The School of Life Project

Raising the social-emotional I.Q. of an entire generation of young learners is within our grasp. And, educators are becoming astutely aware of this opportunity.

With the figurative library of SEL research piling up, The School of Life Project has carved its own path in this space through an entirely different medium—film. Director and Founder Rick Stevenson initially set out to “interview 60 children in the Seattle area annually for 13 years (5,000 days) and ask each one a series of questions that would reveal what it’s like to grow up in America today.” This project not only grew far beyond the initial objective but also provided an enlightening framework that educators everywhere could implement in their local learning environments. It turns out that opening the space for learners to self-assess over the course of their childhoods, gives them the opportunity to reach revelations about life and their past experiences many adults never come close to attaining. The story of this project and what it provides young learners is worth every educator’s consideration.