The Education Collaboratory at Yale launched in July 2023. To learn more about our work, we are spotlighting all the dedicated team members of our lab, highlighting their research and what brings them to our team's mission to advance the science and practice of SEL.
What is your role at the Education Collaboratory?
I am a postdoctoral associate at the Education Collaboratory at Yale within the Child Study Center. I am involved in the ‘SEL for All’ project, which focuses on cultivating inclusive and accessible social and emotional learning (SEL) environments in schools that support the diverse learning needs of K-12 students. Throughout this project, our team has worked to create classroom cultures that foster an inclusive climate for all children. I have also worked to identify potential barriers to successful SEL experiences for students with disabilities. As part of advancing the evidence available and evidence-synthesis practices in SEL, I am also heavily involved in our team’s groundbreaking review work, and currently am working on a meta-analysis specific to SEL and academic achievement as well as reviewing literature to update our recent Child Development manuscript.
What brought you to the field of SEL, education, and psychology?
As a former public-school teacher, I taught a variety of learning content to elementary school students in schools in high-poverty neighborhoods. From my teaching experience, I noted the disparities in learning opportunities for students related to their diverse backgrounds. I then pursued and completed my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Florida State University (FSU). My current developmental research interest is to support equity through the potential growth for all students by increasing their opportunities for better social, emotional, and academic development. I am particularly interested in proposing supportive SEL ideas to increase access to quality SEL opportunities for all learners and collaborating with teachers to implement successful and practical SEL lessons in K-12 schooling.
What line of research do you find the most interesting/intriguing in the field right now?
My research focuses on increasing equitable and inclusive SEL opportunities for all learners in schools. I believe that helping students develop positive attitudes about themselves (i.e., positive self-identity, self-esteem, and self-awareness) is an important process throughout their social, emotional, and academic development. These educational supports should reflect the diverse needs and cultures of students so that young students understand themselves and their communities positively. Therefore, in future research in the SEL field, continuing the innovative conversation about SEL including DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) perspectives would be important. Research on culturally responsive SEL, based on universal learning principles, is still in its early stages. For example, there has not been enough research to build a full menu of evidence-based practices of what Universal School-based SEL would be most beneficial for students who belong to culturally or ethnically minoritized populations or have learning disabilities. So far, my colleagues and I are currently working on several school-based SEL projects to explore how K-12 students learn to respect others and develop accessible and inclusive SEL lesson plans that are effective for all SEL. Our projects will focus on building positive school climates that include students with learning disabilities and helping all students reduce the stigma of disability.
What energizes you outside of work?
I enjoy being outside. Walking through a different landscape every day often clears my mind of clutter and sparks new ideas. Yale's campus is my favorite place to walk because it is beautiful and has lots of benches. I also like to look at beautiful paintings - I love the work of the European and American Impressionists. I frequent the art library on weekends to spend my time looking at painting books by Hopper, Degas, or Lautrec, which are my favorites. When I find some paintings that I like, I add them to a running list of museums I would like to visit to see them in person someday.