I follow the chapter order of the textbook I use in my EDUC 2130 class. Chapter 8 covers instructional strategies so you would think that the following chapter covers assessment strategies. That would be too logical. Instead, the subject of creating a safe learning environment is inserted between these two chapters. In reality, I am 100% okay with this detour because it makes certain that we cover this topic before the very end of the semester.
Although I didn't get to attend the session, I was inspired by the work of Christy Galletta Horner, Kristina LaVenia, and Oluwatobi Ishola of Bowling Green State University. They presented their study, entitled "'Why Don’t We Talk about This?': Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives on School Violence."
Before sharing the results of their study with my students, I had my students reflect on their own feelings concerning school violence/safety, their training concerning this matter, and how all of this potentially affected their commitment. Unsurprisingly, my students had similar concerns as the students in Horner et al.'s sample. They expressed this as an added worry that comes with the territory of being a teacher. Among concerns, the lack of training to even break up fights or know protocol in the case of school violence was a chief concern. Teachers being encouraged to carry weapons concerned some and made other more at ease. Despite all these issues, uncertainty, and lack of training during their teacher preparation program all my students were just as steadfast in their commitment to their profession. The same was true for Horner et al.'s sample.
Then two things happened:
1) This fueled a student effort to start talking about school violence and proactive ways to reduce aggression and violence. A representative of the Future Black Educators Association contacted me to help support this effort. I suggested bringing in veteran teachers to share their experiences with students.
2) At least one student had an extreme external reaction. At the beginning of class I gave a trigger warning and recognized that some of the topics covered this week may cause distress. I explicitly gave students permission to leave the room if needed. No one left during the discussion, but one student did need to debrief with me after class because the topic caused them such distress. This person admitted that just talking about school violence made them worry for others almost to the point of an anxiety attack. As a future middle grades teacher, I encouraged her to continue to talk about these topics and learn more.
Although I am glad we had these discussions, I wish that the fear associated with school violence could go away long enough for us to focus on what really matters - preventing aggression by meeting the needs of children and teaching them to be kind. We need to focus on early intervention and prevention of trauma through the explicit instruction of coping strategies and healthy communication skills. Easier said than done. Next on the docket before we tackle assessment strategies: trauma-based education.
Although I didn't get to attend the session, I was inspired by the work of Christy Galletta Horner, Kristina LaVenia, and Oluwatobi Ishola of Bowling Green State University. They presented their study, entitled "'Why Don’t We Talk about This?': Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives on School Violence."
Before sharing the results of their study with my students, I had my students reflect on their own feelings concerning school violence/safety, their training concerning this matter, and how all of this potentially affected their commitment. Unsurprisingly, my students had similar concerns as the students in Horner et al.'s sample. They expressed this as an added worry that comes with the territory of being a teacher. Among concerns, the lack of training to even break up fights or know protocol in the case of school violence was a chief concern. Teachers being encouraged to carry weapons concerned some and made other more at ease. Despite all these issues, uncertainty, and lack of training during their teacher preparation program all my students were just as steadfast in their commitment to their profession. The same was true for Horner et al.'s sample.
Then two things happened:
1) This fueled a student effort to start talking about school violence and proactive ways to reduce aggression and violence. A representative of the Future Black Educators Association contacted me to help support this effort. I suggested bringing in veteran teachers to share their experiences with students.
2) At least one student had an extreme external reaction. At the beginning of class I gave a trigger warning and recognized that some of the topics covered this week may cause distress. I explicitly gave students permission to leave the room if needed. No one left during the discussion, but one student did need to debrief with me after class because the topic caused them such distress. This person admitted that just talking about school violence made them worry for others almost to the point of an anxiety attack. As a future middle grades teacher, I encouraged her to continue to talk about these topics and learn more.
Although I am glad we had these discussions, I wish that the fear associated with school violence could go away long enough for us to focus on what really matters - preventing aggression by meeting the needs of children and teaching them to be kind. We need to focus on early intervention and prevention of trauma through the explicit instruction of coping strategies and healthy communication skills. Easier said than done. Next on the docket before we tackle assessment strategies: trauma-based education.
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