February 2021 Newsletter
Welcome to the Karanga Newsletter! We hope that you are well, wherever you are in the world.
In last month's newsletter, we reflected on the loss of interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) as schools scrambled to continue to educate their students and, where possible, deliver instruction remotely.
This is understandable. When our survival is at stake, emotional intelligence building may feel like a luxury.
Yet if the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it is how interconnected and interdependent we are. SEL-related skills are what our world demands—not despite the times in which we are living, but because of them.
Though effects of this global crisis will emerge for years to come, many of our old ways of life have already changed or disappeared. Rarely do we have a chance to reimagine our world so completely—to shed what no longer works and create something new.
This is a time of opportunity. And to take advantage of it, we need our best minds and hearts. SEL has a big role to play in developing the behaviors and skills needed to build communities rooted in peace, justice and opportunity for all.
As we begin to see light at the end of the tunnel of this global crisis, it is so important that SEL regain its place at the table.
NEW INEE POLICY PAPER
The Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)’s new policy paper, Investing in Learning: the Case for Strengthening the Collection and Use of Learning Assessment Data in EiE Contexts, provides guidance on how to increase and improve the measurement of holistic learning outcomes for crisis-affected learners for EiE sector donors, national governments and humanitarian and development agencies. It provides recommendations for EiE stakeholders to improve the measurement of learning outcomes for crisis-affected children and youth, including the measurement of wellbeing.
INEE will also hold a webinar to launch the paper on Thursday, February 25th at 8am EST. Please follow this link to register.
REGISTER FOR THE LATEST 'EDUCATION FOR TOMORROW'S WORLD' PROGRAM
Salzburg Global, in partnership with WISE, will host a new online series: Education Reimagined: Leadership for a New Era. This series will build off of the themes and discussions in the 2020 series and ebook, Education Disrupted, Education Reimagined, and examine the critical role of multiple kinds of leadership - teacher, educator, learner and policymaker - in navigating the unique educational challenges schools and systems around the world are currently facing.
With over 25 speakers from nearly 20 countries around the globe, the event will include a mix of keynote presentations, panel sessions and roundtable discussions, and consider the following key themes:
Changemaker Leadership for a New Era
Leading to Bridge the Equity Chasm
Amplifying Next Generation Voices in Leading Learning
This public online program will be delivered in two parts, which mirror one another and are aimed at speakers and audiences from different contexts and time zones.
Register for Session 1: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 09:00 - 12:45 (GMT+3)
Register for Session 2: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 18:00 - 21:45 (GMT+3)
CONTINUING TO DREAM AMIDST THE PANDEMIC
A feature in The Hindu highlights how Dream A Dream has responded to the pandemic: by using SEL, sports and arts to develop life skills and prevent trauma for younger children, many with limited access to technology.
THE NEED FOR DIGNITY, NOW MORE THAN EVER
This past year has challenged us all to reevaluate our lives and reimagine our world. Global Dignity will host a conversation with Dr. Donna Hicks to explore why this moment, more than ever, calls for a greater commitment to human dignity.
Dr. Hicks is one of the leading authorities on dignity and its role in healing, reconciliation and effective leadership. She is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University and the author of Dignity and Leading with Dignity.
The event is free and open to all. Please register here.
CONNECT WITH UNESCO MGIEP
As UNESCO MGIEP gears up to scale its projects in the field of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Digital Pedagogy & Empowering the Youth - towards their vision on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 - they have launched a fortnightly newsletter, The SEL Connect, that provides a snapshot of their latest activities. So, don’t miss the buzz! Sign up here.
SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
““But the future is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognize the other as a ‘you’ and themselves as part of an ‘us.’ We all need each other.””
Karanga is an alliance of individuals and organizations committed to supporting social and emotional learning programs within formal and non-formal education. Karanga's vision is of a thriving world where all learners are enabled with the skills to succeed in school, work, and life.