Session five: Community of Practice on Socio-Emotional Learning

CoP on SEL 5th Session - Embedding SEL Into the School Day: consistent routines that build belonging, regulation, and readiness to learn

The Global Schools Forum in collaboration with Labhya has launched a Community of Practice dedicated to Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL). This practitioner-led community will move from foundational design to advanced implementation through three action-oriented sprints. We will build a shared repository of effective frameworks and tools, address the critical human element of teacher enablement, and tackle the challenge of measuring impact while scaling with quality.

In this session, Transcend will share one practical entry point into the Whole Child Model: consistent routines. Rather than treating social and emotional learning as a separate subject, this session will explore how daily routines and procedures can be designed to strengthen safety, belonging, self-regulation, and academic readiness within the flow of the school day. The session will draw on this component of the Whole Child Model’s CARE approach, which emphasises predictable, least-restrictive routines that support students’ autonomy, freedom of movement, and emotional safety.

Participants will learn how routines can do more than manage behavior. When designed well, they create predictability, reduce cognitive load, explicitly teach SEL skills, and free students’ mental energy for learning. The session will highlight several practical strategies, including visual daily schedules, visual expectation cues, and the use of social stories to teach routines and procedures.

Because this is a global community of practice, the session will also create space for participants to reflect on their own contexts. Transcend will share what it is learning as interest in the Whole Child Model grows in international settings, and will invite participants to consider which elements of consistent routines feel transferable, which may need adaptation, and what leaders should listen for when applying this work across cultures and school systems.

This session is not intended as a polished export of a finished model for every setting. Instead, it is a chance to share a promising practice, show how it connects SEL and academics, and engage leaders in examining what resonates, what raises questions, and what adaptation may be needed in their own contexts.

We welcome your participation to move from design principles to practical implementation, and contribute to our growing repository of effective SEL strategies.

Cynthia Robinson-Rivers

Cynthia Robinson-Rivers is a Managing Partner at Transcend, where she supports schools in adopting the Whole Child Model, a research-backed framework she developed while serving as a school leader in DC Public Schools. Over the course of her career, she has served as a teacher, school leader, and central office leader. In DCPS, she was Director of Teacher Retention and Recognition, where she developed initiatives to strengthen and retain highly effective teaching, including LIFT: Leadership Initiative for Teachers and Teaching In Action. She also directed the DCPS Master Educator program during the inaugural year of IMPACT, the district’s teacher evaluation system. Cynthia holds a B.A. in Communication and Art from Stanford University, an M.A. in Education from George Washington University, and an Executive Master’s in Leadership from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. She is a member of the first class of the Aspen-Pahara Teacher Leaders Fellowship, a recipient of the Rubenstein Award for highly effective leadership, and a former faculty member with the Harvard Project Zero Classroom Summer Institute. She serves as a board member for Student Achievement Partners and as an advisory board member for The Professional Development Collaborative at Washington International School, the KID Museum, and Trust for Learning.

Indi Ekanayake

Indi is a Project Lead and People Manager at Transcend Education, where he supports schools and systems in adopting the Whole Child Model, a research-backed framework that strengthens academic outcomes and engagement while countering the effects of exclusionary discipline policies. He has served in a wide range of roles across the education sector, including teacher, instructional coach, school administrator, and nonprofit program manager. Across these experiences, he has seen the power of centering well-being for both children and adults in building stronger, more connected school communities. Indi holds a B.S. in Health Management from The Ohio State University and an M.S. in Urban Education from the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the board of Groundwork Ohio River Valley and the Bramble Nature Campus Local School Decision Making Committee. Through all of his work, he is committed to helping communities grow stronger and more connected.

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