The following is the result of a toe dip into the deep crazy that is Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). After reading, you can wade into that nuthouse, if you like. To understand the origins of SEL, we need to talk about a Mr. Fetzer and a Mr. Goleman, and their peculiar brand of crazy.
Mr. Fetzer
John Fetzer was a radio and television executive. He owned the Detroit Tigers from 1961-1983. He started the Fetzer institute to support work “designed to discover and enhance the integral relationships of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of experience which foster human growth, action, and responsible improvement of the human and cosmic condition.” (Wilson, 2018)
“In his private life, John Fetzer had an intense intellectual curiosity about the “unseen elements” of life. He studied various forms of meditation, prayer, philosophy, and positive thinking, and explored various healing modalities.”
Fetzer.org
Fetzer grew up in a Methodist household. When he was a teenager, his mother became interested in Seventh Day Adventist and Fetzer presumably followed suit, because he attended a SDA college. After this, he broke with the church and pursued spiritually out in the pasture.
In the 1930s, Fetzer was interested in Nicolas Tesla, who believed that the interconnection of all human beings by invisible “ties inseparable” was the basis for all true religion. He came to believe that just as there were “energy waveforms,” such as radio that connected human beings by sound, so there might be “more subtle waveforms” yet to be scientifically detected that connected people directly mind to mind.”
Dr. Pingnan Shi, Social and Emotional Learning’s New Age Origins
Fetzer wrote the following to express his understanding of the cosmos:
Around the central Sun of our Universe is a huge electronic ring composed of the seven colors of the rainbow which flashes with perpetual motion and brilliancy, as though a thousand million suns were being woven into it, to feed its transcendent luster. From every part of this rainbow-ring dart long broad shafts of light, sometimes forming into circles, small or great, whirling around the enormous girdle of the intelligent, scintillating, jewel-like, opal-tinted flame of the Central Sun within. It is this nucleus of the great Sun-Globe itself, revolving upon its own axis, that constitutes the sublime scene – the Center of the Universe – the Cause of all Creation, the Universal Mind, the Supreme Principle, the Primal Cause, the Cosmic Field, the Divine Spirit, Infinite Intelligence, God the Father!
Brian Wilson, “John Fetzer, Quest For The New Age” (2018)
Wowsie. You can almost smell the crazy through the screen. The last time I heard something that wacky was never.
In addition, he wrote this little ditty of a daily affirmation.
This day in every way Cosmic Force is making me better and better.
I am God Power; I am all abundance and free from all limitations.
Ibid
Jack Handy would be jealous.
Turning the creep factor up to eleven, he wrote this in his Founder Statement
“…that there has been a great outpouring of energy and that humankind, on a mass level, is [now] seeking to bring into embodiment [a] great balance, individually and collectively” that will lead in the end “a world peace, a world government, a world financial system, a world language, a world religion, a world of one mankind.”
Ibid
He says “world” a little to often for my liking. Im thinking this guy liked to smell hair and hold people in hugs to a point of ew.
Fetzer also read and valued the writings of occultist Alice Bailey, who delved deep into theosophy and all kinds of…well, magical stuff. Here is a clip which is worth quoting at length:
Seen by Alice Bailey as an expansion of the work of Madame Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine, Initiation Human and Solar reiterates the notion of the universe revolving around a great central sun (God), which radiates “energy or force” throughout the universe by means of a myriad of “transmitters,” which we know as stars or suns. So too she expands the notion of the universe presided over by a series of nested hierarchies of spiritual beings who direct these energies in an effort to suffuse all with higher consciousness (also known as “Christ consciousness”). Bailey goes on to assert that our solar system is ruled by its own hierarchy of twelve spiritual beings who, in turn, rule over a similar hierarchy for each planet. These are the Masters, who, roughly divided between east and west, are currently guiding the evolution of mankind to higher levels of consciousness by the channeling of divine energies. Most of these Masters, such as Morya, Kuthumi, and Djwhal Khul, had already been introduced to the world by Blavatsky, but it was left to Bailey to specify their exact places and duties within the Planetary Hierarchy ruling earth.
Brian Wilson, “John E Fetzer and Theosophy” (2019)
Fitzer aparently was giddy with excitement that he might be one of these masters.
This is just a licking of the crazy ice cream sundae that was John Fetzer.
Fetzer passed away in 1991, and presumably is swirling in perpetual motion around the electric rainbow ring in outer space he mentioned.
Mr. Goleman
Another gent needs mentioning, Daniel Goleman. Stick with it, we are going somewhere.
Goleman is a board member of the Mind and Life Institute, which was established to foster dialogues between the Dalai Lama and scientists, most of whom are psychologists, psychotherapists, neuroscientists, and social activists.
Goleman wrote a book called Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (1995) which outlines five components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
Also among his works is A Force For Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Our World (2015), a giant puff piece biography on the Dalai Lama. Here are some choice morsels from the book to help us understand his admiration and how it ties into education.
The Dalai Lama had a vision for the future of the world, a marxist vision by his own admission. Here Goleman lays out DLs vision
He sees modern schooling as needing fundamental reform, beyond the standard body of knowledge. The Dalai Lama calls for an education of the heart, with ethics and the capacity for living by compassionate values being essential.
This education would include basics of how the mind works, such as the dynamics of our emotions; a healthy regulation of emotional impulse and the cultivation of attention, empath, and caring; learning to handle conflicts nonviolently; and a sense of oneness with humanity.
… He looks to this radical overhaul of our educational system as one key to lasting answers.
… In short, his vision for the world would be passed on to coming generations as they are schooled.
Daniel Goleman, A Force For Good
The Lama continued that education is the main easy to make this happen
The only hope is the younger generation. Education can overcome distorted ways of thinking. That’s the only way
Ibid
This educational vision is not one of knowing your times tables and who won the Battle fo Gettysburg, but an education of ethics, of the heart. This should prompt you to ask “whose ethics and values are we talking about?” And just to make the height and depth of the Lama’s vision clear
…his hope is that one day this approach would become part of universal standards for education, similar to standards for math.
Such an education in emotions could be part of the curriculum for every child, from kindergarten on, the Dalai Lama proposes.
… Part of this curriculum might even draw from ancient Indian psychology, combined with recent psychological findings, to widen and deepen our understanding of emotions and lay the groundwork for change.
Ibid
Just so we are clear, Goleman idolizes the DL and his vision for the world, which includes values and ethics pulled from an as of yet unnamed set of values, but at least partially from Indian (Budhhistic), to create universalized standards along the same lines of certainty as math.
Freaky Fetzer funded Goleman through the 90s as he worked on his emotional intelligence theories and the establishment of the field of social and emotional learning (SEL), a term coined by the Fetzer institute.
CASEL
The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) was founded in 1994 with Goleman as a founding member. CASEL could not have come on line without the help of our nutty friend Fetzer
The Fetzer Institute’s commitment to whole child development is decades-long. In the 1990s, Fetzer played a significant funding and organizing role in the ground-breaking research for social and emotional learning and has been a longtime supporter of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Now, 30 years later, we are working to add pluralistic, spiritual development into whole child curricula.
Fetzer.org
And from CASEL’s own recounting of their origin
In 1994, a group of educators, researchers and child advocates met at the Fetzer institute to discuss effective coordinated strategies to enhance students” social- emotional competence, academic performance, health and citizenship, and to prevent and reduce health, mental health, and behavior problems. The Fetzer Group introduced the term “Social and Emotional Learning” as a conceptual framework to promote the social, emotional and academic competence of young people
Greenberg, et al, (2003) Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning
The goals of SEL, though buried in strange fires of weird religions, could have been seen as bland as undoctored oatmeal. Initially, its definition was rather anodyne.
“The process by which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
Okay, whatever. Probably wouldn’t find too many parents storming school board meetings over this.
However, in December of 2020, CASEL CEO Karen Niemi announced CASEL had revised its definition of to highlight the value of SEL as a social justice weapon.
Students, families, schools, and communities are all part of broader systems that shape learning, development, and experiences. Inequities based on race, ethnicity, class, language, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other factors are deeply ingrained in the vast majority of these systems and impact student and adult social, emotional, and academic learning. While SEL alone will not solve longstanding and deep-seated inequities in the education system, it can create the conditions needed for individuals and schools to examine and interrupt inequitable policies and practices, create more inclusive learning environments, and reveal and nurture the interests and assets of all individual.
Karen Niemi, CASEL CEO
So SEL, with it’s wacky origin story, is further corrupted to be a vehicle for neo-Marxian envy. In a very predictable turn of events, SEL, as beneficial as it was sold as on its own terms, is actually said to be harmful if not explicitly parroting the Marxian social agenda.
Programs that approach SEL without an equity lens may run the risk of hurting students from non-dominant cultures. Thus, an explicit and intentional focus on equity can enhance SEL programs by increasing programs relevance, accessibility and potential benefits for all students
Ibid
SEL is not in handful of woke schools along the DC beltway, or confined to San Franciscan suburbs; it is in more than ninety percent of school districts in America.
COVID
Of course, we cannot forget that great catalyst Covid. As the Covid pandemic simmered along, the attendant emotional issues which the lockdowns and school closings created offered proof of the need for SEL.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the critical need for SEL-focused programs and interventions. It has also intensified long-standing inequities in education. Students, teachers and parents reported increased levels of stress during the pandemic…
Gagnier, Okawa, and Jones-Manson (2022).
And wouldn’t you know it? But the most woeful recipients of these emotionally damaging times were the the very “vulnerable populations” which were being used as picks to strum the heart strings of guilty Americans.
The pandemic has exacerbated academic, social, emotional and mental health challenges that were pre-existing for many Americans students. This was especially true for students of color, indigenous students, English language learners, students with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ students.
Ibid
And there you have it. A very brief dive into the very toe bath into the occultist origins of SEL, the operating system which is running most government schools in America. If your kids are in public school, they are drinking from this cistern.
References
Brian C. Wilson, John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2018), p. 200
Shi, Pingnan. (2022, April 4). Social-emotional learning’s New Age origin by Dr. Pingnan Shi – Salvo Magazine. https://salvomag.com/post/social-emotional-learnings-new-age-origin#_ftn4
Niemi, K. (2020, December 15). Niemi: Casel is updating the most widely recognized definition of social-emotional learning. here’s why. The 74. https://www.the74million.org/article/niemi-casel-is-updating-the-most-widely-recognized-definition-of-social-emotional-learning-heres-why/
Gagnier, K. M., Okawa, A., and Jones-Manson, S. (2022). Designing and Implementing Social Emotional LEarning Programs to Promote Equity. White paper produced by AnLar and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Education, Innovation, and Research Program (EIR).
Greenberg, M. T., Weissberg, R. P., O’Brien, M. U., Zins, J. E., Fredericks, L., Resnik, H., & Elias, M. J. (2003). Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. American Psychologist, 58(6–7), 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.58.6-7.466
Thought Butter 