Our Work

Greater Good in Education is produced by UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center (GGSC). The GGSC studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society–what we call “the science of a meaningful life.”

As part of the GGSC, our Education Program presents education professionals with practical, scientific insights that help them bring the science of a meaningful life into their lives, schools, and classrooms. It draws on disciplines such as social-emotional learning (SEL), mindfulness, character education, and related topics. Our goal is to help them better understand the roots of kind, helpful–or “prosocial”–behavior and emotional well-being, and how they can build those skills in themselves, their colleagues, and their students.

Greater Good in Education advances the work of the GGSC Education Program by distilling key strategies for the social, emotional, and ethical development of students and for the well-being of the adults who work with them, synthesizing the top insights and practices from science, programs, and practitioners. It takes the science that the GGSC has been covering for years and puts it into a format tailored to the needs of educators, building on the other programs and activities of the GGSC Education Program.

Ultimately, we hope to work alongside education professionals to help them build kinder, happier school communities where everyone belongs. 

In addition to Greater Good in Education, the GGSC’s Education Program also provides the following services and resources.

The Greater Good Educators Program provides educators an opportunity to explore the science and practical application of individual and collective well-being, helping to support the development of schools and classrooms where both students and adults thrive. As part of the program, educators engage with self-paced learning modules around well-being topics, implement a practice of their choice in their classroom or school, and join a small group of other educators from around the world in a synchronous online community of practice to discuss the module content, implementation experiences, learnings, and wonderings with one another.

Our suite of practical, self-paced courses includes mini-courses for increasing your foundational knowledge in the fields of social and emotional learning, mindfulness, and character education. In addition, you can build on that knowledge as you explore and apply research-based concepts, strategies, and practices in our more comprehensive course, Teaching and Learning for the Greater Good.

The Education section of the GGSC’s online magazine, Greater Good, is a treasure trove of research-based resources to help education professionals foster social, emotional, and ethical well-being in themselves and their students.

Education Director Vicki Zakrzewski, Ph.D., and Associate Education Director Amy Eva, Ph.D., deliver talks and lead interactive workshops at public and private schools, education conferences, and other gatherings of education professionals. To find out how to bring Greater Good Education to your school or organization, please call (510) 761-7865 or email us at ggsceducation@berkeley.edu.

We offer our gratitude to the scientists and the program developers who launched and continue to contribute to the fields of SEL, mindfulness, ethical development, and more. And we are very grateful to those who so generously shared some of their practices with us.

We also want to give a huge thank you to the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust and John Templeton Foundation, whose support enabled us to bring GGIE to life. And to the Kern Family Foundation for their ongoing support.

And we feel boundless gratitude for the educators who work with our children every day, helping them to mature into young adults who place care, empathy, and social connection at the center of their lives and society.