PLI #6

About the Session

Our work with educators demonstrates that compassion can be a powerful resource for maintaining hope, connecting with purpose, and sparking joy, even in difficult times. We invite you to join this workshop to develop perspectives and learn practices for mindfulness, kindness, and compassion for self and others that support emotional regulation and overall well-being. You will also engage in activities and practices to integrate compassion into your classroom and everyday life. Anchored in teaching about climate change, this workshop is relevant to any educator who has experienced uncertainty, overwhelm, or stress.

Presenters

Ashley Potvin

Ashley Seidel Potvin, Ph.D., is a researcher and educator in the Renée Crown Wellness Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. She works in partnership with PK-12 educators to bring compassion and dignity to school communities. Potvin designs, studies, and teaches programs focused on supporting educators to cultivate compassion and dignity for themselves and others, to deepen their leadership capacities, and to envision and work towards just and compassionate schools. Her research examines educator learning and wellness, teacher-student relationships, and the development of caring, inclusive, and humanizing classroom and research environments. Her research has been published in journals such as the Journal of the Learning Sciences, Teaching and Teacher Education, Mindfulness, Education Sciences, Learning Environments Research, and Professional Development in Education. She and her co-authors recently released the book Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities: Leading Together to Address Everyday Suffering. Potvin is a former middle and high school teacher and a certified Compassion Cultivation Training Teacher.

Bill Penuel

Bill Penuel is Distinguished Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the School of Education and Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. He designs and studies curriculum materials, assessments, and professional learning experiences for teachers in science. He works in partnership with school districts and state departments of education, and the research he conducts is in support of educational equity in three dimensions: (1) equitable implementation of new science standards; (2) creating inclusive classroom cultures that attend to students' affective experiences and where all students have authority for constructing knowledge together; and (3) connecting teaching to the interests, experiences, and identities of learners. Penuel is a Fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, the International Society for Design and Development in Education, and the American Educational Research Association. He received his B.A. from Clark University in psychology, Ed.M. in Counseling Processes from Harvard University, and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Clark University.

Paolo Calvadores

Paolo Calvadores teaches grades 6–12 science and serves as the Gifted & Talented coordinator in the Julesburg School District in Colorado. With over 10 years of teaching experience, he currently serves as a science teacher facilitator with inquiryHub at the University of Colorado Boulder. Calvadores is a member of The National Society of Leadership and Success and holds a graduate certificate in Cultivating Compassion & Dignity in Ourselves and Our Schools, as well as a Teacher Leadership Certificate, both from the University of Colorado Boulder. He is passionate about education, meeting new people, and traveling.