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Abandon SEL, What Would Audre Do?: Teaching as Emotional Labor & Political Praxis

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Much of today’s social-emotional learning (SEL) models emphasize compliance, de-escalation, and universal “soft skills” that can obscure the radical potential of emotion in education. “Abandon SEL, What Would Audre Do?” calls on Audre Lorde’s wisdom—centered on rage, grief, desire, and clarity—as transformative energies for teaching as political praxis. Rather than taming emotions into bland “coping” strategies, this workshop empowers educators to harness emotional labor as a force for collective liberation. By examining Lorde’s writings and philosophies, participants learn how to acknowledge, hold, and integrate the full spectrum of emotions within curriculum, classroom community, and their own self-work.

Much of today’s social-emotional learning (SEL) models emphasize compliance, de-escalation, and universal “soft skills” that can obscure the radical potential of emotion in education. “Abandon SEL, What Would Audre Do?” calls on Audre Lorde’s wisdom—centered on rage, grief, desire, and clarity—as transformative energies for teaching as political praxis. Rather than taming emotions into bland “coping” strategies, this workshop empowers educators to harness emotional labor as a force for collective liberation. By examining Lorde’s writings and philosophies, participants learn how to acknowledge, hold, and integrate the full spectrum of emotions within curriculum, classroom community, and their own self-work.

Key Focus Areas

  1. Critique of Mainstream SEL

    • Investigate the ways in which standard SEL curricula can sanitize or pathologize powerful emotions—like anger and grief—while ignoring systemic harms.

  2. Emotional Labor as Political Praxis

    • Draw on Audre Lorde’s legacy to frame rage, desire, and grief as catalysts for social change, personal creativity, and critical consciousness in the classroom.

  3. Curricular & Pedagogical Integration

    • Explore practical methods for weaving Lorde-inspired emotional literacy into everyday teaching—allowing students (and teachers) to engage passionately, critically, and authentically.

Who Should Attend?

  • K–12 & Higher Ed Educators
    Seeking alternatives to conventional SEL that fully acknowledge systemic oppression, emotional complexity, and radical possibility.

  • Counselors & Social Workers
    Wanting to support emotional growth that honors intersectionality and the collective experience of grief, anger, and joy.

  • Activist Teachers & Youth Program Facilitators
    Ready to embed Lorde’s philosophies of power, desire, and relational accountability into daily practice, fostering deeper student ownership.

  • DEI & Equity Committees
    Interested in broadening schoolwide emotional frameworks beyond compliance-based “management,” centering liberation and empathy.

Learning Objectives

  1. Deconstruct “Feel-Good” SEL

    • Understand the limitations of SEL programs that reduce emotional learning to standardized measures, ignoring systemic inequities or deeper struggles.

  2. Embrace Audre Lorde’s Emotional Frameworks

    • Reflect on quotes, essays, and poems that empower anger, grief, and desire as vital energies for justice, creativity, and community-building.

  3. Design Liberatory Emotional Practice

    • Develop lesson plans, discussion prompts, and reflective routines that invite students to validate and harness complex emotions—without suppressing or trivializing them.

Why It Matters

When anger or grief are labeled as “disruptive,” or emotional expression is funneled into shallow coping mechanisms, students lose vital tools for envisioning and enacting change. Audre Lorde’s teachings challenge educators to treat emotion not as something to “manage,” but as a vital, illuminating resource. Rather than ignoring the political dimensions of sadness or fury, we can name and hold these feelings within a broader commitment to liberation. In doing so, we reject reductive SEL scripts and instead cultivate classrooms where truth-telling, resilience, and communal healing take center stage.

Is This Workshop For You?

  • Frustrated by “emotional management” strategies that gloss over systemic harm or silence justified anger?
    We’ll dissect how to shift from controlling emotion to honoring it as a site of agency and transformation.

  • Seeking ways to incorporate Audre Lorde’s radical philosophies into everyday curriculum and discussion?
    Discover frameworks and examples for weaving her words and concepts into literature, social studies, or advisory spaces.

  • Curious about building a classroom culture where students’ rage, grief, or joy are not “problems” but powerful channels for learning and solidarity?
    Learn co-creative methods for emotional expression that deepen empathy, critical thinking, and collective accountability.

  • Wanting to move beyond mainstream SEL’s neutrality toward a more justice-infused, historically aware approach to emotional labor?
    We’ll guide you in designing a curriculum that foregrounds intersectional context, personal empowerment, and communal care.

If these points resonate, “Abandon SEL, What Would Audre Do?: Teaching as Emotional Labor & Political Praxis” provides the ideological grounding and practical steps to revolutionize how you and your students harness emotion as a transformative force.