Kern Council for Social Emotional Learning

Vision
The vision of the Kern Council for Social Emotional Learning is to see that all early childhood educators in Kern County are proficient in the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning.

Background
Young (all) children acquire social and emotional competencies in ways that are often different from how they acquire competence in the naming of letters or numbers. Social-emotional skills emerge through children’s experience in close relationships and the varied activities that occur in relational experience, such as shared conversation, warm nurturance, and guided assistance in learning capacities for sociability, responsibility, and self-control. Social and emotional skills also develop through the shared activities of a developmentally appropriate, well-designed preschool environment. In such settings (and at home) and under the guidance of sensitive teachers, young children develop an understanding of other people’s feelings and needs, are encouraged to feel empathy and caring, learn to manage their own behavior as responsible group members, and acquire a variety of other capabilities that will be directly relevant to their success in managing the classroom environment.
(Preschool Learning Foundations-Volume 1)

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is a national resource center for disseminating research and evidence-based practices to early childhood programs across the country. CSEFEL is focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young children birth to age 5. To support this goal they have developed a conceptual model of evidence-based practices for promoting young children’s social emotional competence and preventing and addressing challenging behavior. The California Department of Education, Child Development Division has adopted the CSEFEL model for California and encourages Early Care and Education programs to implement these practices.

The Teaching Pyramid is the name used in California to describe the training and technical assistance for the CSEFEL approach. In order to fulfill the goal of a comprehensive county-wide system, a local Leadership Team has been created. The purpose of the Leadership Team is to create a collaborative and continuous movement toward countywide/agency-wide/district-wide CSEFEL training and implementation. This team has developed an overall vision and mission statement for the entire county. The CSEFEL training has been introduced in three communities in Kern County since 2009. The Kern Council for Social Emotional Learning would like to expand that effort county wide. For a listing of the Kern Council on Social Emotional Learning Leadership Team click here.

The Teaching Pyramid involves a series of four training modules combined with on-site coaching/mentoring with an additional Family Module available. The module topics are:

MODULE 1 – Promoting Children’s Success: Building Relationships and Creating Supportive Environments

MODULE 2 – Social-Emotional Teaching Strategies

MODULE 3 – Individualized Intensive Interventions: Determining the Meaning of Challenging Behavior

MODULE 4 – Individualized Intensive Interventions: Developing a Behavior Support Plan.

FAMILY MODULE – This module is specifically designed for family outreach specialists who have completed modules 1-4.

More information on the Teaching Pyramid and the California Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) can be found at:

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/

Techincal Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children
www.challengingbehavior.org

California Collaborative on the Social & Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CA CSEFEL)
http://cainclusion.org/teachingpyramid/index.html