Update on “Peace Building”
Emma Schutz Fort, the school counselor at Wildflower Open Classroom has just wrapped up the lessons and discussions on compassionate communication and conflict resolution that she has been presenting during the 20-minute “Peace Building” time that takes place in each class once a week. We are excited to let you know about a diversity and inclusion curriculum that will be presented during “Peace Building” for the rest of the school year. The mini lessons, discussions and activities will cover ideas including bias, stereotypes, prejudice, bullying and exclusion. It will also explore ideas about identity, the gifts of diversity, and how to practice self-awareness, understanding, empathy, compassion, inclusion and standing up for fairness and kindness. We will be coming at the idea of bias with lots of self-compassion and with the understanding that the human brain likes to organize the world (including people) into categories and we can also grow and expand our ideas and understanding.
We will be learning about different identities and the richness that people all bring through our diversity in gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, religion, physical appearance, ability, and learning style. We will also acknowledge where there are inequalities in our world and how to be aware of these and how to positively impact our communities by making choices about how we treat others and how we stand up for kindness and fairness. The lessons are being taken from Perspectives for a Diverse America, a K-12 Literacy- Based Anti-Bias Curriculum created by Teaching Tolerance and from Building Community and Combating Hate: Lessons for the Middle School Classroom created by Partners Against Hate. The lessons are all created and adjusted to meet the developmental level and needs of each grade level and class and will address the topics in ways that are understandable, relatable and appropriate for each grade level. If you would like to see the lessons Emma will be using, ask questions or get more information, feel free to contact Emma at eschutzfort@wildflowerschool.com
Building Community & Combating Hate from Partners Against Hate
http://www.partnersagainsthate.org/educators/middle_school_lesson_plans.pdf