Dr. Sheldon (Shelley) Berman has been a teacher, president of a non-profit organization, and superintendent throughout his distinguished career of over 45 years. Dr. Berman is a pioneer in social emotional learning in education. 

In this two part interview, A Comprehensive Approach to SEL for Teachers and Leaders, RBT Founder Dr. Jon Saphier interviews Dr. Berman about his insights into social emotional learning and how educators can start implementing SEL practices that have a lasting impact.

In 1981, Dr. Berman founded and served as the president of the organization Educators for Social Responsibility (now called Engaging Schools). On January 1, 2021, Dr. Sheldon H. Berman was appointed AASA’s Lead Superintendent for Social-Emotional Learning. In this role, Dr. Berman is leading AASA’s SEL Cohort of school districts and providing direct consultation and support to districts intent on deepening their SEL implementation. 

Prior to his work with AASA, he served as superintendent in four school districts over 28 years:

• Andover Public Schools in Massachusetts from July 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020. 
• Eugene (Oregon) School District from July 2011 to June 2015.  
• Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky, for 4 years
• Hudson (Massachusetts) Public Schools for 14 years. 

In each of these roles, Dr. Berman initiated innovations in many areas including social-emotional learning and service learning, and received numerous awards for his work.

Learn more about Dr. Berman here.

His new book, The Ethical Educator: Pointers & Pitfalls for School Administrators, is available for pre-order here.