Course curriculum

    1. Walking the Path of Belonging

    2. Origin of A School of Belonging

    3. How to use this course

    4. Setting an Intention

    5. Before we begin

    1. Introduction: Blueprints for Belonging: Creating the Conditions for Emotional Safety

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Course objectives and outcomes: Blueprints for belonging

    1. Listen & Reflect: The Story of Howard Gray

    2. Read & Watch: why is it important for students to feel a sense of belonging at school?

    3. A Sense of Belonging at School

    4. Narrative reflection: Student belonging at school

    5. Watch & Reflect: John A. Powell & how fear of change divides people

    6. Read: What We Know About Belonging

    7. What We Know About Belonging From Scientific Research

    8. Narrative Reflection: The Circle of Human Concern and the Science of School Belonging

    9. Personal Narrative: Five Belonging Strategies

    1. Read & Reflect: The Four Emotional Needs

    1. Listen and Reflect: Belonging and Emotional Safety

    1. Practice: Emotional Mapping

    2. Practice: A Community Meeting

    3. Listen: Community Meeting & Variations

    4. Building a caring classroom culture plan

About this course

  • 26 lessons
  • 1 Graduate Credit: $260
  • 100% Online
  • Asynchronous

The School of Belonging Badge Program in Partnership with Lesley University

Self-paced courses designed for graduate students & education professionals

The School of Belonging Badge Program in Partnership with Lesley University Graduate School has been designed for educational professionals who are passionate about developing a culture of caring and compassion in their schools and classrooms. The School of Belonging process creates the conditions, skills and practices for empathy, inclusion, and self-expression for all members of the school community.
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Blueprints for Belonging Course objectives

Upon completion of this course participants will:

  • Show understanding of the literature on school belonging and the relationship between motivation, safety, and security and having trusting relationships.

  • Articulate the "blueprint for emotional safety" and will create a plan to incorporate this as a standard in their diverse classroom culture building practices.

  • Practice/demonstrate high-level listening to establish rapport with every one of their students.

  • Show they can decode student behaviors using new tools.

  • Demonstrate how to utilize the “Emotional Mapping Process” for a variability of students in need.

Teaching Empathy Institute

Course Instructor

David Levine

Senior Instructor and Designer

David is an educator, author, songwriter, and documentary film maker whose expression is grounded in creating caring and compassionate school cultures where emotional safety and emotional intelligence are foundational belonging and relationship-building practices. After working with school districts across the country as a teacher, trainer, facilitator, designer, and coach, for 32 years, David created Teaching Empathy Institute (TEI) in 2016. He saw the need for a different way of engaging students and adults in the work of empathy development. So, he developed a set of tools and practices to introduce and cultivate belonging and inclusion in schools. The overarching goal for all TEI’s work is to help individuals, schools, and entire communities transform through dialogue, storytelling, and the celebration of human connection.