Shows
Unboxing Social and Emotional LearningSeason 2 Finale: An End to a BeginningIn this final (for now) episode of Unboxing Social and Emotional Learning, we look back on the podcast project as a whole—sharing favorite moments, discussing recurrent themes, and imagining what may come next for the pod and for SEL. Listeners who have been with us since Season 1, Episode 1 may recall some of the quotes and moments we return to, and those listening for the first time may wish to go back and start from the beginning! As we explain with the episode title, the end to one thing is often the beginning to another. “SEL,” as we have expres...
2025-12-1856 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningEmbodying Empathy: Performing Arts and SEL - With Sharmila MillerIn this conversation with Sharmila Miller, we learn about her experience as a drama teacher and anti-racism facilitator within education and performing arts. Sharmila shares how the process of teaching drama inherently involves engaging students with empathy, perspective taking, conflict resolution and problem solving skills. She also explains how she uses performing arts techniques for anti-racist education and facilitation. Through this fun and engaging dialogue, we are challenged to rethink formalized SEL education and reflect on the myriad ways sociality and emotionality are already embedded in the learning process.Participants:Adishi Gupta, MA...
2025-12-0359 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningInterconnected: Bringing an Ecological Perspective to SEL - With Drs. Shannon Wanless and Renee OwenIn this episode of Unboxing SEL, Dr. Shannon Wanless and Dr. Renee Owen share insights from their article Evolving Transformative SEL with an Ecological Perspective. They trace their unique paths into SEL and explain why moving beyond individualistic approaches is essential for tackling inequity and climate injustice. Emphasizing interconnectedness, collective action, and care for the natural world, they highlight ways educators can weave this perspective into everyday practice without adding to their workload. It’s a warm, thought-provoking conversation that invites listeners to reimagine SEL as a shared journey toward personal, community, and environmental well-being....
2025-11-2751 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningIn Conversation with the Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma - With Xavier Graves and Traci GardnerUnboxing SEL dives into conversation with Traci Gardner and Xavier Graves from the Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma (RJIOK) to learn about their work and vision toward promoting more just and equitable futures. Restorative justice, says Xavier, “is not the what, it’s the how we get there.” We discuss the overlaps between SEL and restorative justice, ending with the bittersweet hope that change can come if we are willing to reenvision our systems. From Traci: “I do believe human relationships can be healed and restored, given enough time and space. And I also believe we live in a society...
2025-11-2055 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningEducational Support and SEL - With Michaela BrainIn this lively episode, Michaela Brain joins us to talk about her work as an educational assistant and support worker in British Columbia, Canada. Michaela shares her experiences with SEL instruction across a variety of educational settings including group homes, early childhood centres, learning centres, and elementary schools. We also discuss how SEL programming can be adapted for students with disabilities and what other supports these students (and their support staff) may need to thrive. Participants:Michaela Brain, BA, Child and Youth Development WorkerMelvin Chan, MA, York University
2025-11-1345 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningRestoring the Humanity of Social and Emotional Learning - With Chris McNuttChris McNutt joins us for a transformative conversation about his work as the co-founder and executive director of Human Restoration Project, a nonprofit organization focused on truly listening to youth and reimagining school at a systems level. Chris shares what he has learned about SEL through ‘empathetic interviews’ with young people, and how schools might meaningfully engage with students’ wisdom rather than undermine it. “It’s simple,” he says, “but not easy.” Tune in for the full discussion!Participants:Melvin Chan, BSc, MA, York UniversityJinan El Sabbagh, PhD, Oklahoma State UniversityEmma McMain...
2025-11-0659 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSeason 2 Kickoff: The Past, Present, and Future of Unboxing Social and Emotional LearningAfter a hiatus following Season 1, we are back and more excited than ever to dive into the unboxing of social and emotional learning! We find ourselves in a social scene that is both new and not-new, when we consider the political tensions SEL is up against and our ongoing concerns about its ability to dismantle systems of oppression in locally situated ways. Join us on a trip down memory lane as we reflect on how this podcast first got started, who we were then, who we are now, and where we are going. Participants:Melvin C...
2025-10-3059 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and PoliticsLet’s talk politics! As SEL becomes increasingly situated in the midst of educational “culture wars” between the political left and right, we decided to devote an entire episode to discussing how this polarization has happened and what it means. Is SEL a “Trojan Horse for Critical Race Theory,” as some conservative groups argue? Is it an innocently “apolitical” phenomenon supported by an entirely objective research base? Tune in to follow our discussion about political non-negotiables, open-mindedness, and the tricky balance of making room for both.Participants:Melvin Chan, BSc, MA, York UniversityJinan El Sabba...
2025-03-0557 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and Cultural Appropriation: Mindfulness and YogaDrawing on our own experiences and associations with yoga and meditative practices, we investigate the rise of mindfulness and yoga in SEL programs. Substantial research touts the benefits of these practices across age groups, and yet we wonder what pieces get lost or left behind as these practices are imported into the Western colonial landscape of SEL. How can we in the SEL community be responsible and respectful toward practices that are situated in specific historical contexts and evolving realities, including the current political climate in India?Participants:Melvin Chan, BSc, MA, York University
2025-03-0554 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and More-Than-Human EntanglementsGut bacteria, viruses, microbes, sand and soil…in this episode, we acknowledge how sociality and emotionality are always embedded within human-nonhuman entanglements. How can SEL be extended to recognize and nurture these entanglements? If SEL is to move from a humanist to a “posthumanist” stance, one that knocks humans off the top of the species hierarchy and aims to learn with rather than about other species, important questions must be asked. What happens when human-nonhuman relationships are embraced in a way that still positions nonhumans in service of humans? Must we feel a sense of sameness with other species to car...
2025-03-0550 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and Settler ColonialismSequoia leads us through grounding activities to open and close our discussion about the settler-colonial underpinnings of social and emotional learning (SEL). Together, we grapple with critical questions about how and whether SEL can truly become culturally responsive, sustaining, or revitalizing. Where do issues of cultural appropriation crop up, and how can SEL push against an expectation of eternal “self-improvement” to hold space for balance, presence, and acceptance? SEL certainly needs to learn with and from Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities if it is to promote equity. However, we end with the unresolved question of whether Black, Brown, Indigenous, and...
2025-03-041h 07Unboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and the SocialOur last episode was all about the self, and now we turn to the social. SEL not only focuses on promoting “self” regulation and “self” awareness--it also emphasizes expressing emotion to others, recognizing emotion in others, and building relationships. As per usual, we ask a lot of questions: How are private aspects of the self measured, verbalized, and made social through SEL? Is it wrong to try to measure concepts like joy or wellbeing? Is it always important to name, discuss, and control how we are feeling, or are there other ways to relate to emotions that may not be as va...
2025-03-0455 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningStarting the Conversation: Critical Dialogue Around Social and Emotional LearningWelcome to the inaugural episode of our podcast series, “Unboxing SEL!” We come together as a group of friends, educators, and scholars to discuss social and emotional learning in ways that do not frequently occur in K-12 and higher education. Join us in this episode as we introduce ourselves, talk through our goals, and share initial thoughts/concerns/possibilities for an education that tends to sociality and emotionality. Why SEL? Why podcasting? Why us? Why now? Participants: Melvin Chan, BSc, MA, York UniversityBrandon Edwards-Schuth, PhD, University of OuluJina...
2025-02-2751 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and Social Crisis…Who and What is the Problem?The sky is always falling! Or is it? SEL is often positioned as the response to a message of “society in crisis,” “children in crisis,” “schools in crisis,” or all of the above. In this message, SEL is usually framed as the solution, and sometimes in saviorist or surefire-cure ways. Building on Episode 1, we continue to unpack the social, political, and historical context behind SEL, considering how our deepest societal fears and desires can manifest in our educational practices. As educator-activists, we hold space for paradoxes, including the need for radical and immediate action toward social-ecological justice and the need for slo...
2025-02-2752 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and NeoliberalismNeo-what? We’re back with our third episode to discuss how SEL is entangled with the for-profit world of marketization and self-surveillance in some pretty concerning ways. We make space to discuss what we actually mean when we use words like “critical,” “capitalism,” and “neoliberalism,” and we contemplate SEL’s strong emphases on individual responsibility and self-discipline. We also welcome the question of what we would like to see being done in the name of social and emotional learning (though some of us suggest departing from the SEL label entirely). What makes us feel hopeful or excited when it comes to educati...
2025-02-2753 minUnboxing Social and Emotional LearningSEL and the SelfTo know thyself is the beginning of wisdom, says Socrates. Self-awareness and self-management appear as central components of most SEL programs, and self-improvement, self-help, and self-care are buzzwords in our daily lives. We devote this episode to contemplating what exactly is the self? What kind of “self” does SEL seek to develop, and what understandings of self might be left behind? What can we learn from examining how self is understood across cultures and contexts, from more individualistic to more collectivist ways of being? We welcome a new member of our group, Adishi Gupta, whose research is all about the...
2025-02-2753 min
Human Restoration ProjectSystemic Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) w/ Dr. Emma McMainToday we are joined by Dr. Emma McMain. Emma works in the College of Education at Washington State University as a postdoctoral teacher and researcher, focusing on assessment for pre-service elementary teachers, cultural considerations in education, and social and emotional learning (SEL). Her work aims to promote social and ecological justice, seeing education as an important site of social transformation. Dr McMain's recent works include: Drawing the line: Teachers affectively and discursively question what counts as “appropriate behavior” in schools — which dissects the power dynamics of classrooms in determining what is “appropriate” behavior; and The “Problem Tree” of SEL: A Socio...
2023-12-1646 min