School of Belonging for Teachers and Mental Health Professionals - Teaching Empathy Institute
Teaching Empathy Institute works to establish emotionally and physically safe learning communities for elementary, middle and high school students and the adults who work with them. Working in the Hudson Valley of New York, TEI creates tailor-made programs designed to foster dialogue about social culture building while strengthening the capacity for the infusion of empathy and compassion into all aspects of the learning experience.
Teaching Empathy Institute, SEL, Social and emotional learning, mindfulness, diversity, education, bullying, anti-bullying, k-12, learning, david levine, school of belonging, belonging, school safety
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School of Belonging for Teachers and Mental Health Professionals

An innovative practitioner program for creating emotionally safe classrooms

Origins of a School of Belonging

The School of Belonging was born out of the earliest days of Teaching Empathy Institute founder David Levine’s career as an educator with a dream to create connecting and transformative school experiences for all engaged in the learning community.

After working with school districts across the country as a teacher, trainer, facilitator, designer and coach for 32 years, he created a nonprofit, The Teaching Empathy Institute in 2016.

To attain a balanced and integrated SEL approach, Teaching Empathy Institute has produced an audio program: Little Talks That Make a Big Difference for Teachers and Mental Health Professionals.

This program has been designed as a self-study professional development training tool to build capacity in meeting the social and emotional needs of all students in the school and classroom.

How the course is presented

Presented in 8 audio episodes, each building upon the other, Little Talks provides reflective practice exercises and infusion strategies that highlight how to utilize SEL and empathy instruction into all aspects of the learning environment. We understand how in today’s educational world, time is a treasured commodity and that is why we have produced the Little Talks episodes to be efficient (7-10 minutes long), and effective (complete with infusion strategies and real-world application suggestions).

Each episode is conversational in tone and practical in application, focusing upon translating the literature on social and emotional learning and wellbeing, into effective school and classroom culture-building practices. Little Talks seeks to create a consciousness or way of thinking about the role teachers and mental health professionals play in the lives of their students.

Little Talks That Make a Big Difference is presented in two volumes, each of which contains 4 episodes. Think of each episode as a chapter and the entire suite of eight episodes as an audio book that focuses on the knowledge, skills and infusion strategies necessary for successful integration of social and emotional learning principles into one’s classroom or counseling practice.

The Program
Participants receive

The Little Talks Field Guide whose contents include:

  • Links to each podcast episode
  • Highlight summaries
  • Reflective practices
  • Infusion strategies
The Podcasts

Volume I. Emotional safety

  • Emotional safety: A blueprint for success
  • Resilience: Relationships are key
  • Emotional imprints: A roadmap to understanding
  • Naming the world: A teacher’s job

Volume II. Social and emotional learning

  • Social and emotional learning: A different standard
  • Empathy: Creating the conditions for connection
  • Intention: Focusing on what you want
  • Simplicity: Simple doesn’t mean trivial
Learn More

Please contact us to learn about our program options and pricing info(at)teachingempathyinstitute.org or (845) 687-6207