A Letter from our Director
In November, 2012, three weeks after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Northeast seaboard, I visited my childhood home near Sea Bright, New Jersey, where my parents still live. As I drove north on Ocean Avenue I was deeply touched by what I saw; I saw people working together, cleaning up, and beginning the process of rebuilding the community they love. It is in such times of extreme need when each person’s natural inclination toward empathy and compassion surfaces.
Help us always be the
Gardeners of the spirit
Who know that without darkness
Nothing comes to birth
As without light
Nothing flowers
–May Sarton
I wonder what would the world be like if we acted with this level of decency, tenderness and caring every day in all of our interactions?
We can teach this way of being in our schools by living this way. I believe that if all schools (instead of a select few) put as much emphasis and exploration in teaching social and emotional competencies as they do on math, science and literacy, in 10 years, the workforce would be more productive, talented and happier, helping our nation and the rest of the world at the same time. In the words of emotional intelligence author and practitioner Robert K. Cooper: “These skills are common sense but not common practice.”
The current reality is that most schools are evaluated and funded based on reaching state standards and test scores. Human relationship skill building is often seen as an “add-on,” or something that can’t be taught, but these skills can be refined through conversation, modeling and recognition. Social and emotional learning is implemented best when it is a part of a consciousness movement—one that creates a balanced, challenging, and ultimately life-changing learning community.
Let’s make it common practice to return to the ancient way when people survived and excelled because they knew that survival was based on working together, overcoming conflicts, and helping their neighbors through difficult times.
We need to create an authentic curriculum—a curriculum of human touch. Our children deserve it, and the world definitely needs it.
Welcome to the TEI learning community.
David Levine
David is an educator, writer, musician, and a nonprofit leader with more than 30 years of experience working in a multitude of educational settings, as a teacher, facilitator and systems change specialist. Between 2014 and 2016, he worked for Turnaround for Children in New York City, as a designer and coach. Turnaround works with high-poverty schools in NYC, Newark, NJ, and Washington, DC, facilitating learning environments that meet the physical and emotional needs of all students. David also worked for four years as the chief trainer and facilitator for The Northeast Regional Center’s Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Program, a Department of Education project devoted to creating emotionally safe learning communities. David has consulted extensively for school districts up and down New York’s Hudson River Valley, including schools in New York City, Poughkeepsie, and the city of Beacon, focusing on creating caring and compassionate school cultures where social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence are foundational practices.
As a musician, songwriter, and producer, David produced a Parent’s Choice Gold Award winning recording of original children’s music for Angel Records, and an award-winning music video documentary, focusing on empathy and social decision making. Using his songs as learning tools, David designed the Music Dialogue process which inspires both children and adults to look within to make a difference without. As a writer, he wrote four books and numerous journal articles that focus on empathy and emotional intelligence practices, as community building tools. He earned an MEd in Creative Arts in Learning from Lesley University, in Cambridge, MA, and a BA in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire.
In March, 2016, he founded Teaching Empathy Institute.