Strategies for Fostering an Emotionally Safe School Environment

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Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH)’s recent report titled “Responding to COVID-19: Simple Strategies Anyone Can Use to Foster an Emotionally Safe School Environment.” Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Sandra Chafouleas serves as co-director of the Collaboratory, while her co-authors include partners (and Neag School alumni) from the Child Health and Development Institute and EASTCONN. Access the full report in PDF format.

Schools play a critical role in fostering emotional safety for adults and students. In responding to COVID-19, schools planning to reopen must include efforts that define a safe school environment as having not only physical elements such as cleaning practices, ventilation conditions, and physical distancing protocols, but also emotional elements.

Principal Megan Parette greets a student arriving for the school day.
Teachers and school administrators might consider giving a positive greeting to students at the door as they enter the classroom each day. (Cat Boyce/Neag School)

Creating an emotionally safe environment for reopening schools is especially urgent as many students, and the adults who care for them, are experiencing increased mental health concerns or are exposed to trauma as a result of the nation’s double pandemic of COVID-19 and the confrontation of systemic racism.

To foster an emotionally safe environment, every school administrator, teacher, and staff member must have the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to implement strategies that strengthen the core of an emotionally safe school environment.

Some of these strategies – known as “kernels” – can be simple and cost-efficient, and may be integrated easily within any daily routine. In addition, these strategies, which are based on evidence from research findings, can serve everyone in the school community – from students and their families to teachers and staff.

Simple Strategies for an Emotionally Safe School Environment

Physiological Kernels

  • Aerobic play or behavior

Among the benefits of daily physical activity, including individual or group cardio exercise and sports, are reducing depression and stress hormones, and possible increase of cognitive function. Teachers might find ways to incorporate physical activity into classroom instruction, or provide families with examples of games and exercises that adults and their children can engage in at home.

Example Resources: Fit to Learn Tip Sheet; Teachers Take 5

  • Positive greetings

Frequent, friendly verbal (e.g., saying ‘hello’) or physical (e.g., elbow bump, wave) can improve perceptions of safety and stem aggression or hostility. Teachers might consider giving a positive greeting to students at the door as they enter the classroom each day.

Example Resources: Positive Greetings at the Door

Coping Kernels

  • Self-monitoring

Inviting individual students and adults to evaluate their own behavior and measure their performance compared to a personal goal can lead to increased school achievement for students and reductions in alcohol and tobacco use for adults. Younger schoolchildren might rate their own behavior using a picture; older students could decide on a behavior they would like to target, select a method for measuring it (e.g., rating scale) as well as a timeframe (e.g., during study hall). CSCH Logo.

Example Resources: Track Positive Reinforcement With the Be+ App; Teach Students to Change Behavior Through Self-Monitoring

  • Nasal breathing

Breathing deeply through the nose instead of through the mouth can help reduce panic and anxiety and may improve cognitive function, too. Teachers could find several short periods of time per day to guide students in practicing breathing techniques, and families could follow a script or video together with their children at home.

Example Resources: How to Reduce Stress With the 2:1 Breathing Technique (VIDEO); Getting Mindful About Breathing

  • Progressive muscle relaxation

Taking a moment to slowly relax a series of muscles can aid in lowering anxiety, panic, and fear. School staff may benefit from a physical demonstration or video on how to use this technique, and brainstorm times throughout the day when they might be able to use it. Students could take part in such exercises as a class or in small groups, or encouraged to practice outside of class.

Example Resources: Reduce Stress Through Progressive Muscle Relaxation (VIDEO)

Creating an emotionally safe environment for reopening schools is especially urgent as many students, and the adults who care for them, are experiencing increased mental health concerns or are exposed to trauma as a result of the nation’s double pandemic of COVID-19 and the confrontation of systemic racism.

Alum and superintendent Nathan Quesnel greets a student in the East Hartford High hallway.
School administrators, teachers, and parents can tailor such positive messages to students as well as one another as a way of fostering increased cooperation and academic engagement. (Nathan Oldham/Neag School)

Kernels to Increase Positive Response

  • Verbal praise

Individuals who receive specific and positive feedback about their behavior is shown to lead to increased cooperation, academic engagement, and social competence. School administrators, teachers, and parents can tailor such positive messages to students as well as one another.

Example Resources: 10 Simple Ways for Principals to Show Teachers Appreciation

  • Peer-to-peer written praise

Giving a positive ‘shoutout’ to peers that are then shared with the larger group can similarly result in improved social competence, academic achievement, and even physical health. For instance, teachers can have students write something nice about the person sitting in front of them.

Example Resources: Staff Appreciation Coupons; Positive Peer Reporting

  • Special play

School administrators, teachers, and caregivers interacting with students – without placing demands – can, for example, reduce depressive symptoms. Teachers of young children might let students lead play time or play games with them.

Example Resources: Special Play

Kernels to Decrease Negative Response

  • Low-emotion or “private” reprimands

Corrective feedback that is provided in a calm, neutral tone without threat or intense emotion can reduce disruptions, inattention, and aggression.

Example Resources: Respectful Redirection; Five Strategies Principals Can Use to Give Effective Feedback to Teachers

  • Positive practice

Having students, as well as adults, repeatedly practice engaging in positive behavior can help reduce aggression and noncompliance. For students that have been out of school for an extended period, teaching and practicing daily routines and expectations (e.g.,transitions between classes) is needed. If students do not meet this expectation, ask them to repeat the routine and provide verbal praise when they meet the expectations.

Example Resources: Positive Practice

Learn more and find additional free resources in the Collaboratory’s full report, available in PDF format.

This project was completed in partnership between CSCH, EASTCONN, and the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI). Collaborating authors include Sandra M. Chafouleas, CSCH Co-Director; Taylor A. Koriakin ’20 Ph.D., Neag School doctoral student and educational and behavioral specialist at EASTCONN; Emily A. Iovino ’15 (ED), ’16 MA, ’20 Ph.D., Neag School alumna and educational and behavioral specialist at EASTCONN; Jeana Bracey, CSCH Steering Committee member and associate vice president of School and Community Initiatives at CHDI; and Helene M. Marcy, CSCH program manager.

Going Viral in the Time of COVID-19

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Editor’s note: The following piece was originally published by UConn Magazine’s Summer 2020 Edition. View the original story on the UConn Magazine website. 

Smiling mother with two sons and their dog, sitting on door step.
Jennie Weiner, associate professor of educational leadership in the Neag School, at home with her 8-year-old twins, Manny and Rufus, and their dog, Junior. (Photo courtesy of Jennie Weiner)

On March 9, sitting in my hotel room after a long day observing and interviewing teachers, principals, and coaches for a research project on teacher leadership and school improvement out of state, I opened two emails that would change my life for the foreseeable future. The first was from UConn’s provost stating the new travel restrictions due to COVID-19. Faculty were no longer to travel for data collection and the university was moving online. The second, from my children’s school district, indicated that due to a teacher’s spouse testing positive for COVID, schools would close for two days for a “deep clean.”

By the time I had made it to the airport and paid an exorbitant amount of money to get on the next flight home, those two days had turned into two months — working from home and homeschooling were our new normal. Freaked out and concerned for all the other working parents and educators trying to simultaneously be the best teachers, workers, caregivers, therapists, parent wranglers, and providers — I posted the following tweet:

I’m just going to say this and judge me all you want. We are not planning anything educational for our kids. Homeschool will not happen. We will survive and watch too much tv. We will eat cookies and carbs and hope for the best. We will love and try not to go insane.

To my surprise, the tweet went viral and led to my writing an op-ed in The New York Times entitled “I Refuse to Run a Coronavirus Home School.” Since then, in addition to trying to keep my sanity, I have appeared on shows from “Good Morning America” to “Central Time” on Wisconsin Public Radio, spreading the message to parents that all we can do right now is our best and that’s enough. That we need to have self-compassion because it’s going to be messy, and to remember that educators, too, need our support and compassion as they attempt to be superhuman so we can feel a bit more human.

I’m just going to say this and judge me all you want. We are not planning anything educational for our kids. Homeschool will not happen. We will survive and watch too much tv. We will eat cookies and carbs and hope for the best. We will love and try not to go insane.

— Associate Professor Jennie Weiner

This experience of going viral has also taught me some important life lessons I hope to carry forward post-
pandemic.

Take the Risk:

At every juncture in this journey after my initial tweet, I was asked to do something that felt incredibly risky personally and professionally. Why did someone want to hear from me? Would it be good enough? Would I sound like a fool? Would I potentially offend or embarrass people I care about? Would my TV appearance prove that I have a face for radio? Despite these fears, I went for it (with the love and support of my incredible spouse and many people I trust), and the result was far more positive than negative. I have met so many wonderful people as a result of taking these risks, and I have grown so much, while maybe (I hope) helping a few people feel less alone along the way. The risk was more than worth it and made me bolder and more ready for whatever the future brings.

Tell Your Truth:

My research often focuses on how educators come to understand and experience their roles, including some of the challenges and rewards they incur while doing so. This means a lot of my time is dedicated to interviewing people and hearing their stories. However, even though so much of my work is dedicated to storytelling, I never really thought about telling my own. Moreover, if anyone had said my story would touch a nerve, I would never have believed them. What this experience reinforced for me is that everyone’s story matters — even mine. It matters because in telling our truths we let people know they are not alone, that each of us is part of a “we” and not just a “me.” This sense of connection makes us stronger and more able to persist when it is most needed (i.e., now).

The world will begin hearing more from me, and I hope from you, in the future.

Don’t Read the Comments:

When I said yes to The New York Times and wrote the op-ed, my husband made me promise I would not read the comments section. It was the best decision he ever made for me. While my inbox was flooded with people writing to me directly — sometimes positively and sometimes less so — it kept me away from the trolls and/or those with perhaps more knee-jerk reactions to my piece. Instead, I heard from thoughtful folks who often provided helpful critiques that made me think more deeply about current conversations and the world.

This process made me realize that, while anyone should be able to say what they want, you can pick and choose who you listen to and why.

I hope by the time you read these thoughts, the worst has passed and we are working together to heal, while planning for a “normal” that is better and more just. In the meantime, however, I will end the way I sign my emails now — stay safe, stay sane, and sending all the virtual hugs and good cheer possible.