Call for Proposals: The Arts and SEL

Call for Conference Presenters: Application Guidelines & Instructions
Priority deadline: May 15, 2020, at midnight ET

SEADAE is now accepting proposals for workshop sessions and research presentations that address the conference theme of Arts & SEL intersections or relate to other priority topics listed below. Conference sessions will run 30 – 75 minutes in length, depending on format, and will be presented September 25-26, 2020. 

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Click here to access the online application form with instructions and guidelines.

Read on for additional details, and please feel free to share widely.
 

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW 
Over the past decade, the topic of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has taken hold as an umbrella term for constructs related to non-cognitive development, character education, behavioral management, and 21st century skills. Numerous studies conducted around the effects of SEL-based instruction on student achievement show that SEL competency raises academic performance and positively impacts students’ attitudes toward themselves, toward others, and toward school. However, despite many SEL programs drawing heavily on arts activities to impart social and emotional growth in students, little research and development has taken place within the arts education community examining the important relationship between Social Emotional Learning and arts disciplines.
 
The Arts & Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): A Synergistic Pairing, the 2020 national conference of the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE), will explore relevant intersections between SEL competencies and learning in and through the arts, while offering a meaningful platform for the arts education community to be involved in the national SEL dialogue. This conference aims to bring together a diverse group of arts as well as non-arts professionals and practitioners – including those from the fields of neuroscience, policy administration, higher education, and behavioral development. Taking place over 2.5 days in Delaware’s scenic Brandywine Valley region, The Arts & SEL aims to support equitable access to SEL and arts learning as a means to improve academic achievement; build sustainable support systems and networks that increase student, teacher, family, and community engagement; and strengthen understandings with the goal of influencing arts education at the nexus of policy, research, and practice.
 
For more information and resources, please visit seadae.org/home/conferences.
 

CONFERENCE TRACKS
Priority areas of focus and discussion will include but are not limited to:

IMPACT

  • The role of trauma informed instruction and pedagogy within the arts and SEL

  • Arts-based somatic education and its interconnectedness with SEL

  • Insights into the neurobiological benefits of arts education

  • Data on the impact of SEL and arts-integrated learning on academic and behavioral development

POLICY

  • Policy inclusion of social and emotional behavioral factors into metrics for student success

  • State-level arts and SEL initiatives

  • Policy considerations around data collection on SEL and arts-integrating learning

STRATEGY

  • Strategies for influencing and implementing the arts within SEL

  • Strategies for engaging non-arts based SEL organizations and others to become better informed about the appropriate intersections between SEL and arts learning

  • Building capacity for SEL practices in the arts classroom

  • Utilizing data to promote SEL and arts-integrated learning

PROPOSAL EVALUATION & SELECTION
Submissions will be reviewed by SEADAE’s Conference Programming Committee. All proposals will be evaluated on their content and relevance to the conference theme and tracks. 
 
Criteria considerations include:

  • Demonstrate potential to impact and benefit students and / or the field at large

  • Demonstrate potential to push the field forward and / or encourage new thinking

  • Foster broad application of ideas that serve diverse populations

  • Highlight new research and ideas

  • Provide tools to replicate and adapt promising practices 

  • Foster an enriching, fulfilling, and engaging conference experience

Lead presenters will be notified via email of final selections. Questions? Please email SEADAE President Dr. Dale Schmid at Dale.Schmid@doe.nj.gov.