Faculty Social-Emotional Learning

Overview

Educators at Valor participate in similar social-emotional learning (SEL) activities as students. Valor firmly believes in the credo “we teach who we are”. Built into the school culture is the belief that adults' social-emotional growth supports their ability to help students develop as well. Valor believes that individual, relationship, and community growth are primary drivers of students’ development and, as such, teachers should be committed to this as well.

Valor formalizes educator commitments to SEL by having educators participate in faculty Circle activities and progress through their SEL curriculum (often referred to as “Badge Work”). Faculty Badge Work mirrors that of students as they complete self-directed work focused on the individual, relationships, and the community. While educators work through their Badge Work at their own pace, they also participate in a faculty Circle every Wednesday. Much like students’ Circles, faculty Circle includes intentional seating, True North Practice, Check-ins, Circle Work, Appreciations, and Closing. These components of Circle provide faculty with opportunities to share their progress in social-emotional growth, as well as exercises that encourage individual, relationship, and community development. Faculty Circle also provides leaders with a quick and accurate feedback mechanism to assess overall mood and identify strong positive or negative sentiments at the school.