
brainstorm a pile of options to give m e somc
r d choices. And 1'11 have to think out the
consequences for opaoru that look good re
alIy carefully.' Such deliberate, saatcgic
scK-insrmaians go beyond 1abeEing and categorizing. They involve thinking abour one's
thinking in order to direct it.
?htap mng: Rcficcivc WC Occasionally,
people chink about their own thinking and
the chinking organizers h e y use to critically
assess and creatively rcvise their pnctices
"You know, when I make decisions, I don't aE
I F MINDS MATTER:
V O L U M E TWO
f i e Nine
Basis of Teaching Thinkin:
trol over their own thinking and Iearning arc weI:
mind far. Let rnc see if1 can get
worth
the invcsuncnt In summarybeyond the obvious options and find some
Basic #6. Dadaping k m ' nwlac~gnirbnis m
better ones." Such episodes involve thinking
irn-tfm
of hchi"g t h s n g . If is spe&.t2y dsir:
a b u t thinking in the richest sense, not jusr
a&& to &a&
+ntng n t e b m g r t i ~ - c m
- d
labcling and ~ttgorizing,nor menjust dirccri
~
m
r
d
~
i
v
c
n
v
i
r
i
O
n
o
f
o
t
t
r
3
qumLki~
ing, but rather examining and reinvenring
tihow one thinks.
The ladder ofmcracognition provide a telling r e
Teaching b r T o n s k r
minder that there are H e r e n t degrees of meOne of the most imponant but ncgleaed general
cognition. Many efforts to m& thinking pay some
goals of eduation b -er
of learning. Transfer,
attention to metacognition. Oftm it is the second
a term from the psychology of Icarrring, occurs
rung, simply a matter of ~tegorbing
and &ling, or
men the W d rung. emphasizing good choice and whcn students Icarn something in one context and
apply it in another significantly different context
cardid following of thinking organkmx But rartv
(for a more dcvelopcd cxpIanaaon, see Perkins &
dues the top rung figure in insauceion. Rarely ate
Salornon, 1987). For example, whcn moving from
learn- encouraged to think a b u t their thinking
one to another house. you might sent a small m c k
a i d e in cGEment contexu, to size ir up, and to re
You find that you can drive it well enough because
d&gn it In our view, a principal challenge in the
of your experience driving cars-cramifer fiom car
teaching of thinking invoba lifting srudenrr CO tfit
top rung, rtflccuvt use ofdif5ertnt kinds ofthin king- to m c k driving. For another examptc. when you
use math skills acquired in rhe cfaurwm on your
Whatis h i s like? For example, earlier in the articIe
income tax form, that is uansfcr. FOPmoPhtr, if
WC invied rcadm to chink about some recent dedyou
are a chess buffand find opporeranities po appiy
sions they m& that did not work out wcIl and .
principtt~of chess-Eke 'mkt conuot of b e ctnwhat went wrong. This is toprung mcmcogterm---to politiu or business, rhar is mnsfkr. As
nition, thinking abut your own thinking in a midcd
there examples make piain, some mnsfcrs r a c h
way. fhc 9 m c ;rcdvity can be done with youngsten in
further
than others. T h e m c k situation is retaciveIy
a-m.
close to the car situation, a east of "near &er,*
For anothm ccamplc, notice how mctacognidve
but politics and business art quite difftftnt 5 o m
activities appear in the infusion I a o n an the d i n s
chess, a e y e of ufarmnsfcr."
saurs. Thc lesson asks students to map out explicitly
Why is transfer so important to educators??For
how they thought about the taus- of ~ h txuncc
nvo
reasons. First of all, the impact of education
of the dinosaurs, what they did first, and what
depends on mnsfa.We do not irunvcc students in
ncxt Perhaps with help h e y would say that first
rnathemadcr so thy can perform well on math
they thought about possible causes, then possible
quints, but so that they can use ma&tmadcs on
evidence, and so on. N e x ~
studenu compare this
income tax forms, in the supmarket, for keeping
w;iy of thinking about a w n to heir ordinaxy prachousehold accounts, and for pursuing profaions
tices. They can discuss which is better, why, and
when. Such cpisoda of critically dusting the way in accounting, engineering, or science, W e do not
they think arc toprung or reflective instances of instruct students in history so they can p w the kik
tory quiz, but rather so they wiI1 rtad about current
mttacognition.
h these examples iHusmtc, h i i d i n g metacog- events with more savvy, vote with a deeper scme of
the democratic tradition, and display sensidvity to
nition into the teaching of thinking a n be done
the social forces around them.
rkdily enough. It's mostly a m a u a of making rime
The second reason is this: Research shows that
in a lesson and taking some pains so some of that
nansfer cannot be taken for granted. Often, stutime s a v e s top-rung, reflective meracognirion. T h e
dents do n o t display the kinds of cransfer we would
gains in students' a m e n s of and thoughrful contm stretch my
-
-
CREATING THE THOUGWUL CLASSROOM
like to see. They do nor apply their mathtmadcal or
historical knowledge to later stadia or to situations
outside the cksroom. In most classroom settings,
it is taken for granud char students make the a p
propriatc
ofwhat h e y a r t icarning. But for
many topic3 and skills, transfer d o a not occur.
This is a major problem for cdu&on in gmcr;rl
and for the teaching of thinking s p c d c d y (S2987).Just as students often do not d e r content
knowledge. h e y &n do not &er
mys of W k ing that they have h c d in a partial= &S. W
ian bt done? Here, -eh
is urcouqing. Catain
smdin show thatwe ean get the ~ i w c w a n t i f
teach far mrder. Although d k r does not happen
autornaddly, if instruction induda specific cornp*
ncnu designed to foster d a . then students
display much more h e r of leaning.
It's useful to characterize two general a p
proaches to reaching for mmfcr, h u e g and
k d g i n g (Perkins & Salornon, 1986; f o g a q ,
Perkins, & h e l l , 2992).T h e basic idea of
is to make the insauction as much like &c diverse
poccntiaI applitauons as possibIc, including in the
insmcu'on samples or simulatiom of applications.
Thus. the instrucdon 'hugs" the m*oncd appiicauons as much as possibic.
In conmu&bridging d w not invoive scudenu*direct experience with possible apphtiorti Ratfter,
the guidance ofthe teacher, students make gek
e h t i o n s h u t what they arc Itarning, anticipate
possible applicuions, and cornpart different circumsacs anatyu'cdly in a widc-ranging fishion. Thus,
bridging is analytical and c o n c c while
~ ~ hugging
cxp&cntiat Boch are u~cfuiwys of teaching for
d k r , and both cyl bt uxd together*
Mare conaeky, what on be doneto teach for the
-er
of betterof thinking?Theh t rule is: Set
Gdc time m teach for &a.
As tousing tbat time,
notice how the dinosaur 1n
hand- d d dIt
asks studcna to apply Lhe same aaccgy m an endanspccia; oils for them to an*
some sd.loo1
concern, such as noise in the cafe*
m determine
c a m ; and pIans ahead to ernplay the same smtagain later in &c mto examine the otlxs of
h e inaeax in the population of munmalr during
the Mesozoic E a AI1 of these arc exampia of hug-
ging, in ail casts tfie smdents directly practice other
applicadons of the p r o c e ~ ~ .
For anorher crampie, mppose that your students
learn sorncfing about de&ion making in h e con
text of looking at l h y Truman's deckion to use the
atomic b m b to end World War II (Swam & P a r k
1999). To &for &a,
you might
Do a sim-& Gmdse with U diflknt -Ic.
For
instance, you might engage your studmu in
working through the decision of Southern
politicians to secede from the Unioh Such an
applicstionhdps students g c n d z e the deck
~ ~ sion-making perspective introduced with the
TN man exampIe- It is a fornl ofhugging. a direct experience with other exampIex
Cornparr and cantnmt W& p m d dccisionr You
might ask your students to choose personal
decisions they have made and compare the
proc&s of making those decisions with how
you ail, in class, rethought Trurnan's decision.
This is bridging, an analytical comparcandconmast exercise.
Houd~studmts~&&~~Youmight
ask your students to keep -d'dtcision &ariaw fm
three or four w c c k They work through some
personal dedsioru in their diaries, keeping in
mind some of the dtcision-making principles
they are Icarning. In their diaries, they& cornpare and contrast those d-om
with historical
decisionsyou arcsnxdyingat thesamc time. This
i m o k both hugging and bridging-hugging
in dire* working through personal M o n j
and bridging through the anatyticai e o m p ~ n
and contrast
will find it comfortabIc to teach
fur aansfer with tactics very Eke those in these examples. 0th- with dierent agendas can d c v k
other hugging and bridging manmm to help
youngsters transfer what they arc learning. Moat
important t the prinapk involved:
MC
N. T h h g ~ o t ~ i o / b r l l c t cfthkkkg
wq~
; r m ~ p m f o j h ~ o f ~ . ~ n r a r r
~ ~ r i m c b ~ t a m n r r s
nrhngwidcz4pp~(h~ondgmcralimrgd
Somt teach-
rhinAing+~abu&~Ita@h&u(bmQin@.
IF
ab
M I N D S MATTER:
VOLUME T W O
BUILDING AN INFUSION PROGRAM
Bewore Token Investment
.
Commonly, efforts to infuse thinking into subject
matter instruction art sporadic This is understand&it, in that teachers' livn arc horrendously busy,
and t.hq have ail too many agendas to m e CAt the
same time, both common sense and somc rcscarch
suggat that a minimalist approach to infusing
thinking into subject matrtr learning d o o not
achime very much, probably nothing. When tea*
mwhottachadajsfourorfIvcdmnawctkon~
include a thinking acuviry once a week or once rrery two weeks for fifteen minutes or a half hour,
there is likely to be no long-term impact whau*
W,dthough ofken the activicy itself go= very wc!L
Probably, t-chcrs should do something wcry
day, even if britfly, for &c initiative to be worthwhile. Something, but what3 In our view, i~ is not
.:.m~csrar).
to focus on a key process, such as causai
reasoning, with fully elaborated lesson after Iesson,
Eke the one about dinosaurs. One to three Iesons
with such step+tep guidance art enough for a
spedfic proca. or rlciU-provided h a t hey are folIowcd up with regular reinfbrctmene through
m f c r examples For instance, one would ask students to think through other issue requiring
a u d reasoning in a morc =&guiding way. Such
appiicatiom often have to begin with tfic students
reminding thtmseIves ofthe smcegy they used before, the teacher helping only = ncct5fary. I t is
important to replace tcachcrs' external guidance
with students' internal guidance as t h q gain more
ucpcritncc.
Beside fiqucncy, diversity is important too.
The same skills and processes should be inaoductd in a number of ditrerent subjccr areas and
reinforced by mchcrs working from the same
thinking fiamcworb across tfit cumcutum and
p d e Itvck This provides repcared practice and
fosters &an&". And there b another reason as weik
Part of the aim in teaching thinking is to modify
student diositioru or attitudes so that they apprc
date the M I U ~ of good thinking. Showing that we
M~UC it enough to give it a prominent rolc across
~ hwhole
t
curriculum supports the development of
htse dispositions. This is ;l short but very important basic To sum it up:
&sic M.A m i k & r/l;nkingm antent %CTIL&
m& td beJ&y-:
& (U) build s~udntrr'ski& and
mrigi+Lr a d (b) sytnnnticauy dcrpen amfml&s t a d k g . Don 1 s~~
itf
fie Need b r Confinuing Shff DeveIopment
Gaining facility in =eating and teaching subject matter ~
~*hfud
n with
s the teaching ofthinking is not
very aft Howtyer, it cannot be aaornpbhed
oycrrxight Four &c
tItrnenrs arc invotved:
Work fiorn a cltar conccpaon of the kind of
thinking that you want to teach your students.
Have skills, processes, dispositions, and rtlevanr thinking organizzn in m i n d
-
* End namral points of opportunity in the curriculurn you teach, places that invite attention
to the kind ofthinking in question.
Structure your lessons to inuoducc for, in an
inductive approach, elicit from students) the
thinking skills, processes, and disposiuons explidtfy through thin king organizers
Help your students reflect on the thinking
they are doing (mtracognition) and give
them plenty of practice in using that Kind at
thinking in diverse contexts and in reflecting
on how it might apply cixwhcrc (transftf).
Each of these points is best accomplished in the
contort of ongoing staff dcrelopmcnt p m p m s far
group of teackcr~.Although vinualty a l l &cm
dr e do somc things to cultivate students' thinking,
most have nor received any f m a l introduction to the
tcaching of thinking, l i m e is needed to become h
miEar with the witty of thinking skills and p r m
that arc imporcant in g d thinking and to find v
to work them into the curriculum T h e is no -quick
fix"Going to a single workshop will not impart fadiry in teaching thinking well. (For a gcncrd p ~ a & d
pcrrpecrivt on the problem ofctacha dcveloprncnt
and schoot change, see FuIlan, 1991.)
Multiple exposures are im?orrant But, beyond
that, effective staEde~e!opmcntrequires morc di-
rcct Icarning opportunities, typically h o u g h indi-
vidualized coaching stssiona Rescar& on staff
development strong@supports this. Coaching s e s
sions shouId focus on spcckf~cIcsrons that tmchers
either have designed or arc in the process of dcsigning. Thc coach can sit in on a class and discuss
what happens afterward with &c tcacher._Or the
coach can meet with a teacher bdure the 1-n
is
taught to help work through the lesson design. 'Ihe
coach need not be an outside consultant, but may
well be a teacher in the same school with more
background to draw on. Whamer the detaik the
coaching process should focus directly on clroom implementation of general ideas obtained
through workshops or orher means
For instance, a workshop might introduce a group
ofteachers to causal reasoning, with h e dinosaur I
s
son as an cxampit T h e teachers are askcd to design
causai reasoning lessons r d c a n t to their own co*
tenL A few days later, the workshop p r e n t m or a
teacher wirh prior cxperienct in such instruction
might 6smss the designs with each teadla individualv. One tcacher might have designed a owl
explanation in social srudies on thc auscs of the Civil
War- Anoher might bring one o n what caused fading in m e Pushcm War." The discussion ofun
yields major changes in thc Icsson and builds teach
m'confidence in thdr d o n s to infirsc thinking into
their conunt insauction.
There is no mbrtirutc for this kind afarcful work
on lesson daign as you build an infusion program for
o o m or a whole schwf. W e have many modeh
of this process already. Thc best "thinking"schools
utilite a variecy of support srrucnrr- for such ongoing
serffdcvelopmcnt program. These range kom
time for inservice programs to p e r coachingarrange
rncnrs. Teachers work cotlaboracivciy to msurt a
common fears mdasxsand sub+ maner. S&
ing to mitivat~=dents' thinking, thy h d them
xks engaged in thinking and rethinking their a p
proacha to teaching and thcir boors &mlurnThe school k o m a a sating thar.dua and foam
both srudcntr' and t e a c h ' thinking.
B a r i c * . m ~ o f ~ i n c o r ~ n h t t m m
scructiolr;Imta *+fim-+asingLc
ab
~
a
*
~
&
d
~
d
&
m
o*/s&f-
m
n
r
(==+
of~hi&~bcAmrrllad~~Lks~O&?&
~ ~ ~ ~ p I D f m d d a r i
c h n n g c ~ ~ ~ ~ o / 9 o
h t h u r Costa comtandyremirrdr us that the beter
thinking practices we stress in classrooms for our
dents' sake should pamtaze rhe endre umospherc of
rhe school, inspiring v a c h m &d adndnistra(Z991). Schools like thii arc %oms for the mindw
W e bclicvc that wcryone in the long run can S ~ f d
this son of home- Indeed, we as a society d m t Sford not to afford them. In the yeam to come. the
expanding a r t and dafi ofinfusion will help creart
such schools far and wide
REFERENCES
b m m , C, DiSpcria. M, Cuthtie, V-. w e n , M,
Mtrcicr, S, & Ustiund, K. (1989). Addkm W a h
~MenlaPark CG- ~ d d w * W d y .
Baron, J- 8..
~
R
man.
Skmberg, R S (Eds.). (1986). fr+
Ycw York W.H.Free
S7Xmy
a-
Black H, & Bb&, S. p. ( 1990).
Grove, U,Midwest Publications.
.-
Pacific
i
Brands R (1984). Editorial- mzfL&md
3.
+I('Z),
Costa A I I992a)- T d i n g , for, of,and about thinkhg. In
A GSD
(Ed),
Dnrdrpng&A-bookImk=k
ing
mid
(Vol 1 ) (p- 31-34),
Alewandrk, V k Assbdation for Supervision and CurricuIurn Dmlapment