DA Magazine explores SEL with Director of Development Jill Molli 

District Administration Magazine (DA Magazine) featured Conscious Discipline Director of Development Jill Molli in a Thought Leadership Q&A this month. The topic, why Conscious Discipline’s adult-first focus on self-regulation is the key to social, emotional, and academic success, is a weighty one. “Being with Conscious Discipline from almost the beginning—I think it’s nearly 25 years now—I’ve seen over and over again how important it is to provide everyone, especially school leaders, access to meaningful social and emotional learning,” Jill says. “We all know we can’t teach academics until the kiddos are engaged and in an optimal learning state. So, I was excited to speak to that in DA Magazine.” 

An Insider’s Look at DA Magazine’s Thought Leadership Feature

The November/December 2023 issue of DA Magazine provided a forum for Jill to further this impact. A detailed Thought Leadership Q&A explores the benefits of social emotional learning in schools, through a Conscious Discipline lens. In it, Jill reveals the foundation of why Conscious Discipline’s adult-first focus on self-regulation is the key to social, emotional, and academic success. 

For too long, educators have relied on shame, removal, yelling, rewards and punishments, or threats in efforts to control student behavior. Research shows that effective discipline is quite the opposite: It’s about self-regulation, not “other” control. Connection and belonging govern behavior and skills like self-regulation and empathy are taught primarily through example. Traditional methods often model dysregulation by exhibiting the exact behavior we wish to change in our students. 

With Conscious Discipline’s guidance, whole districts can discover evidence-based solutions for behavior change, and actively participate in a plan that leads to greater well-being, belonging and achievement for all stakeholders. Thus, the DA Magazine article. “We show teachers how to coach themselves and to recognize and regulate their own emotions,” says Jill, “and we focus on building a community of teachers who support each other in this approach. The whole culture of a school changes as a result.”

An Expanding Mission: District-Level Solutions for Self-Regulation and Belonging 

Jill gets to the heart of tough situations with grace and humor. It’s part of what perpetuated her ascent from one of the early Instructors at Conscious Discipline to her current position as Director of Development. As Director of Development, Jill and her team build relationships and facilitate schools in creating and executing implementation plans that decrease behavior challenges while improving school culture, resiliency, wellness, belonging, and academic achievement. Her team’s efforts extend from individual schools to entire districts, and recent years have seen an uptick in district-wide implementation.

At the district-level particularly, the gains are astounding. “When we go into a district, there are usually a few schools with some degree of implementation,” Jill said. “We partner with district leaders to assess needs, strengths and challenges, we provide training and resources, and we fast-track sustainable growth by building on successes. What we’ve seen with this approach is the ability to scale implementation and transform schools in ways we’d only imagined!” 

This important work fosters an inside view of the powerful ways leadership impacts school culture and achievement, which motivated Jill to anchor a new eLearning experience being released by Conscious Discipline in December 2023 titled Conscious Conversations: Stress to Success for Elementary Leadership. Jill also anchored the popular Handling Upset: The Adult-First Mindset Shift eCourse last year.

Revitalizing Professional Development with an Award-Winning e-Course  

Handling Upset: The Adult-First Mindset Shift delves into self-regulation from an adult-first perspective. This eCourse shifts mindsets and transforms lives with Jill leading the charge alongside supplemental footage from Conscious Discipline’s creator, Dr. Becky Bailey. Creative Child Magazine honored Handling Upset with not one, but two awards in 2023: 2023 PRODUCT OF THE YEAR in the “Educational e-Courses for Parents and Educators” category and the 2023 SEAL OF EXCELLENCE in the “Behavior Education for Kids” category. 

Handling Upset is dedicated to exploring a foundational Conscious Discipline truth: we cannot effectively teach skills we do not practice ourselves. It empowers adults to change the “do as I say, not as I do” dynamic through personal reflection and seeing upset through a new lens. 

“’We’ve always done it this way’ is no longer working when it comes to discipline—if it ever did!” Jill says. “When I hear from districts, schools, and families across the nation, they’re all saying that needs are high, support is low, and demand is on the rise. My hope is that Handling Upset provides an entry point into a different way of thinking about all things discipline.”

From this month’s DA Magazine Thought Leadership Q&A , to implementation plans for schools and districtsto the Handling Upset eCourse, Conscious Discipline paves the way for resilient, empowered and connected communities. Join us in learning more. 

Other Resources:

• The DA Magazine Article
• Handling Upset: The Adult-First Mindset Shift
• DISTRICT SUCCESS
• Managing Anxiety: Name, Claim and Tame Your Way Through Anxiety Without Medication 
• Building your Base: The Roadmap to a Sustainable Conscious Discipline Practice Workshop
• 2018 Breakout Session: Creating a Safe Place to Practice Self-Regulation
• Elevate Keynote: More Than an Intervention: How to Build Sustainability and Create Fidelity
• Webinars: Creating Emotionally Intelligent Schools with Jill Molli
• Handling Upset Receives Top Honors
• District Administration Magazine