Adult SEL, Mindfulness and Self-Care Support Improve School Culture & Climate

Presenters

Torri Hornsby-Griffin, DeKalb County School DistrictFollow

First Presenter's Institution

DeKalb County School District

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. Torri Hornsby-Griffin, LPC is an administrator in DeKalb County School District’s Division of Equity & Student Empowerment. As a member of the Title IV Prevention Department, she works to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for all students, especially in the area of their social and emotional development. Dr. Hornsby-Griffin has been in counseling and education for over 25 years serving students of all ages. She is most passionate about helping teachers, leaders and students develop healthy self-care routines that create healthy mindsets and lifestyles using her psychoeducational, educational and counseling techniques. She is a graduate of Emory University where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, the University of West Georgia, where she received her Master of Education degree in Guidance and Counseling and Georgia State University where she completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Counselor Education. She also practices life coaching and psychotherapy in the Atlanta area.

Second Presenter's Institution

DeKalb County School District

Second Presenter’s Email Address

Sabrina_M_Pressley@dekalbschoolsga.org

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Ms Sabrina Waters benefitted from an excellent education in DeKalb County School District in metro-Atlanta. She currently serves in that same school district where she has devoted 21 years of professionalism impacting communities as a teacher and local school administrator. Ms. Waters’ educational credentials extend to a Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership (2006) and an accumulation of continuing education credits that support her commitment to being a job-embedded learner. These educational experiences have afforded the opportunity for Ms. Pressley to join forces with a diverse group of people to meet the shared goal of increasing student achievement. As a firm supporter of the DeKalb County School District and K-12 education, Sabrina Waters has an unwavering belief that all students can learn when provided a positive learning environment, strong and knowledgeable leadership, and a committed learning focused team which includes supportive families.

Third Presenter's Institution

Dekalb County School District

Third Presenter’s Email Address

Shanob_Jones@dekalbschoolsga.org

Third Presenter's Brief Biography

In 2016 Shanob Favors realized that educators and students needed additional ongoing self-care resources and self-care spaces in their learning and work environments. As a result, she wrote and began implementing Oak View Elementary School’s Mindfulness School-wide Action Plan. Shanob Favors is a Mindful Based Stress Interventions Coach and Paraprofessional at Oak View Elementary School in DeKalb County School District. Shanob is very passionate about putting one’s Self-Care first before giving to others. She teaches and provides resources, tools, strategies, trainings, and settings for educators, support staff, and students that they can use to help manage emotions, and stress in the body and mind.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

Mindfulness and Wellbeing

Relevance to Primary Strand

This presentation will describe a school's journey using Adult SEL, Self-Care and mindfulness practices in positively impacting the school's culture and climate. The journey began two years ago and includes various strategies to enhance the staff's voluntary improvement in their Self-Care routines, use of Adult SEL practices and use of available mindfulness spaces in the school. The results point to increased well-being for participants and a natural transference of SEL and mindful practices used in the classroom with students.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

This session, Adult SEL, Mindfulness and Self-Care Support Improve School Culture & Climate, will present the process used to improve the quality of the lives of school staff and introduce the use of calming corners and mindfulness practices to the students of a local metro Atlanta school.

Summary

This presentation, Adult SEL, Mindfulness and Self-Care Support Improve School Culture & Climate, describes the process used to improve the quality of the lives of school staff and introduce the use of mindfulness to the students of a local metro Atlanta school. Since the project began in 2021, teachers are reporting increased personal use of Adult SEL, Self-Care and mindfulness strategies. Expansion to classrooms in the form of calming corners and mindfulness guidance has continued to have a positive impact on students as well as on the culture and climate of the school.

Utilizing a series of Self-Care Initiative and mindfulness activities that have extended over the past two years, the school leadership team, supported by district level administration, applied a variety of tactics to address the adult SEL needs of the staff after a school closure in 2021. The leadership team has been able to see results and improve the culture and climate in the school which has improved morale and re-created a sense of community for teachers and staff.

This session will explore various elements of the initiative:

• Self-Care - centering around the six domains of wellness: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental/psychological, social/relational, and workplace/professional.
• Adult SEL - focusing on self-awareness and self-management
• Mindfulness Rooms - expanding to additional spaces in the school
• Calming Corners - introducing to classrooms with teacher/student training

Participants will be able to review the school's progress and plan, explore the possibility of applying similar steps to their schools/districts, and create a mindfulness/Adult SEL plan that can be applied immediately upon return to their respective work environments.

Evidence

Research shows that when teachers are able to effectively manage stress and the demands of teaching, their health and well-being improves and they are less likely to leave their profession (Greenberg, Brown, & Abenavoli, 2016; Ingersoll, 2001). As part of the retention efforts of one metro-Atlanta school, the staff members were exposed to a series of activities that were designed to encourage and enhance their personal self-care routines. The first activity, which was an assessment and planning session, was offered to the entire staff early in the project and successive activities were provided (in faculty meeting settings as well as via Principal and District support emails) as recommended opportunities throughout the remainder of that and the next school year.

Of the participants who responded to the end of the semester survey during the second year, more than 85% of participants had improved the quality of their self-care routines in the past 12 months. The mental/emotional area was followed by the physical and spiritual areas that participants participated in more now than 12 months prior.

Half of participants stated that they LOVE the Self-Care and mindfulness focus at the school and want it to continue. Nearly the same number believe the Mindfulness Room(s) support thier mental well-being and they plan to participate in activities scheduled there throughout the year. More than a third of participants are committed to a more Self-Care aware year and to taking good care of themselves.

The school leadership believes collegiality has a direct impact on the collective efficacy needed to improve student achievement by having a positive learning environment and school climate. There is also the belief that a positive learning environment is a major contributor to job satisfaction and teacher retention. In support of that idea, CASEL states, “stress affects teachers’ health and well-being, job satisfaction, job turnover, and student outcomes (Greenberg et al., 2016).”

The Self-Care Initiative has continued with additional Self-Care in the Workplace activities throughout the semester that are designed to impact the social and emotional learning (SEL) activities between teachers and students in improving the quality of classroom interactions. Teachers are now practicing their own self-care routines and allowing students to participate, offer feedback, and even create their own classroom rituals that are based in mindful self-care practices. Strong teacher-student relationships also improve school and classroom climate and help students feel more connected to their class, school, and learning (Darling-Hammond, Ancess, & Ort, 2002).

In this school example, the primary focus of the first year was to raise staff member awareness and connect each person with their ability to impact their own self care routines. The focus of the second year is to build on that foundation and implement those adult SEL activities that enhance social interaction involving both colleagues and students. Calming corners are being integrated in to classrooms and teachers are being trained in use of the corners and implementation of mindfulness practices for students in the calming corners. These efforts are also documented as Priority Area 3 of the School Improvement Plan to ensure there are more positive interactions that support the ultimate goal of improving the school’s culture and climate for all stakeholders.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to review the school's progress and plan since its inception and explore the impact on staff and students.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to explore the possibility of applying similar steps to their respective schools and school districts.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to create a mindfulness/Adult SEL plan that can be applied immediately upon return to their respective work environments.

Learning Objective 4

Participants will be able to share their progress and impact of similar activities in their schools/districts.

Recommended Citation

Hornsby-Griffin, Torri, "Adult SEL, Mindfulness and Self-Care Support Improve School Culture & Climate" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 82.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/82

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