Date: October 21, 2021
Presenter: Dr. Kathleen Hughes, PhD
Description: Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has quickly become a driving force in K-12 education with emphasis on 5 core competencies that help with self regulatory and interpersonal skills (CASEL, 2015). Embedding SEL in school curricula has helped to decrease bullying and aggression, and increase positive classroom climate (Vaillancourt, 2020). Likewise, these Social Emotional Assets (SEA) in young adulthood have been found to be predictive of engagement in university studies, sense of belonging on university campuses, thriving in the face of marginalization and crises, and coping through anxiety (Hughes, Waly, & Donovan, 2019). In this talk I will discuss the development of the SEA adult measure, and the most recent research findings and new directions for understanding thriving in emerging adulthood.
Biography: Dr. Kathleen Hughes is a tenure-track Instructor in Developmental Psychology at the University of Calgary. She completed her MA and PhD at Carleton University in Ottawa with her core research focused on shyness, social anxiety, and educational outcomes. Her postdoctoral work at the Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy at the University of New Brunswick examined an assets-based approach to literacy and educational intervention. She is now the Director of the Social Emotional Assets lab and currently supervises an ambitious team of undergraduate researchers.
