Our Mission

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. 

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.