For Friday, September 27th's Professional Development Day, the Handsworth staff worked as a team on the Handsworth Project-Based Learning Initiative: Service in Learning.
The guest speaker was Dr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl who presented the latest research on social and emotional learning in high schools. Dr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichlis is an Applied Developmental Psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education at the University of British Columbia. She began her professional career first as a middle school teacher and then as a high school teacher for youth “at risk.” For over 20 years she has been conducting research in the area of the child and adolescent social and emotional learning (SEL) and development with a particular emphasis on identifying the processes and mechanisms that foster positive development, such as empathy, optimism, and altruism. Kim served on the organizing committee for the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the Vancouver Dialogues, and chaired a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and leading educators, researchers, and policy makers on the themes of cultivating compassion and educating the heart.
Dr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl’s research examines the social, emotional, and moral development of children and adolescents with an emphasis on identifying the processes and mechanisms that promote positive development. Within this framework, her research interests are divided into three main areas:
(1) the development of positive human traits, including the development of empathy, emotion awareness, emotional regulation, and prosocial behaviours;
(2) risk and resiliency, including the identification of protective factors, such as attachment relationships with parents and significant non-related adults; and
(3) the influence of contexts on development, with a particular focus on the role of schools and other educational contexts in promoting positive social and emotional well-being, including the development of positive characteristics such as happiness, optimism, empathy, social responsibility, and altruism.
Dr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, Ph.D.
Child and Adolescent Development Lab (information related toDr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl’s reseach)
Vancouver’s The Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education (Educating the Heart):
Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, and Special Education Faculty of Education, UBC
