Forged Ed's Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program
Our SEL program provides teachers with engaging, turn-key lessons that are both culturally-relevant and identity-affirming. The program helps your teachers to create inclusive communities of belonging for all students.
Pilot our Future Forged SEL Curriculum
Attention Educators! We are currently seeking school partners for our SEL curriculum for the 2023-2024 school year. Read more about our pilot program below. Let us know if you're interested in future opportunities to pilot or purchase this program.
The Importance of Positive Ethnic & Racial Identities
Recent research about the importance of having a positive racial and ethnic identity informed the development of our idea. In their book, Below the Surface: Talking with Teens about Race, Ethnicity and Identity, Dr. Adriana Umaña-Taylor and Deborah Rivas-Drake outline various research outcomes that demonstrate the importance of supporting students of color in developing a positive racial/ethnic identity.
Having a positive racial/ethnic identity supports prosocial behaviors and increases a person’s resilience in the face of racism. Our school communities are growing more and more diverse. Unfortunately, students of color are constantly bombarded by societal messages about who they are and who they can become.
Racism and stereotypes can have dangerous impacts on young people, resulting in self-hatred, violence, and lower self-esteem. As teachers, it is critical that we support students in developing a strong sense of their racial and ethnic identities, rooted in their own understanding and investigation of their communities and heritages.
For students to develop positive ethnic and racial identities, they need opportunities to discuss and explore what it means to be a member of their ethnic and racial group and to counter racist stereotypes about their racial groups.
The Pilot Program
For the upcoming school year, we're looking for 10 schools and 10 teacher fellows to pilot this unique SEL program with your students.
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Training Teachers
The work starts with building adult skills and mindsets. We train teachers in key knowledge and skills, help them understand how to support students through the program, and prepare them to facilitate conversations about the challenging conversations most important to young people.
We guide teachers through selecting from our diverse content and materials to address and support their particular students. We offer opportunities for all teachers to reflect on their teaching and provide individualized support.
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SEL Curriculum
Teachers will lead units on topics that center the needs and experiences of students of color. Current units include opportunities to explore identity, learn to interrupt harm and build trust and how to do hard things. The content is written with examples that resonate for young people of color, with each unit offering multiple learning experiences.
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Evaluation & Revision
An important component of the pilot program is to gather educator and student feedback. Teachers will complete brief surveys and provide relevant feedback on the program’s lessons, their usability and effectiveness. We will also offer various options to gather student feedback, from surveys to collecting student work to focus groups. Finally, we will support the school in developing observation systems for supporting educators who are implementing the program.This feedback plays a key role in continuing to develop our program’s effectiveness.
Give your students and teachers a comprehensive SEL curriculum.
Build a community of belonging! Help your students build the skills to address their complex worlds. If you are interested in participating in our pilot or learning more about the program, let us know below. Tell us a little about you and your school, and we’ll set up a time to talk more about this unique program.