The Well-Being for Life and Learning Guidebook is a new resource for instructors to aid them in designing learning environments that promote well-being. Combining research, best practices, and personal testimony, the guidebook gives faculty and other instructors concrete ideas and direct input from the UW campus community around supporting the whole student and promoting resilience and compassion.
Well-Being for Life & Learning
About the initiative
Background
The Well-Being for Life and Learning initiative provides instructors with practices designed to support the whole student. The impetus for this initiative was the social and emotional learning movement, which has demonstrated a clear ability to get results through more than two decades of research—from improving academic performance and stress coping skills to increasing students’ compassion toward themselves and each other. This research led the Resilience Lab team to ask: What is the role of social and emotional learning in higher education, and how can it be leveraged to make the UW a better place to learn and thrive?
A pilot program of the Well-Being for Life and Learning (WBLL) initiative took place during the 2019-2020 academic year. During this time, the Resilience Lab supported more than 40 WBLL Fellows— including instructors, staff, and students—across all three campuses by offering best practices, support, and opportunities to share ideas through a community of practice. Based on learnings from the pilot year, the Resilience Lab team has developed the Well-Being for Life and Learning Guidebook (see above)— which is deeply informed by UW researchers and educators, input from Distinguished Teaching Award recipients, guidance from leading experts in a variety of disciplines, and the feedback and contributions of UW students.
Join the community of practice
Advancing the well-being of UW students will require all of us to get involved. As role models and teachers, instructors play a truly critical role. We know that integrating practices to support well-being is not a uniform process and must be tailored to each individual’s values and style of teaching. In addition to reading and referring to the guidebook for ongoing guidance, as well as engaging with each other around this work both within and across departments, UW instructors are invited to consider joining the Well-Being for Life and Learning community of practice. For more information, email uwreslab@uw.edu.
Foundations for advancing student well-being
The Foundations for Advancing Student Well-Being serve as the framework for the guidebook. The framework centers the core skills and mindsets of social and emotional learning, while also drawing on best practices modeled at other institutions of learning like Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin. The Foundations for Advancing Student Well-Being include teaching for equity and access, nurturing connection, building resilience coping skills, and connecting to the environment.
Teaching for equity and access: Creating an atmosphere where all students feel safe and encouraged to be their authentic selves. Addressing power, privilege, and oppression in the classroom – and understanding the ways in which they impact students’ mental health and well-being.
Nurturing connection: Tending to the social connectedness that students experience with each other, with their instructors and TAs, and with the greater UW community. Supporting students as they build stronger connections within themselves, increase their self-awareness, and navigate their sense of life purpose.
Building resilience coping skills: Teaching and modeling everyday practices to develop the four cornerstones of resilience: mindfulness, growth mindset, self-compassion, and gratitude. As simple as providing a “mindfulness minute” at the beginning of class, or it can be an ongoing task like having students maintain a weekly gratitude journal.
Connecting to the environment: Establishing an intentional and meaningful relationship between students and the places where they learn and grow. Recognizing the interconnectedness between individuals and their environments enriches our pedagogy to better support students.
