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Emotions Matter The Relevancy and Advantages of Social and Emotional Learning Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the lead developer of The RULER Approach to Social and Emotional Learning. At Yale University, Dr. Brackett is a research scientist in the department of psychology; deputy director of the Health, Emotion, and Behavior Laboratory (HEB); and head of the Emotional Intelligence Unit in the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy. He created the first experiential course on emotional intelligence for undergraduates at Yale and also codeveloped a course on the same topic for aspiring school leaders at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has been working with Brewster Academy on integrating The RULER Approach into the Brewster curriculum since June 2010. On a recent visit to campus, he sat down for a Q & A with Brewster Connections. Describe Emotional Literacy Dr. Brackett: Emotional literacy comprises five key emotion skills. We use the acronym – RULER – to communicate these skills, which are: Recognizing emotions in oneself and others Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions Labeling the full range of emotions using a rich vocabulary Expressing emotions appropriately in different contexts Regulating emotions effectively to foster healthy relationships and achieve goals The work we do in schools with adults and children focuses on the integration of The RULER Approach into all aspects of the school day. What’s critical about our work is giving people the knowledge, skills, and tools that help to develop their emotion skills. In turn, they embody a range of behaviors and attitudes to better position themselves for success in academics, careers, and relationships. How we handle our emotions has a huge impact on our decisions, and research has shown that emotion skills are integral to personal, social, and academic success. What is the origin of Emotional Literacy programming and why is it relevant today? Dr. Brackett: The HEB Lab was founded by Dr. Peter Salovey – who in the late 1980s and early 1990s conducted seminal research on emotional intelligence with his colleague, Dr. John Mayer of the University of New Hampshire. Their research focused on how different moods influence decision making and how emotion management and self-control impact important life outcomes. Drs. Salovey and Mayer merged these studies into the field of emotional intelligence The study of emotional intelligence has since been scientifically validated, and we now know that emotions matter in our daily decision making. Emotions drive much of what we do in our life. Although the many ways we regulate emotions occur outside of our awareness, our skill in consciously regulating emotion is critical to our mental health and relationships. My work focuses on teaching the skills of emotional intelligence or the RULER skills. This work started when I collaborated with my uncle in the mid 1990s on our first emotional literacy training program. Teaching emotional literacy in school is critical because research has shown that students trained in The RULER Approach perform significantly better in academics and are more socially and emotionally competent than students who have not been trained. How do you implement this program within schools? Dr. Brackett: Everybody with a face has to be trained … students, teachers, support staff, administrators. We want to make sure that everyone who interacts with students receives training. It’s also important to have continuous training. We’ve learned that our understanding of emotions and ability to regulate emotions shifts throughout life. Consider high school students’ decisions about cutting class, having sex, or using illicit drugs. For 99 percent of these students, they know what the right decisions are, but they need to know how to regulate their emotions when making the decision to use or not use drugs, for example. The more advanced work we do with high school students is to teach them ways to regulate emotions and to think critically about their high school success, including what they want to do after high school. Consider a student who wants to be the captain of a sports team. If the student, through various assessments, learns that he can’t read facial expressions, we would help the student to better understand expressions so he could be an effective team leader. Or, perhaps, the student wants to 4 BrewsterConnections – Spring 2012
apply to a competitive university, but has trouble focusing and needs to raise his GPA. This student would need to practice relaxation techniques and other skills to focus his attention. What are the greatest advantages to students and schools that implement The RULER Approach? Dr. Brackett: There is a lot of data to show that highly emotionally intelligent people are more successful. In the workplace, the RULER skill that is particularly important is the last R – Regulate. You can have an expert at work who has all the knowledge in the world about her field but who lacks emotion regulation skills. People likely will not want to be around this person because she doesn’t know how to regulate emotions. Meet the Brewster Trainers Anne Marie Allwine School Counselor, Coach Bret Barnett Math Department Chair, Math Teacher Marsha Brooks Administrative Assistant, Business Office Students (and employees) who have identified what we call their “best self” and are both socially aware and able to self-regulate are setting themselves up for success. Such skills have been identified by employers as critical to success in the workplace, so students who develop these skills early clearly have an advantage. What was the attraction of working with Brewster Academy? Dr. Brackett: What’s wonderful about working with a school like Brewster Academy is that it’s a boarding school and the first one that we have had the opportunity to bring our work to. It’s brought many challenges and interesting successes. For me, I am interested in the selfcontained environment of a boarding school where students attend class and live together. From my experience with the school, the program is being reinforced throughout the day in different settings, which is ideal. Students can work on their emotional literacy skills outside of the class day. They can really think about the environment that they want to create within their dorm family and practice the skills 24/7. Additionally, we plan to track ninth graders over time on their growth in areas like emotional vocabulary, emotion regulation, and school performance. One piece we are really excited about is a research project to track students beyond their four years at Brewster. Our goal is to answer questions like “Do the RULER skills students learned at Brewster predict student success in college? Does the training impact their decision making in college?” So, it’s nice to do a study to track the transfer of skills to the next environment. This is particularly important for parents to see, so that they, too, value the training that Brewster is providing their students. Matt Butcher English Department Chair, English Teacher, Coach Allie Cooper IS Teacher, Director of Student Development Laura Cooper Team Leader, Spanish Teacher, Coach Michael E. Cooper, Ph.D. Head of School Laura Duffy Dean of College Counseling Joe Fernald Dean of Students Maria Found Math Teacher, CLP Lauren Hunter IS Teacher, CLP Tara Junkin Art Teacher, Coach As Dr. Brackett and his research team are based at Yale University in Connecticut, he knew it was not possible for his team to be at Brewster often. “We wanted to work with a few key people as master trainers who would become the resident experts for the school,” he explained. Dr. Brackett and his colleagues worked with the school management team at Brewster to select the team of employees who would become the key trainers. He then spent about one week doing intense training with these folks and makes about two visits per year for follow-up training. Now the school has progressed to making sure that students are learning and becoming comfortable developing their RULER skills. Jaime Laurent Dean of Campus Affairs, CLP Rob O’Blenis Science Teacher, CLP www.brewsteracademy.org 5
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