“ There is a responsibility at this point for museums to address a lot of this conversation and these challenging issues that students want to talk about and that teachers are struggling with. ”
Kristin Smith, Project Manager at the North Carolina Museum of Art, shares her experience of creating an online course for educators about social emotional learning (SEL), including the structure of the course; the benefits and challenges of teaching this content online; and why museums have a responsibility to create ways for visitors to learn about SEL.
This Mini S3ries, season Three of Museum Buzz, came out of a publication that I released in May of 2021 called The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums, which walks museums through the four foundational components of building a distance learning program. It is free to download on my website!
Full Transcript
Emily Kotecki: [00:00:00] Welcome to Museum Buzz, a podcast where we unpack trendy, buzzy words in museums, through conversation and games. I'm Emily Kotecki. This is Season Three: the Mini Series, where we are featuring three incredible guests talking about three very important topics related to distance learning, such as accessibility, online communities and today we're diving in to social emotional learning with Kristin Smith.
Kristin is a longtime friend and colleague and the program manager at the North Carolina Museum of Art. She has been developing online courses since 2013, most recently developing a course for educators about art and social emotional learning.
Kristin, thanks for being here.
Kristin Smith: [00:00:49] Thanks Emily.
Emily Kotecki: [00:00:50] Let's begin by defining what is social emotional learning?
Kristin Smith: [00:00:56] Well, first off, we should say that it's been around for a very long time. It's not a new thing. But really it is about helping students develop a set of skills, set of mindsets, ways of being in the world that help them to become more aware of how they feel, how they react, who they are in the world.
But then also a better sense of those around them and the bigger context of the world. So a sense of how they then interact with the rest of the world and what that means, how to navigate the complexities of life in a way that feels that manageable . So we are, we're all still social, emotionally learning. It doesn't ever stop. This isn't just for kids, isn't just for young kids. It's for older kids. It's for adults. It's for everyone.
You mentioned that it has been around for a while, the concept of social emotional learning, but it does seem like in recent years it's become a very popular kind of focus, especially in museums. Why do you think it has re-emerged in the focus of museums?
A great question. And I think that from my perspective, it's also indirect because I work with schools and teachers so much it's it's about museums, but we directly serve students and teachers. Um, so in thinking of that audience, the major disruptions that have happened over the course of the last year, more you're in more in tandem with a lot of the racial injustice, the protests, a reckoning that's happening with who we are in the world and what we are trying to grapple with as we move forward. It's caused a lot of feelings. [Laughter] And I think that people are grappling with how to navigate all of this and how to have conversations about it.
And so there's the past year but I think that in general, there's been a rise in a lot of mental health focus, especially with teenagers and even younger kids of, uh, and I think we've lost a lot of opportunities to teach those skills to students. It's falling on schools to return to some of those real core ideas of what it is to be human and, and move through the world as an essential part of learning.
Emily Kotecki: [00:03:25] So, can you describe the course that you have created for teachers to give them those skills to then help students?
Kristin Smith: [00:03:33] So the course that we designed is rooted in the CASEL framework for SEL. But the, the core competencies are around self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. We wanted to make sure to go beyond those SEL competencies so that we're maximizing that exposure to arts based learning because we're an art museum. And so our collection, our art is the thing that allows everyone to be inspired, find connection. So we wanted to make sure that we are really hitting the art hard in the course.
So we took those competencies and layered another framework on top of that. So we chose five themes that allow for the, the most direct relationship with art, looking at art, talking about art and making art. So the course is designed into eight modules where teachers are, uh, introduced to what SEL is, just the general definition and why it's important and what it means.
But then they're introduced to five themes that become the lenses in which we look at art and we look at SEL. So those five themes are mindfulness, identity, perspective sharing, community building, and agency.
They're looking at strategies and resources that are connected to those themes and they're looking at project ideas, art making ideas that they could do related to those themes. And then throughout the whole thing, I think what's at the core of the course is, that they have ,are being asked to do a reflective journaling practice.
So whether it's called visual journaling or Sketchnoting, um, they are constantly reflecting because so much of what's important about social emotional learning is that there's a kind of processing that's happening, where you're thinking about who you were, who you are now, who you may be, and we're hoping to take them through a creative processing where they're reflecting on who they are within the theme, the artwork, the SEL competency, what they're maybe already doing, and then what they hope to be doing.
It is an adult SEL course also. It's not just that we're giving them strategies for them to take into the classroom.
We're helping them to also go through the same things that they might ask their students to go through.
Emily Kotecki: [00:06:08] Can you maybe give an example of how specifically you use an object to teach SEL because there are so many layers, like you said, there's the lens of the five themes of thinking about art making and objects to then look at SEL.
So could you give an example of how an object was used in that context?
Kristin Smith: [00:06:29] In a real straightforward way, which I think a lot of us in museums have done. We've used a work of art to just identify emotion. So that self-awareness piece. We have a mindful moment with Monet where we teach a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 strategy where they're identifying through their senses, five things they might see four things that they might hear and so forth. And that is really about shifting your awareness away from the things that are feeling anxious inside of you to something that's outside yourself. and so you're taking your mind away from the thing that is circling wildly through your head.
You're looking at a work of art. You're learning a coping strategy to help you then bring your brainwaves down and focus in a different way. So that's a really simple strategy that we do. You can do that with really any work of art. There's so many works of art where we are in that self-awareness lens, having students think about their own identity.
So a whole range of artists and artworks. We use Beverly McIver Hank Willis Thomas, Minnie Evans, artists that are exploring the complexities of their identities. Um, and, and when you are looking at another person's work and learning about what matters to them, how they have become who they are, it makes you then think about your own story and want to make art that tells your story as well.
Emily Kotecki: [00:07:59] What are the challenges of teaching SEL in distance learning?
Kristin Smith: [00:08:04] I think the number one thing about teaching SEL in an online setting. Which I think has been the whole year for all teachers is it's a different relationship that you have. It doesn't mean that you can't have strong relationships. I think all teachers figured that out over the years, that there are still so many ways to connect with your students and learn more about them and find ways to get them to share more about their lives with you.
But I do think that so much of SEL is about human interaction. Um, and I think we all know human interaction is very complex and it's really built on the relationships that you create. So your classroom community is built on those relationships. So anyone that has done work with distance learning, you know, that it is different than when you do face-to-face.
So there's just that challenge of not having a side conversation with a teacher that's at your workshop or not being able to read someone's face as well, because it's just through a discussion post. So I think there are challenges and you can design around that in a lot of different ways to find ways to build a community within your online, your distance learning program.
Emily Kotecki: [00:09:23] What are some of the ways that you design around it ?
Kristin Smith: [00:09:26] Yeah. So we provide as many opportunities as possible for educators to engage in discussion. So real authentic discussions where they're sharing challenges that they are having in the classroom and then offering solutions to each other using online tools where people are sharing their, their opinions.
So Padlet is always a great resource. Flipgrid is always a great resource where teachers are either written or verbally interpreting works of art and sharing their ideas so that you're getting a chance to hear and see other people's voices conversations don't bounce back and forth as they might in person, unless you are doing a synchronous conversation with your, with your teachers, which we do get that opportunity when we do webinars, but not as much.
Emily Kotecki: [00:10:18] So, I guess to flip the initial question, what are some of the qualities of online learning that provide unique ways or really kind of different ways to teach SEL?
Kristin Smith: [00:10:30] And this is the one that I got, I struggled with. So I think one thing always the case with any distance learning is that you can streamline information and structure information and design experiences that can happen in a more condensed format that you might not be able to if you're doing face-to-face, someone is interacting with content on their own time in their own space and so you can ask things of your participants that you may not be able to in a face to face. You can move at a quick pace. So I think you can pack a lot more in. and provide a multitude of opportunities for engagement, same way that you could with face-to-face, but different.
At times, and we get a little more bang for your buck, but you miss out on the opportunity of being with people. Um, so I think for a lot of people, distance learning is just perfect because it fits their, their goals.
Emily Kotecki: [00:11:42] What was similar or different in terms of creating an SEL and art course versus other courses that you've created, the integrate art with math or science?
Kristin Smith: [00:11:52] Well, I think this goes back to your initial question about why museums are interested in SEL right now. Um, I think that there is a responsibility at this point for museums to address a lot of this conversation and these challenging issues that want to talk about and that teachers are struggling with.
Um, and I think through art, it's an opportunity to enter into those conversations in a really meaningful way. So I think with this course, it felt really important. And that was different. I mean, not that the either courses didn't feel important. I always think that bringing art into all classrooms is so essential because of the same reasons.
Um, I think that art is a catalyst for people to know themselves better. And, and that's why I like those courses. I want math teachers to have more art in their classrooms and I want, uh, to see, you know, every classroom teacher think about ways of using art. I just think that we're at a moment in time that understanding ourselves a little bit better and understanding others a little bit better could make a pretty significant difference.
Emily Kotecki: [00:13:10] Okay. And as we begin to wrap up, what is one best practice after going through this process of creating a course, um, that listeners could walk away with, if they wanted to integrate SEL into their online learning programs?
Kristin Smith: [00:13:24] You need to know your audience. I think that you need to have some conversations with those that are coming to your museum, but the audience that you'll be serving, have some conversations with them and find out what's most important to them when it comes to art and SEL, what are they most needing to understand?
I think that audience input is essential in shaping the core of any program.
Emily Kotecki: [00:13:55] Is there anything else about SEL and online learning that we have not talked about that you feel like is really important for anyone who's, whether at their beginning, intermediate or advanced, um, you know, educators developing these types of programs?
Kristin Smith: [00:14:07] I think such a huge thing to just keep in the front of your mind always is that this is a process. There are just no clear cut answers to all of it. You have to come to this work with a hugely open mind and be prepared to feel a little uncomfortable, feel a little unsure and, and work through that and ask questions.
Open yourself to the process of your own understanding of it all.
Emily Kotecki: [00:14:43] So it's very meta. You're creating a social emotional learning experience. While going through a social, emotional experience yourself while creating that.
Kristin Smith: [00:14:52] So meta.
Emily Kotecki: [00:14:53] Very meta. Um, well, Kristin, at the end of every episode at Museum Buzz, we play a game and today your game is trivia where I will give you quotes. From , I've got from a movie and from some authors about emotions, because we're talking about emotions and artists and not only visual artists, but other types of art also helps us channel our emotion.
I'm going to give you the quote and then I'll give you three, I'll give you multiple choice and you can choose which one you think said it. Ready?
Kristin Smith: [00:15:22] Do you know how much I just really, really love trivia. Emily, thank you for this game for all you listeners. Do you sense the sarcasm in my voice? All right, Let's do this.
Emily Kotecki: [00:15:33] Let's do do it. Okay. Which movie does the character scream? I'm in a glass cage of emotion while inside a telephone booth. Is it a Napoleon dynamite, B anchorman or C Sideways?
Kristin Smith: [00:15:53] Oh man. So good. I'm going to go with Sideways?
Emily Kotecki: [00:16:01] Oh, it was B, Anchorman
Kristin Smith: [00:16:03] That's what was my original, but that's the way I don't like multiple choice. Cause I always question myself and then I get it wrong.
Emily Kotecki: [00:16:11] because you know, this
Kristin Smith: [00:16:12] That is, classic anchorman. Yes, yes, yes,
Emily Kotecki: [00:16:15] Question two, this is a quote, who said this quote? I think you don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them and to dominate them. Is it A.) Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde, B.) American painter, James Whistler, or C.) English author, Charles Dickens.
Kristin Smith: [00:16:37] That sounds like Oscar Wilde.
Emily Kotecki: [00:16:39] Yes, well done Kristin. And you didn't second guess yourself.
Kristin Smith: [00:16:42] Woohoo!
Emily Kotecki: [00:16:43] Last question. This is also a quote "education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." Which poet wrote those words or said, I'm not sure, uh, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, or Maya Angelou.
Kristin Smith: [00:17:03] Maya Angelou.
Emily Kotecki: [00:17:04] Robert Frost,
Kristin Smith: [00:17:05] Darn
Emily Kotecki: [00:17:06] But great job, Kristin.
Kristin Smith: [00:17:09] [laughter] one out of three!
Emily Kotecki: [00:17:14] Well, I want to thank you again, Kristin Smith, Project Manager at the North Carolina Museum of Art, for talking to us all about SEL and online learning.
Kristin Smith: [00:17:22] Thanks, Emily. That was fun.
Emily Kotecki: [00:17:26] Thank you, Kristin, and thank you to everyone for listening. This mini series came out of a publication that I released in may of 2021 called The Distance Learning Workbook: A Launch Guide for Museums, which walks museums through the four foundational components of building a distance learning program. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, many museums are pivoting to distance learning and needed to answer the question of "where do I begin?" The workbook is very interactive and hands-on walking museums through questions and activities relating to targeting audiences, identifying stakeholders, doing a technology audit, really making it relevant to your institution.
It is free and downloadable on my website, emily-kotecki.com. But a workbook can only do so much. There's only so much time and length that people want to spend. And there is so much to cover in distance learning, which is where this podcast series came out of. So, it is an accompaniment to the workbook and I hope you enjoy the interviews.
I hope you enjoy the workbook. And if you have any questions about either of these or want to talk through ideas or work together, you can contact me through my website, emily-kotecki.com. Thank you. And stay tuned for the next two episodes coming out September 17th and September 24th.