Empowered Humanity Theory

Description

"Beyond our unique biology and conditioned personalities, our DNA shares common tendencies and capacities, our common humanity. In, Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society; Nicholas A. Christakis describes these evolutionary traits as “the social suite”.

“At the core of all societies, is the social suite: (

1) The capacity to have and recognize individual identity

(2) Love for partners and offspring

(3) Friendship

(4) Social networks

(5) Cooperation

(6) Preference for one’s own group (that is, “in-group bias”)

(7) Mild hierarchy (that is, relative egalitarianism)

(8) Social learning and teaching”.

All human beings are hard-wired for prejudice, aggression, and cruelty as well as altruism, compassion, and empathy. These capacities are continuously being strengthened wittingly or unwittingly. Therefore, incorporating personal habits and larger systems and structures that consider humanity’s “social suite” and strive to cultivate our most positive traits while mitigating the malevolent is most beneficial. Empowered Humanity Theory (EHT) is a collection of six attitudes and practices designed with this in mind. EHT’s 3 Attitudes center human dignity, cultivating mindsets of inquiry, and compassion, and establishing a value-centered identity."

(https://www.empoweredpathways.org/empoweredhumanitytheory)

Discussion

Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith:

"The current reality is that students and adults are struggling with conditions like increased isolation, anxiety, and depression. Their social and emotional needs are not only neglected but exacerbated by the application of Transformative SEL under these conditions. This is the social crisis that keeps us up at night and that we are working to address. We propose a framework designed to strengthen our most positive traits, capacities, and motivations and to mitigate our negative and antisocial ones. Empowered Humanity Theory (EHT) builds on SEL, Emotional Intelligence, and Empowerment Theory. EHT promotes a value-centered identity, and centers human dignity and the cultivation of mindsets of inquiry and compassion rather than those of fear and judgment.

Additionally, EHT encourages individuals to engage frequently and intentionally in three Pathways of Practice:

1. Practices that build awareness and equanimity

2. Practices that celebrate our common humanity and break the walls of indignity; and

3. Practices that build kindness and compassion for self and others.

EHT harnesses advances in our understanding of neuroplasticity to wire humanity, neurologically and socially in profoundly beneficial ways.

Naturally, we expect pushback from the proponents of Transformative SEL, but they are not the only oppositional force. In “The Unexamined Rise of Therapeutic Education: How Social Emotional Learning Extends K-12 Education’s Reach into Students’ Lives and Expands Teachers’ Roles,” Robert Pondiscio, a Fellow and educational researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, insists that even Traditional SEL has no business in schools for two main reasons: first, most teachers are not trained to be therapists and, second, an emphasis on SEL can get in the way of academic learning as the central aim of education.

Regarding Pondiscio’s second point about academic learning, EHT holds that much student underachievement can be attributed to low EQ, not low IQ. Thus, we must address both IQ and EQ in ways that do not threaten but rather support academic learning. SEL was purposed as a Tier I intervention (noninvasive, non-personalized, proactive, universal strategy for all students). Evidence now indicates that Tier II and Tier III practices are being applied by educators without the professional credentials to do so. The Center on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) defines Tier II interventions as targeted group interventions and Tier III as “intense individualized interventions.” EHT, a Tier I, universal intervention, is not a therapeutic resource, but rather an academic theory rooted in communication and neuroplasticity, which is the thesis that the brain is highly malleable, constantly rewiring itself in response to the thoughts, habits, and environments that it encounters.

Regarding Pondiscio’s first point about the expertise of teachers, we submit that EHT is a decidedly rhetorical endeavor meant to stave off systemic disempowerment, and as such, taps into skill sets that teachers already possess. It’s important to note that we mean “rhetorical” here in the academic sense, denoting “the art of persuasion.” This is not to be confused with the word’s popular connotations of “mere word games,” deception, or superficiality. EHT is rhetorical in the primacy it gives to language and communication at three levels. First, it addresses Self-Awareness and Self-Management by exploring the language choices we use when speaking to ourselves. Second, it addresses Social Awareness and Social Relationship Management by exploring the language we use to address, identify with, and persuade our peers. Finally, EHT addresses Adaptability and Achievement Orientation (competencies of Social Awareness and Social Relationship Management) by exploring how we communicate when collaborating with others on joint projects, such as, for example, those that aim at social improvement. Empowered Humanity Theory renders rhetoric as Social Emotional Learning and Social Emotional Learning as rhetoric. Therefore, EHT falls within the wheelhouse of teachers trained in teaching and effective communication methods.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an example of the brand (e.g., Kleenex) becoming identified with the thing (facial tissue). Unfortunately, in December 2020, the “brand” as monopolized by CASEL switched the “thing” from Traditional SEL’s goals of increasing individual well-being and social cooperation to Critical Social Justice. We are not sure precisely why CASEL made this shift. Clearly, doing so aligns CASEL with the ideological shift toward activism that is transforming many other institutions. In “The State of Social and Emotional Learning in 2022”, CASEL President and CEO Dr. Aaliyah A. Samuel and Board Chair Timothy Shriver discussed the present day quandary of SEL. Dr. Samuel stated:

I think there are two big risks. One is how political the field has become. … In part because of a lack of understanding about what SEL is and using this opportunity to really clarify what Social and Emotional Learning is, is a critical piece. I think it will help remove some of the political nature and the ping pong that SEL is getting caught up in…and I think we run a risk of continuing to be put in the spotlight, so to speak, in a negative way if we don’t clarify what SEL is.

Shriver later added, “When things get a little distracting and politics start to steal away ideas that are being used for political advantage, we have to go back to grounding ourselves.” We hope Samuel, Shriver, CASEL, and SEL professionals across the country will compare Transformative SEL to Empowered Humanity Theory and abandon the practices of the former that break down the individual and human relationships, and adopt attitudes and practices designed to cultivate personal and social well-being.

Shifts in philosophies and practices are to be expected in institutions and are, of course, part of how the individual human mind adapts to changing circumstances. But we believe that this particular shift is different. The underlying principle of this shift is that “the individual” is the root of social problems. Guided by this principle, Transformative SEL negatively affects individual and collective social and emotional wellbeing. The shift thus warrants pause and reconsideration because, ultimately, individual sovereignty is at stake. Furthermore, pause and reconsideration are required because students’ (and educators’) social-emotional needs are simply not being met under the new, Critical Social Justice-inspired philosophy and practice. "

(https://freeblackthought.substack.com/p/social-emotional-learning)