From August 2021 thru July 2022, I was blessed to be a part of the Educators’ Neighborhood Cohort through the Fred Rogers Institute. The cohort consisted of whole group meetings as well as monthly small group meetings.
When I attended my first whole group convening, I felt at the end like I attended therapy…it was good for me. Just being told that we each have our own views and that we will listen to and respond with kindness as to others’ experiences, was something that resonated with me. Sometimes, we just need to hear that acknowledgement that the space we are in at that moment is accepting and kind. We were a group of educators from all different grade-levels, schools, states, and countries. We were tied together with a kindness that was brought about by actively listening to other people’s perspectives and if we did not agree we responded with asking questions and learning. I do have to say, there were no points where I felt that anyone truly disagreed. We were all there to learn from each other.
We were separated into small groups based upon our applications. My group was the “group that talked about the tough issues.” We talked about SEL, mental health, and challenging behaviors. I must say that each and every conversation was NOT in any way venting or negative. We were all stating our situations and were each met with compassion, understanding, and hopeful solutions. There was always a situation explained that someone could relate to and it was so refreshing to know that I was not the only one struggling with these tough issues. I feel like I found my people.
I began to look forward to our monthly small group meetings. I would make myself a tall glass of lemonade and log into the zoom link. Seeing the same people each month turned into the feeling of seeing old friends. The kind of friends you could say anything to and they would understand. As an educator, especially one who has worked in special education, it is difficult to find people you can talk to. Well, not just talk to but who understands. We would watch a short clip from a Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood show and then discuss. I found that when you look closely, really closely to each word, phrase, music, and gesture that there was so much going on in each episode. The amount of social-emotional learning that was developmentally appropriate for young children was astonishing. And the way that it also showed adults how to talk to young children (and listen to them) was so inspiring. I wanted to run back to school each Monday after our group sessions and be able to provide the insight I just learned to my teachers!
After spending a year diving into episodes and having productive conversations around the work of Fred Rogers, I found the last whole group convening challenging at the end. It was a culmination of all the conversations and work we did within our individual buildings and classrooms to spread kindness and understanding to young children, educators, and even ourselves. There was a lot of reflection and yes, maybe some tears that this wonderful journey was coming to a close. Two reflective practices that we completed during our last convening was to reflect upon one thing that we took away from this experience and to write a note of gratitude to Mr. Rogers. What I took away from this experience was that we are not alone in this important work. At times, we may feel alone in our situations and struggle to do what is right for all (our students~our staff ~ourselves) but there is comfort in knowing that others are doing the same work. Others are looking for the answers to solve some difficult issues, finding ways to incorporate social-emotional learning and trauma-informed practice within our settings that are also developmentally appropriate. It is not an easy task by any measure and when we have others to assist in our learning and teachings it helps us be the best educators (and humans) we can be.
My note of gratitude surprisingly flowed from me easily. Thank you for creating a space of love, acceptance, and learning. You remind us to slow down, actively listen, and validate the feelings of everyone we communicate with daily. You remind us to be kind to ourselves, so we can be kind to others as well in this life’s journey.
I am grateful for this experience as it guided me towards a better understanding of social-emotional growth and reflection. I am proud to have been in the 2021-22 cohort as well as now being a Continuing Educator in 2022-23. This work is far from done, it is always evolving and there is always so much more to learn.
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