CONVENT CONVENT&&STUART STUARTHALL HALL SCHOOLS SCHOOLSofofthe theSACRED SACREDHEART HEARTSAN SANFRANCISCO FRANCISCO
COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL, SOCIAL GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT A K-12 RESEARCH-BASED PROGRAM IN EMOTIONAL LITERACY Our education is not meant to turn the children out small and finished but seriously begun on a wide basis. Therefore they must leave us with some self-knowledge, some energy, some purpose. — Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ (1857-1914)
Spiritual Development
Cognitive Development
Social Development
Emotional Development
CONVENT & STUART HALL
Convent & Stuart Hall’s “Four Pillars” of Child Development Sacred Heart education encompasses mind, body and spirit, preparing students for the future that awaits them and equipping them to live with curiosity, resilience and purposefulness. We cultivate in our students the wish to learn and to grow, developing in them an awareness and understanding of
The school’s researchbased approach to whole child development is founded on four interconnected and foundational pillars:
their cognition
their emotions
their interior spiritual life the dynamics of social interactions
As a K–12 school, we deeply know what it is to educate, to “bring a child up” from age 5-18. From childhood to late adolescence, we support our students in charting their path — a path that encompasses the different stages of cognitive, behavioral, physical, ethical, emotional and spiritual development.
1. Cognitive Development
The human brain undergoes dynamic change and development during childhood, through adolescence and into early adulthood. The concept of “neuroplasticity” is a central tenet of our approach to teaching and learning.
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3. Spiritual Development
Sacred Heart education is anchored by the belief that there is something bigger than ourselves — that there is dignity, purpose and meaning in each person’s life. The development and nourishment of this spirit is an essential cornerstone in our approach to student development.
2. Emotional Development
Emotional intelligence (Mayer and Salovey, 1990) is a key competency in learning, growing and being. Students develop awareness of their feelings, how to name them and how to experience and regulate their emotional responses.
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4. Social Development
The social development of children and young people is core to our mission. We develop in each child an understanding of their values (the self) and an awareness of how to thrive within a diverse community. We recognize the important tension between honoring individual development and reinforcing healthy community boundaries. Our response to student behavior therefore holds space for growth and learning while also addressing what needs to be restored and repaired.
CONVENT & STUART HALL
CONVENT & STUART HALL’S RESEARCH-BASED DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH TO COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL & SOCIAL GROWTH Convent & Stuart Hall’s approach to child and adolescent growth and development correlates research that comprises ancient wisdom and contemporary avenues of neuroscience. Form structures and administrative leaders (Deans in the elementary school and Grade Chairs in the high school) are highly experienced in the grade levels they serve, meeting the students where they are in full appreciation of their stages of growth and development. 2
Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
Plato
Unfortunately, anxiety, like stress has gotten a bad rap. Somewhere along the line we got the idea that emotional discomfort is always a bad thing.
Lisa Damour
Life, much like so many athletic events, is largely a game of recovery.
William Damon
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FROM PLATO TO PIAGET: RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP IN SUPPORT OF PROGRAMMING Piaget’s groundbreaking research in children’s cognitive development, along with the related work of Lawrence Kohlberg, William Damon and Carol Dweck, revealed the connection between cognitive and behavioral/ethical development. Research shows that younger children (ages 2-7) think of the world around them in more concrete and causal terms, and they are still developing a sense of the world outside of their own experience. In these early years, children hold a self-centered viewpoint or perspective. By around age 7, children enter what we know to be the “age of reason” — a stage in cognitive and behavioral development when students start to engage the world within them and the world around them. This is when “the self” also becomes conscious of “the other.” At this stage of development, children begin to use and consider multiple outcomes and perspectives. Beyond age 11, into and throughout adulthood, critical thinking skills are more complex and involve hypotheses, deductive reasoning and high levels of abstraction. Complex problems can be addressed by navigating
multiple outcomes and points of view, and with abstract reasoning to make decisions or form opinions. During this period, students start to engage in moral reasoning and ethical frameworks, ultimately culminating in high school with the study of philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, whose work continues to be a timeless source for exploring human well-being, motivation and purpose. Our program which supports cognitive, emotional, spiritual and social growth and development, reflects the best-established evidence-based theories and frameworks. The hope for each student is that they may process their thoughts and feelings for adaptive and creative problem-solving with a flexible mindset that supports their general well-being and the well-being of others.
In cognitive psychology, “theory of mind” is the understanding that mental states and feelings are individual and the recognition that other people have their own mental states, feelings and processes. Premack and Woodruff, 1978
The principal goal of education should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things.
Jean Piaget
Piaget is correct in assuming a culturally universal age development of a sense of justice, involving the progressive concern for the needs and feelings of others and elaborated conceptions of reciprocity and equality.
Lawrence Kohlberg
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CONVENT & STUART HALL
A K-12 COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL & SOCIAL PROGRAM
At each grade level from Kindergarten to Grade 12, we develop in students the cognitive, emotional, spiritual and social skills that support their self-knowledge, discovery, and navigation of life’s opportunities and challenges. Resilient and resourceful well-being is a goal for each child. Throughout the K–12 journey, the development of cognitive executive function skills increases student capacity and independence. At the same time, students develop the tools to navigate the emotional ups and downs of childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Within an expansive, faith-based community, the path towards maturation includes belief in the unique gifts that each student brings to a world that needs them. 1 4
No one is ‘made to order’ of this or that shape, but each gives what they can for the common good; the common good demanding for its own sake, as well as for theirs, that they should remain — themselves. Janet Erskine Stuart
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FOUNDATIONAL EMOTIONAL LITERACY: THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, SELF EXPRESSION (GRADES K-2) 5 From Kindergarten until the end of second grade, students are exploring what it means to be a member of a school community, cognitively and socially. The school’s Research-Based Structured Literacy Program serves as an anchor for how each student engages their world through language for selfexpression and in acts of learning. Students develop their ability to recognize and express their feelings as well as acquire the tools and language to express those feelings along with the skills to respond appropriately. In these years, students are developing their capacity to understand others’ perspectives. Therefore in K–2, we focus on self-awareness and self-advocacy with attention to the concept of community and mindfulness of others. Both in and out of the classroom, faculty and specialists support and foster each child’s natural enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and build skills. In the early years, we empower and support independence and nurture curiosity and a love of discovery.
As pro-social skills emerge and develop, play defines the K–2 years. As students work cooperatively at classroom tables or engage in free play during recess, they are building essential skills of self-expression, listening and conversation. Kindergarten and Grade 1 class performances dovetail into a Grade 2 artistic project led by a professional artist from Lincoln Center Education, in partnership with Grade 2 faculty. Friday Morning Music is a joyful invitation for the Lower form community to come together, showcasing music’s role in developing a community of learners who benefit from the concept of “unison.”
Between the stimulus and response, there is a space.
Viktor Frankl
CONVENT & STUART HALL
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD IN THE “MIDDLE FORM” (GRADES 3-5) In Grades 3–5, children continue to be in the stage of development known as middle childhood, hence our “Middle Form.” Throughout these years, students continue to cultivate self and social awareness, beginning to recognize the perspectives of others and engage in activities that build their sense of competence. As their independence grows, the structure of the Middle Form years assist students in cultivating skills that support independent and interdependent thinking and learning.
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Whether engaging in learning that fosters emotional intelligence and social thinking, participating in community-building and service projects, or attending field trips, students in these years learn how to navigate both personal and interpersonal contexts. Programming that includes Grade 3 lessons about communication skills, Grade 4 improvisation classes and a multi-day Grade 5 field trip supports students in their capacity to self-advocate, build resilience and become responsible members of their community, both in and out of the classroom.
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CONVENT & STUART HALL
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONVENT & STUART HALL’S RELIGION, THEOLOGY & SPIRITUALITY CURRICULUM 8
Convent & Stuart Hall’s Religion, Theology & Spirituality curriculum supports student development, as it explores topics of what it means to live in community, what gives life meaning and purpose and the dispositions required to live a fulfilled life of well-being, for oneself and others. K–2 – The gift of me and you: self-compassion, kindness, the practice of silence and contemplation William Damon’s theory of moral development can start to take hold in which high standards and expectations develop a strong core self in support of individual responsibility, purposefulness and community mindedness. Grades 3–5 – Encounter: How do I encounter the sacred in you? With a focus on world religious texts and traditions, students seek wisdom in the traditions and stories that have shaped human experience. Beyond their own life experiences, they ask what these stories and experiences might teach them and how one’s own story might offer something to someone else.
Grades 6–8 – What is “right”?
Learning about and using ethical frameworks, students consider how to develop personal ethical frameworks for productive, healthy and purposeful decision-making. Grades 9–12 – Interconnectedness and Universality
Wrestling with life’s “big questions” of the world’s theological traditions and the work of the great philosophers, students ask: What can the world’s religions, texts and great philosophers teach me about being? What makes a purposeful life?
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DR LISA MILLER AND THE MIND BODY INSTITUTE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco partners with Dr. Lisa Miller at Columbia University. As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Miller focuses on the positive effects of spirituality and spiritual practice on child and human development. Her recent groundbreaking research reaffirms what Sacred Heart educators have known for a long time, although in less scientific terms. Rooting their educational model in a belief in the development of children as spiritual beings, our founders intentionally focused on the importance of spiritual and contemplative practices. Dr. Miller’s work emphasizes the importance of awakening a belief in or connection to something bigger than ourselves as a source of well-being.
When we become spiritually aware... it’s a sign that despite the uncertainty, we are aligned with the force of life.
Lisa Miller
The magic that enables boys to overcome their struggles is someone knowing and caring about them.
Michael Reichert
When we understand the developmental tour de force that is adolescence, we can truly enjoy and empower our girls.
Lisa Damour
A purpose can organize an entire life...
William Damon
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Information
Faith
love
fear RESPONSE Sadness
Salovey AWARENESS
According to Salovey and Mayer’s definition, emotional intelligence is the ability to process information about your own emotions and other people’s. It’s also the ability to use this information to guide your thoughts and behavior.
Shame
Stimulus Self-expression
J Joy
Self & other
Anger
Community
Anxiety
Mayer Emotional Intelligence
Resources and Citations Center on the Developing Child (2007). The Science of Early Childhood Development (InBrief). Retrieved from www.developingchild. harvard.edu. Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind (1993) Plato, The Republic Epstein, S., & Meier, P. (1989). Constructive thinking: A broad coping variable with specific components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(2), 332–350. https://doi. org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.2.332
Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer, “Emotional Intelligence” (1990) Carol Dweck, Mindset (2007)
Lisa Damour, untangled (2016) Lisa Damour, under pressure (2019)
William Damon, The Path to Purpose (2008)
Lisa Damour, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers (2023)
William Damon, The Moral Child (1988)
Aristotle, Ethics
Jean Piaget, The Psychology of the Child (1969)
Shirzad Chamine, Positive Intelligence (2012)
Lawrence Kohlberg, The Psychology of Moral Development (1981) Lisa Miller, The Spiritual Child (2015)
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