How Can We Make Emotional Intelligence More Inclusive? With Guest Samantha Gergans

Everyday EQ

In this episode of the Everyday EQ podcast, I nerd out on neurodiversity and emotional intelligence with my childhood friend, Samantha Gergans, who now has an impressive resume that includes School Design Director at City Year, a Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education, AND an M.A. in Human Development and Psychology in Education. We dive deep into social emotional learning and emotional intelligence competencies, and their limitations when it comes to serving a diverse student and user base. And, at the end, Samantha offers AMAZING insights into how we can develop more inclusive competencies when it comes to social emotional education.
00:00 - Intro

00:59 - Get to know my guest, Samantha Gergans

3:10 - Discussing Samantha's focus on the integration of social, emotional, and academic development as School Design Director at Compass Academy + some background about City Year

5:17 - Learning more about Compass Academy's success in social emotional development.

6:43 - What social emotional learning looks like in action at this school.

9:00 - The 6 social emotional learning competencies at Compass Academy: Advocacy, Communication, Goal Navigation, Growth Mindset, Metacognition, Self-Awareness

11:16 - Talking about national social emotional learning (SEL) competencies as defined by The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, and where these competencies fall short of supporting neurodiverse students

12:21 - Drawing parallels between SEL competencies and emotional intelligence competencies

12:51 - Are these SEL competencies inclusive enough? Discussing strengths and weaknesses of the SEL competencies when it comes to multilanguage and diverse learners.

14:18 - Pointing out the problematic and non-inclusive language of SEL competencies

15:57 - Samantha shares her personal experience as a neurodiverse individual when encountering the ableist nature of EQ and SEL competencies, and offers more inclusive alternatives.

17:09 - And what about students with physical disabilities?

17:59 - Samantha's take on how we can develop more inclusive SEL competencies and standards (hint: It involves empathy, a component of emotional intelligence).

21:37 - The point of SEL and emotional intelligence is to develop and maintain resilience.

22:33 - The five elements of resilience

ABOUT SAMANTHA GERGANS:
Samantha Gergans (she/they/them, B.A. Psychology - Lewis & Clark College, M.A.T. Elementary Education - National-Louis University, M.A. Human Development and Psychology in Education - UCLA) spent 6 years as an instructional coach and designer with City Year Los Angeles, having reconnected with the organization after her own corps year with City Year Chicago (FY07). She went on to complete a teaching residency with Chicago's Academy for Urban School Leadership, teach 4th and 5th grade in Chicago Public Schools, and land in LA to conduct educational research at UCLA. Across these experiences, Samantha always ended up at the same conclusion: students' academic well-being hinges on the design of learning environments and experiences that meet the needs of the whole person - students, teachers, AmeriCorps Members, parents, and so on. Whomever the educational stakeholder, they deserve and need to feel safe, seen, and supported - and this might be achieved through integrative, inclusive, and intentional designs and practices. Connect with Samantha on Instagram at @halcyonsam, and for more about City Year, visit cityyear.org.