| Course Number: | EDX 5710 S43 |
| Instructor: | Alex Venet, M.Ed. |
| Location: | Online |
| Dates and Times: | Jan 27 - Apr 21, 2025. Zoom meetings from 7:00- 8:30 pm on January 27, February 24, March 24, and April 14. |
| Credits: | 3 Graduate Credits |
| Tuition: | $1,195 |
Teachers across the country report that students seem to be struggling more than ever. The resources and structures that we commonly use, from suspensions and detentions to PBIS, aren’t providing the tools that teachers need. At the same time, the public narrative calls for more control, more consequences, and more blame on students and their families. The end result? Students, teachers, and families/caregivers all feel unsupported.
Educators who care about equity and justice seek to meet this moment not through control and punishment, but by creating true community. In this course, we’ll explore how we can radically rethink the meaning of “classroom management” through the lens of care, equity, and healing. We’ll explore why traditional models of classroom management and discipline can be ineffective or downright harmful, and how to conceptualize, create, and sustain a caring community instead.
We’ll explore topics like: how do I create a better learning environment without resorting to elaborate behavior plans? What do I do when one student is consistently having a hard time and disrupting the whole class? How should I push back against my administration when they ask me to use yet another program I know doesn’t work? And how can I support my students and myself when all of us are living through traumatic times?
This course is for you if…
Classroom teachers, administrators, counselors, and other school-based staff are all welcome. The course is designed with flexibility in mind, no matter your role or age level. One of our course texts focuses on elementary school and the other on high school, but both are applicable to all ages and we’ll read supplementary materials as well.
This course will cover a lot of ground, and we’ll be weaving together bigger picture philosophical ideas along with very practical classroom strategies. Participants should expect to engage in some weeks that feel more ideas-oriented and some weeks that feel more action-oriented, and to leave the course with directions for future learning. This course is for you if you’re ready to get messy in your learning, to be vulnerable in your reflections, and to push yourself to grow your perspective.
Audience:
Teachers, administrators, school counselors, and support staff, all grades with an earned Bachelor's Degree
Course Goals:
Course Objectives:
Course Schedule:
The instructor finalizes the course outline once she knows who you are so that the course reflects the needs and interests of the group. Below are some example weekly topics you may cover. Alex Venet will provide additional details during your first class meeting.
More information about projects will be available on Canvas. Here are the project descriptions:
Classroom community manifesto: this project will invite participants to identify and express their core beliefs about students, learning, and the classroom community. You will also reflect on how your current classroom/professional practice reflects your beliefs and your areas for growth.
Action project: participants will create a customized plan and artifacts for implementing their learning in their unique setting and roles. This may include creating lesson plans, advocating for school-wide changes, or designing a family/caregiver program, for example.
Alex Venet , M.Ed.
Alex Shevrin Venet is an educator, author, and professional development facilitator based in Vermont. She works with educators and schools across the country and in Vermont to implement equity-centered trauma-informed educational practices. Previously, she was a teacher and leader at an alternative therapeutic school. She is the co-founder of the Nurturing the Nurturers collective, a healing community for educators. Her first book, Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education, is now available from W.W. Norton.
Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School by Carla Shalaby, 2017
Hanging In: Strategies for Teaching the Students Who Challenge Us Most by Jeffrey Benson, 2014
Excerpts from Venet, A. S. (2024). Becoming an everyday changemaker: Healing and justice at school. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
Excerpts from Howard, J. R., Milner-McCall, T., & Howard, T. C. (2020). No more teaching without positive relationships. https://www.overdrive.com/search?q=1054BB51-86C8-4B67-882F-F0E6B36FA6F
Homrich-Knieling. (2022, July 20). Using Restorative Justice to Transform School Culture. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-restorative-justice-transform-school-culture/
Sexton, J. (2023). Woodside Investigation: In Vermont’s juvenile lockup, a girl endured violence and isolation. And it was no secret. Seven Days. Retrieved December 16, 2024, from https://www.sevendaysvt.com/news/woodside-investigation-violence-and-isolation-at-vermonts-juvenile-lockup-39222023
McKibben, S. (2023, November 1). Following Through on Restorative Practice. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/following-through-on-restorative-practice
Gonzalez, J. (2021, October 6). Street Data: A Pathway Toward Equitable, Anti-Racist Schools. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/street-data/