10 Ideas we Recognized from these interviews with Self-Reg Leaders

Recognize their role as community leadersWeaving together a tapestry of offeringsEncouraging colleaguesChallenge of shifting mindsetsHelping people to think about situations differentlyRethinking all the elements of education and wellbeingStaff group co-regulation activitiesRecognizing that we need to be invited inSelf-Reg applies to the adults and across the lifespanThe ”process” versus program is foundational

Dr. Brenda Smith-ChantModelling the Importance of the Self in Self-Reg

Keep reading and sharing Self-Reg but also model it in all that you do. Students see what you

do not just what you say.

Examine all of your professional and personal activities through a Self-Reg lens. For Brenda that meant rethinking the design of

exams, courses, lectures, as well as how to support graduate

students.

Brenda and the students in her lab have weekly “Self-Reg

updates” to discuss their tension and energy levels and how to

support each other with compassion and empathy.

Kim SmithListening, Supporting, Persevering, and Creative Thinking at

Lakeside P.S.

Kim SmithListening, Supporting, Persevering, and Creative Thinking at

Lakeside P.S.

“We felt that the students needed to be

able to express how

they were feeling and talk about what they

needed. We discovered

that they often didn’t know

how to describe how

they were feeling or what

would help them. “

Teachers worked with students to

begin to discuss their feelings and ultimately to

consider what they needed to

thrive.

“It was difficult for some staff

members to change their

thinking. We were consistent with our messages about

how we were going to support students and we paid attention to what staff were

saying so that we could reinforce the

Self-Reg messages and show why we knew it would work. I [Kim

Smith] was able to look at some of

the resistant staff with soft eyes and find strategies that would reduce their stress so that they could be their best

selves. ”

In the face of concern the

process would not work, the

staff were “consistent with our messages about how we were going to

support students and we paid

attention to what staff were saying so that we could

reinforce the Self-Reg

messages and show why we knew it would

work.”

Kim Smith worked “to

look at some of the resistant staff with soft eyes and find strategies that would reduce their stress so that they could be their best

selves. ”

Tiffany Goulet: From the Kindergarten Classroom to the Board and Beyond

Tiffany Goulet: From the Kindergarten Classroom to the Board and Beyond

“The main priority for us has always been to educate and bring the adults on board in a way that would allow them to see this [Self-Reg] in themselves.”

“The NCDSB and grants paid for funded (including administrators, curriculum leaders, child and youth workers, educators) to take TMC foundations courses, to attend SRSS 2018, participate in book studies and a video conference with Susan Hopkins. Finally in May 2019 the board hosted a Self-Reg community night featuring Susan Hopkins for 300 guests including educators, child care workers, administrators, support staff, physicians, counsellors, police officers, parents, and coaches. At the school level Self-Reg is on part of the School Improvement Plan, part of Welcome to Kindergarten Programming, students partake in health and screen free challenges, classrooms and offices have had Self-Reg makeovers, healthy snacks are available, and relationships between students across grades is supported.”

Aviva Dunsiger,Blogger, Teacher:“Soft Eyes” for our Students and Ourselves

Aviva Dunsiger,Blogger, Teacher: “Soft Eyes” for our Students and Ourselves

“Over the years, I’ve worked in many schools where Self-Reg becomes a topic of discussion. I’ve now read Calm, Alert, and Learning three different times as part of different school book clubs. This book often becomes the starting point for our conversations around Self-Reg. Last year, my principal bought the book for every educator as a year-end gift. I’ve helped facilitate discussions on it during monthly staff meetings, and it’s helping with making Self-Reg thinking as more of a part of our school community.”

“I often ask questions to get people to think about situations differently. Sometimes I also share my experiences with misbehaviour vs. stress behaviour, and how my thinking has changed. This can help. Blogging is another way that I work through my thinking, and these blog posts have proven to be great discussion points with colleagues.”

“Be ready for the best journey of your life! It will totally change you as a person and a professional. You will not be able to see anything without thinking Self-Reg first.”

The Self-Reg Journey of Kenneth MacNaughton and Linda Warren: “Supporting Self-Reg Across the System”:

Reflectively Sharing the Language and Process of Self-Reg at the DDSB

- “It’s a journey and a process not a program. You cannot roll it out like its a program. It takes time and you have to keep at it”

- Committee has come to understand that when sharing PD: Start from a student and a personal level, Self-Reg is not a response to kids with special needs - it’s for everyone, the importance of getting everyone onside from senior administrators to Trustees and families, and conducting ongoing school visits to understand where Self-Reg capacity is at, so that PD can be responsive to needs. Finally organizations also have a Self-Reg Journey.

- “Seeing Self-Reg start to weave into some of the policy docs, resources, and parent communication and a shift from the why of Self-Reg to the how - how to implement the Self-Reg process”

The Self-Reg Journey of Susy Komishin and the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre: Spreading Self-

Reg and Unlocking Potential

The Self-Reg Journey of Susy Komishin and the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre: Spreading Self-

Reg and Unlocking Potential- “Biggest breakthrough was getting a few colleagues to start The MEHRIT

Centre Foundations and Early Childhood Development courses. The more voices that can join the charge for change the farther we will reach and have an impact.”

- “It is very difficult to change the mind-sets of individuals that are “trained” so heavily in a particular discipline. I think that I have much more work to do in this area, but I have found a few key individuals who have now joined me in learning more about the Self-Reg approach and I believe they will have ‘reach’ with other colleagues in our organization and in First Nations schools.”

- “We are planning to continue to share the Self-Reg message to all the First Nations schools we work with and we are planning to start a few pilot projects. We are planning to pilot a couple school-wide Self-Reg initiatives and a couple Self-Reg of ECD initiatives with Nursery and Kindergarten educators.”

The Self-Reg journey of Lisa Taylor, Dufferin County: Sparking Self-Reg Through “Dialogue,

Dialogue, Dialogue”

The Self-Reg journey of Lisa Taylor, Dufferin County: Sparking Self-Reg Through “Dialogue, Dialogue, Dialogue”

- “As leaders, if we embody the Self-Reg way of seeing children it becomes contagious - one person at a time, one conversation at a time. We need to watch for the gentle invitations to who would be interested in knowing more and who would be receptive. It is challenging but possible.”

- “As a community, we have threaded opportunities continuously throughout our community, for educators, families, children, and community partners. These include invitations to Self-Reg encounters, such as Susan Hopkins’ ‘Creating a culture of safety’; our pedagogical work; book club studies; our special needs program; daily emergent conversations; and through other initiatives in the community, like the natural playscape playground.”

The Self-Reg Journey of Claudio Moschella, Peel DSB: The “Domino Effect” of a Great Idea in the

Hands of a Dedicated Leader

The Self-Reg Journey of Claudio Moschella, Peel DSB: The “Domino Effect” of a Great Idea in the Hands of a Dedicated

Leader

- “Go slow to go fast. Self-Reg is so powerful it doesn’t need anyone to force it on someone else. Simply plant the seed of self-reg and watch it grow. Like trees, people grow at different rates when it comes to learning about Self-Reg.”

- “Anyone knows once you learn Self-Reg you can’t unlearn it. Self-Reg has a ripple effect on people. There is no one instance but many ripples that are created that spread it around. Breakthroughs came in the way of adults sharing stories with me on how they applied Self-Reg to support their students.”

The Self-Reg Journey of Erika Wainwright: A Natural Self-Regger with a Passion for Spreading

the Science of Self-Reg

- Dr. Stuart Shanker’s Self-Reg “gave me the why behind everything that I believed. Self-reg gave the supporting science and provided resources to share with the schools that would help me guide them through the process of supporting a student who is struggling with behaviour, mood or attention while at school. Having research support beyond just my words was helpful to support the schools in feeling they were making the right choice.”

- “Our team has a common Self-Reg language and lens that we look through when we are supporting schools, children and families. It has made us so much more effective at our jobs. I feel that we are just at the beginning of this journey and I can’t wait to see how far it goes.”

The Self-Reg Journey of Vicki Parnell: Inspiring families around the world by sharing the magic of fully immersing in

the Self-Reg Process- “Some have wondered why they didn’t get as much out Self-Reg as I seem

to have. I think the reason I was able to apply my learning in such a deep way so quickly was that I had gone all-in! If you want to get more out of Foundations, take the time to really immerse yourself in the course content. Seek out the source material, watch the videos again and again, take notes, read the Self-Reg blogs and newsletters, and attend SRSS.”

- “I have found it challenging at times to support stressed-out parents and educators who are waiting for someone to give them that one magic strategy that will make the child’s stress behaviours go away. I sure wish that I had that magic strategy! The reality is that each of us has to go through the process of applying the five steps - learning, understanding and then applying Self-Reg to each individual child. You can’t skip past that.”

The Self-Reg Journey of Kristin Wiens: Striving to find meaningful ways to share Self-Reg

- “I am still exploring ways to have meaningful conversations with staff about their own Self-Reg. I often find it difficult to do this without coming across as preachy. I will continue to try new ways to start conversations with my colleagues and students.”

- I started to create graphics to help me explain the work to others. This helped me understand Self-Reg more thoroughly.

The Self-Reg Journey of NorthWest Territories Department of Education: Self-Reg for Renewal, Wellbeing, and Student

Agency

- “We understand wellness was seen as a condition for learning, and with Self-Reg, students themselves could be actively engaged in that process. One of the primary issues we were looking to address was intergenerational trauma (a legacy of Residential Schools) then we needed to be looking at a ‘solution’ that supported student agency. Self-Reg puts the teacher into a role of collaborator in this learning process instead of a ‘behavior manager’.“

The Self-Reg Journey of Cathy Lethbridge and Crystal CarbinoSimcoe CDSB: From a grassroots initiative to a board-wide thirst

for Self-Reg learning

The Self-Reg Journey of Cathy Lethbridge and Crystal CarbinoSimcoe CDSB: From a grassroots initiative to a board-wide

thirst for Self-Reg learning

- “Self-Reg can’t be a top-down initiative. It works best when it starts from the grassroots. When people start to see what others are experiencing with Self-Reg, they become curious to learn more. Our Self-Reg team goes where we are invited. Providing TMC learning opportunities for more staff was necessitated by the fact that our current team cannot meet the requests for more Self-Reg learning.”

- “Sometimes schools would “implement” Self-Reg but without a full understanding of the framework. Sometimes that looked like one-size-fits-all calming activities. When these didn’t work or didn’t fix the problem it was supposed to fix, people declared “Self-Reg” doesn’t work. Sharing the Self-Reg framework with more and more people and focusing on adult Self-Reg helped more people make the shift to Self-Reg.”

The Self-Reg Journey of ‘Namgis First Nations: Developing Culturally Infused Self-Reg Awareness Across Services, Throughout the Lifetime, and For Generations to Come

“Self-Reg really brought forth a sense of purpose with our practice. It helped professionalize the staff, many of whom are not aware of special educational training and decreased the negative responses. When I look at how our staff with the Head Start program, Day Care,

elementary schools, secondary school, mental health, family support and child welfare are all invested in Self-Reg courses I think we have created a good opportunity to work with the child as they

grow teaching them to decrease their stress. We have a deeper understanding of the impact of trauma and how it affects multi-

generations.”

A Deeper View of Self-Reg

We lend a child, or another, our rationality

Rationality begets rationality

Self-Reg Havens are Rationality Greenhouses

1. Focussed courses, on the model of ECD. Some possibilities:a. Primary school (grades 3-6)a. Middle Schoolb. Secondary Schoolc. Healthcared. Collegee. Business / Human Resources f. Sports

2. An accreditation process for individuals, organizations and teams3. Partnerships with higher education to bring Self-Reg into many fields including

education, child development, social work, community development and healthcare4. The next five years will be led by our Self-Reg Leaders5. Maladaptive Modes of Self-Reg reign: we need a generation of kids and adults that

understand this6. More local Institutes across the country7. An explosion of “Research that Matters”8. TMC becomes the model for an International Movement9. Self-Reg seen as a Moral Revolution: Building a Just Society in deeds, and not just words

What do we See in The Next 5 Years?