Terminology

Bullying Prevention

Bullying occurs when a person uses their power or tries to gain power by repeatedly and intentionally targeting another person or group of people. When this occurs through technology, it is called cyberbullying.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Educators who are culturally responsive proactively learn about the cultures of their students and tailor their teaching accordingly. This includes connecting students' cultural backgrounds with academic teachings.

Discipline Strategies

Discipline has often been viewed as punishment, which does not provide the meant for people to understand how their actions affect others. Another way to look at discipline is as guidance for positive behavior, allowing people to take into consideration any harm they have committed and to make amends. Our discipline strategies resources provide information on how to create discipline policies and practices that guide students toward building whole relationships and community.

Empathy Building

Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of others. Use these resources to help develop a more respectful and understanding school environment by building empathy in students.

Gender Equity

The resources here will help you and your students be mindful of fair and equitable treatment among genders. Identify and address instances of imbalance or different treatment based on gender.

Intergroup Relations

Use these resources to avoid tensions and build strong relationships among diverse students, educators and other school community members.

LGBT+ Issues

Help Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Queer students feel welcome and safe in your school.

Prejudice Reduction

Prejudices are preconceived and ingrained ideas and opinions about others. These resources are meant to aid students in inspecting and challenging their own prejudices.

Restorative Practices

Restorative practices in schools consist of policies and processes that focus on building relationships and community. They address harms that are committed in the school through bringing together everyone who has been affected to come up with solutions. This allows people who contributed to the situation to accept accountability and repair their harms.

School Climate

School climate refers to the collective experiences and feelings about the campus environment of the people who are part of the community. The strength of relationships among members of the community, the quality of their interactions, the values and norms they hold in common, and the structures in place that guide all of the above are part of what makes up a school’s climate.

Sexual Harassment

Use these resources to identify and respond to inappropriate behaviors that are sexual in nature, such as unwanted attention.

Social Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning emphasizes the importance of focusing on relational and emotional understanding and management in schools as well as traditional academics. It addresses research that shows students learn best when they feel safe and welcome in their classrooms.

Teen Dating Violence

Use these resources to address and prevent instances of dating abuse (physical, mental, and emotional) with students.

Trauma-Informed Schools

Trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive schools understand the affects of trauma on brain development and use practices and policies on their campuses that promote effective and supportive interactions among students, educators, and parents/guardians.

Violence Prevention

Violence prevention looks at ways to prevent and intervene in violence. It often uses the public health approach, which views violence as a disease that can be studied and addressed in the same way as other illnesses.