The Responsive Teacher: Using Empathy, Not Reactivity, to Increase Motivation - #Pre-Order SPC26051

Graduate-Level Credit / Non-Credit Hours
3 Semester Credits or 45 Clock Hours

Early enrollment is now open for the new self-paced course:
The Responsive Teacher: Using Empathy, Not Reactivity, to Increase Motivation

• The course will be available in January 2027.
• You’ll receive an email notification as soon as it’s ready.

Course Description

In today's classrooms, a teacher's ability to understand and manage emotions, their own and their students', is as critical to student success as any instructional strategy. This course equips K–12 educators with the emotional intelligence (EI) skills to build trusting relationships with students, navigate conflict and disengagement with empathy rather than reactivity, and sustain their own well-being, all while supporting greater student achievement.

Grounded in two complementary frameworks, Dr. Daniel Goleman's model of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management, and CASEL's five core competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, participants will progress from understanding the foundations of EI, to recognizing disengagement as an emotional signal, to building empathy and trust. Participants will learn restorative approaches to conflict and strengthen their own capacity for emotional regulation. Educators will also develop the skills to apply emotionally attuned principles to intentional lesson design, and explore how to partner with parents of disengaged students.

By the end of this course, educators will have developed a practical, evidence-based toolkit for creating classrooms where both students and teachers feel safe enough to take risks and stay engaged, to increase academic achievement. As a culminating activity, educators will design an implementation plan or presentation that applies these strategies in a real-world setting, ensuring they are prepared to lead with compassion, support student well-being, and build emotionally supportive classrooms where every learner can thrive.

Global Outcomes/Goals of the Course

To deepen and/or apply the content and skills of the teacher’s existing professional knowledge base by meeting the following global goals of the course:

1. Define and analyze the core components of emotional intelligence and their application to K-12 classroom practice.
2. Develop the self-awareness and emotional regulation skills needed to respond to classroom challenges with empathy rather than reactivity.
3. Design and implement relationship-centered practices, including active listening, restorative communication, and conflict resolution, that build trust and strengthen student-teacher connection.
4. Apply emotionally attuned principles to lesson design through TIRES, UDL, and Backward Design frameworks to maximize student engagement and learning outcomes.
5. Communicate effectively and empathetically with parents of disengaged students, building collaborative partnerships centered on the student's well-being.
6. Evaluate the challenges associated with sustained emotional labor in teaching and design a comprehensive plan to maintain resilience and prevent compassion fatigue and burnout.

• Online Self-Paced