tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/back-to-school-2017-37153/articlesBack to School 2017 – The Conversation2020-09-14T19:53:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1441472020-09-14T19:53:37Z2020-09-14T19:53:37Z5 ways to support online homeschooling through the coronavirus pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357542/original/file-20200910-19-6zgh93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C272%2C2883%2C1651&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Six-year-old Peyton Denette works remotely from her home in Mississauga, Ont., on March 30, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This fall, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-school-reopening-online-remote-home-1.5675026">some elementary and high school students</a> <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-parents-want-more-online-learning-options-for-students-without-fear-of-losing-their-spots-1.5099195">will continue with online learning</a> due to COVID-19.</p>
<p>When classrooms <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/03/20/ontario-launches-learn-at-home-online-program-for-students-during-school-shutdown.html">went online due to COVID-19</a>, this marked not only a major transformation in kindergarten to Grade 12 education, but a shift in parents’ involvement in their children’s education. Schools communicated primarily online via email and social media (or sometimes the phone) to keep in touch with parents, and every family had to determine to what extent supporting remote learning was possible. </p>
<p>This shift built upon changing patterns which emerged years ago, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22040552.2016.1227255">as parental “e-nvolvement” is now in many schools today</a>. Now, there is greater reliance on technology not only for teacher-parent communication, but technology has also become embedded within projects and homework.</p>
<p>Students are increasingly likely to become engaged in online or hybrid (both in class and online) learning, and this is not only due to the pandemic — there has been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/ontarios-high-school-e-learning-still-hasnt-addressed-students-with-special-needs-121612">rise of online learning in school systems</a>. Researchers’ understanding of how parent involvement supports students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000027005">when students are engaged in hybrid and in fully online educational environments is developing</a>. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-how-race-income-and-opportunity-hoarding-will-shape-canadas-back">parents who chose remote learning for their children</a> this fall could also be facing work schedules or family circumstances that make supporting remote learning difficult. Fortunately, small acts of parental support and encouragement can have big impacts on student success. Amid <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-school-closures-could-widen-inequities-for-our-youngest-students-136669">the varied constraints and barriers families face</a>, there are myriad ways parents can and do support their children’s education. </p>
<h2>1. Motivate by taking an interest</h2>
<p>Parents can be an important source of motivation for their children, but not only in terms of reprimands and rewards. Parent involvement, which gently motivates students through encouragement and support <a href="https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/StrageA-BrandtT_1999_Authoritative_parenting_and_college_students_academic_adjustment_and_success..pdf">has been shown to be effective in promoting student success.</a></p>
<p>Research suggests motivation to persist is particularly important for online education. Studies of university learners find that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2013.847363">virtual learners can experience higher drop-out rates than those in traditional face-to-face environments.</a> </p>
<p>Some students may require a parent to physically sit with them when engaged in online learning, while others benefit more from periodic parental check-ins. Casual opportunities to verbally share learning outcomes and activities with their family members can also benefit students. </p>
<p>Even nuanced parent involvement, such as conveying a belief that students will succeed, or spending quality time expressing interest and care, can help motivate learners to persevere through challenges. </p>
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<img alt="A child wearing headphones at a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357547/original/file-20200910-14-q1esx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Planning household spaces for learning, technology resources and routines can go a long way towards reducing household stress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Help students organize the home learning environment</h2>
<p>Some students may struggle when tasked to complete their schoolwork online, because home environments are typically less structured than school. A little planning in the management of household spaces for learning, technology resources and routines can go a long way in terms of proactively reducing household stress and supporting students when learning from home.</p>
<p>Creating space for remote learning within the home may involve establishing new family routines. Both students and parents might reflect on previous remote learning experiences to understand what kind of environment and routines allow everyone to be productive while at home. </p>
<p>The whole family can strive to organize the home environment to be as supportive as possible to the needs of online learners. Through <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125451">fostering family routines</a> that are complimentary to students’ online learning responsibilities, preferences, needs for recreation, physical activity and non-screen time, parents can promote student success. </p>
<h2>3. Encourage children and youth’s self-regulation</h2>
<p>When engaged in online learning, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1095976">students’ self-regulation can be a challenge</a>.</p>
<p>Online learners who are still building their self-regulation skills may need additional parental support. For example, some students may benefit from having their learning device set up in a communal area of the home. By being accessible to students — for example, working at the same table or nearby — parents can provide online learners with another level of accountability and support. </p>
<p>For other students, their self-regulation may thrive with just an occasional physical or virtual parental check-in from time to time. Check-ins can also benefit parents too, by providing a glimpse of their online learner’s engagement levels and learning patterns.</p>
<h2>4. Maintain home-school communication</h2>
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<img alt="Hands on a smartphone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357900/original/file-20200914-16-1xi89cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keeping up with two-way communication between home and school is one way to support online learners.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With information about school operations and policies changing rapidly, communication between home and school is essential this fall. Thus, engaging in regular and ongoing two-way communication between home and school is another way parents can support online learners.</p>
<p>Parents who stay abreast of happenings in the school community can be an additional source of information for students and can help online learners to understand, prepare and adjust to the expectations of their evolving learning environment. Establishing specific times to read school emails, check social media feeds, review classroom communications or news may help. </p>
<p>Two-way communication is important in supporting hybrid and online education, because teachers may rely on parents when seeking to understand student learning outside of class time and beyond the viewpoint of the screen. </p>
<p>Home and school communications shouldn’t be reserved for only when there is a problem. Establishing regular communication and two-way feedback between students, families and teachers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(00)00048-0">can go a long way to establish the trust and rapport needed to create a learning community, online or otherwise, in which all members feel supported and included</a>.</p>
<h2>5. Offer instructional support</h2>
<p>Although parents or primary caregivers are not always subject matter experts, they’re likely to be called upon for help with homework or for academic assistance.</p>
<p>Parental instructional support in the form of reviewing assignment instructions with students or encouraging children to review their school materials when stuck can be much appreciated by both struggling learners and their teachers. There is also helping students navigate online applications or troubleshooting technical issues. </p>
<p>Through informal learning opportunities, parents can help students to develop skills and deepen their understandings of concepts explored in class. For example, family conversations and teachable moments <a href="https://www.eduhk.hk/apfslt/v13_issue2/anlee/index.htm">between parents and children can help students to make connections between their class work and real world experiences.</a> </p>
<p>By motivating students, encouraging their self-regulation, helping them to organize the home learning environment, maintaining home-school communication and offering instructional support, parent involvement has the potential to positively influence the learning outcomes and success of students both in-class and online this fall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Sparks does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Motivating students, encouraging their self-regulation and maintaining home-school communication are ways parents have the potential to positively influence learning outcomes.Jennifer Sparks, PhD Candidate, Department of Leadership, Higher & Adult Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/828902017-09-07T23:29:52Z2017-09-07T23:29:52ZA new way to reduce playground bullying<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185004/original/file-20170906-9862-il178m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As kids head back to school this week across Canada, many will be victims or perpetrators of bullying. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For some teachers, back-to-school excitement comes with jitters over how best to address new curriculum mandates. And for many parents, there are other worries, including concerns about their children’s social interactions and fears of playground bullying. </p>
<p>As a researcher in children’s literature, I have developed a literary mentorship program that tackles both of these challenges. <em>Read for Your Rights!</em> uses children’s fiction to engage young children on the concepts of rights and responsibility, and with the content of the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/crc/">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> (UNCRC). </p>
<p>The program also aims to reduce bullying at school. And preliminary data from a pilot at a Chilliwack elementary school in British Columbia during 2017 shows success. </p>
<p>Participating teachers observed fewer instances of negative social behaviour after their students participated in <em>Read for Your Rights!</em> They also observed scenarios in which an altercation broke out and children made specific references to the program in attempts to elicit better treatment of one another. </p>
<p>Can you imagine hearing the words: “Remember to ‘Choose Kind’!” or “We’re like the Bully Blockers!” ring out over the playground? That’s what happened in Chilliwack after the children participated in the program. </p>
<h2>Teaching rights and responsibilities</h2>
<p>In B.C., teachers are wondering how to meet <a href="http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/teach/curriculum">new requirements</a> to cover human rights within social studies lessons. Teachers are now expected to teach treaties such as the UNCRC beginning in Kindergarten. But how can such a complex legal document be made accessible for the youngest learners when even adults find it nebulous?</p>
<p>The key to making human rights real for children is making them concrete. Connecting some of the UNCRC’s abstract principles with familiar, everyday situations allows even kindergarteners to begin to grapple with concepts of rights and responsibilities. Using children’s books is an effective way to make it work.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185123/original/file-20170907-9573-mw2uau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grade 5 kids working with undergraduate mentors on the Read for Your Rights! pilot in a Chilliwack elementary school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s exactly what we did in <em>Read for Your Rights!</em> We piloted the program at a Chilliwack elementary school in February 2017. Students from my <a href="http://www.ufv.ca/english/">University of the Fraser Valley English</a> course <em>Children’s Literature and Children’s Rights</em> were involved in mentoring students in Grade 5 and then helping those children mentor kindergarteners.</p>
<p>First of all, the students read the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/uncrcchilldfriendlylanguage.pdf">UNCRC in child-friendly language</a>. The UNCRC alone is too abstract, so we made it more tangibly real by bringing in a work of children’s literature and drawing connections between the story and the document. </p>
<p>The Grade 5s then read <a href="http://rjpalacio.com/book.html"><em>Wonder</em></a> by R. J. Palacio, while the kindergarteners read <a href="https://www.albertwhitman.com/book/the-bully-blockers-club/"><em>The Bully Blockers Club</em></a> by Teresa Bateman. My students, who read both stories, identified the most relevant UNCRC articles relating to each book and used them to create program activities. When that was done it was finally time to bring everybody — and everything — together. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185002/original/file-20170906-9202-kdgqcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Wonder’ by R. J. Palacio.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Handout</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To deliver the program, my students supported the Grade 5 children in various activities ranging from group discussions, to literature circles, to skits, to making a (paper) friendship quilt. During four of these hour-long sessions, the children worked to connect <em>Wonder</em> and <a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwj4y_eHrJPWAhUM3GMKHUvjCYoQFggmMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unicef.org%2Fcrc%2Ffiles%2FRights_overview.pdf&usg=AFQjCNFqFlwsmxaTAjRz3TWm34ednn-CRw">Articles 2, 12 and 29 of the UNCRC</a>. These relate to non-discrimination, respect for children’s views and the right to an education that helps them develop their talents and live peacefully.</p>
<p>Using a similar approach, my students and the Grade 5 children spent two sessions working with kindergarteners to find common ground between Articles 15 and 19 — which include the right to protection from all forms of violence — and <em>The Bully Blockers Club</em>. During this portion of the program, activities included small and large group discussions, skits and friendship bracelets.</p>
<h2>‘We’re like the Bully-Blockers!’</h2>
<p>The program also aimed to reduce bullying at school. There are plenty of studies suggesting that children’s literature can <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ664307">help children understand bullying</a> behaviour and that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2015.1095100">school-based programs might be effective</a> in reducing it. However, none bring in the UNCRC. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185001/original/file-20170906-9823-1oc2rx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Bully Blockers Club’ by Teresa Bateman.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Handout</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since I have argued that the <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/628009">UNCRC is the foundation to developing a more child-centred approach to children’s literature</a>, I brought together various well-established practices — mentoring, literature circles, artistic activities and rights education — into a brand new program. My theory was that by linking rights and responsibilities, and at the same time inviting children to observe the emotional consequences of bullying through the “neutral” medium of story, they would begin to take responsibility for treating one another more kindly at school. </p>
<p>But does it work? Can reading for their rights really help children to better understand both the UNCRC <em>and</em> a work of literature — all leading to reduced bullying?</p>
<p>While the pilot was admittedly small, preliminary data collected through questionnaires and field observations does clearly indicate children’s increased understanding and application of their rights and responsibilities. </p>
<p>For example, before participating in <em>Read for Your Rights!</em> only eight per cent of the Grade 5 children who responded to the questionnaires reported knowing about the UNCRC or children’s rights. After the program, 96 per cent said they knew about these things. </p>
<p>Before the program, only 46 per cent of Grade 5 children believed that bullying relates to children’s rights; after the program, 64 per cent believed this. Before the program, 92 per cent of children didn’t know how to stop bullying. Afterwards, only 72 per cent reported not knowing. kindergarten results were similar (although less pronounced). </p>
<h2>In the classroom</h2>
<p>Any teacher can use elements of <em>Read for Your Rights!</em> You don’t need two dozen eager university students to begin enjoying some of the program’s benefits. Teachers can tick off a tricky item on the new curriculum To Do list anytime by:</p>
<ol>
<li>Identifying an area of human rights that relates to a behaviour observed in your classroom. </li>
<li>Finding a children’s book that focuses on that behaviour (a work of literature rather than a didactic tale or non-fiction). </li>
<li>Reviewing the UNCRC to select relevant articles. </li>
<li>Designing activities and projects that bring together the book and the articles. </li>
<li>Following up with discussion questions to ensure that children are taking away points of key importance.</li>
</ol><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Superle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new mentorship program uses fiction to teach children’s rights, and to help kids understand and prevent bullying.Michelle Superle, Assistant Professor, University of The Fraser ValleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/831242017-09-06T23:06:21Z2017-09-06T23:06:21ZDear white people, wake up: Canada is racist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184963/original/file-20170906-9096-17y6i96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=949%2C369%2C2229%2C2274&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder, Janaya Khan, says racism in Canada is on the rise.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Approximately 4,000 people gathered at Vancouver’s City Hall on Aug. 19 to protest an anti-immigration and anti-Muslim white nationalist rally. They far out-numbered the white nationalist demonstrators. Later, one counter-protester interviewed by CBC-TV news said: “I’ve never seen a racist.” </p>
<p>Did that counter-protester come to the rally hoping to see a racist? What do racists look like, anyway? Are they easily identifiable? Perhaps he was imagining a stereotypical neo-Nazi? </p>
<p>Although his statement was naive and problematic, it actually reflects common misunderstandings of white supremacy and racism in Canada. </p>
<p>It also reflects the mythical Canadian narrative of inclusivity and diversity. Canadians widely believe their country to be a peaceful, multicultural country without racism. </p>
<p>Yet human rights activists and critical race scholars provide evidence that inequity is woven into the fabric of Canadian institutions and normalized in everyday practices. </p>
<p>The absence of racism and racists is one of Canada’s “<a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Racism-without-Racists-Color-Blind-Persistence/dp/1442202181">fable-like” racial stories</a>. In <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Racism-without-Racists-Color-Blind-Persistence/dp/1442202181"><em>Racism Without Racists</em></a>, scholar Eduardo Bonilla-Silva says we tell and retell ourselves the same moral story. </p>
<p>The majority of racism “remains hidden beneath a veneer of normality,” says sociologist <a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/education/gillborn-david.aspx">David Gillborn</a>, “and it is only the more crude and obvious forms of racism that are seen as problematic by most people.” </p>
<p>Institutions of higher education are especially prone to reproducing inequalities beneath a “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680930500132346">facade of meritocracy and colour blindness</a>.” </p>
<p>As a Black feminist and critical researcher of race and education at UBC, it is not uncommon to encounter students and colleagues who deny not only institutional racism in Canada but also the ways in which we are all implicated.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Black-Feminist-Thought-Consciousness-Empowerment/dp/0415924847/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504022386&sr=1-1&keywords=Black+feminist+thought+2nd++edition">matrix of domination</a> permeates our universities, schools, communities, religious institutions and even our families. That is, intersecting dimensions such as race, class, gender, sexuality, disability and religion affect us all but they can be especially powerful in Canadian institutions.</p>
<h2>Suits and ties, a new face of white nationalism</h2>
<p>In a recent magazine article, Toronto Black Lives Matter co-founder <a href="http://janayakhan.com/home/">Janaya Khan</a> credits the lack of critical engagement with race as contributing to the success of white nationalism in Canada. </p>
<p>She says Canadians “<a href="http://www.flare.com/news/janaya-khan-white-nationalism-on-rise-in-canada/">have a deep investment in seeing themselves as more enlightened</a> than their counterparts to the south, as if racism and bigotry suddenly stop at the U.S./Canada border.” </p>
<p>Human rights activist and author <a href="http://www.leonardzeskind.com">Leonard Zeskind</a> recently explained <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/august-20-2017-the-sunday-edition-1.4251715/the-new-white-supremacist-movement-isn-t-caused-by-trump-and-it-s-only-getting-worse-1.4251728">the new face of the movement</a>: “It is not one of an angry Klansman in a robe — it’s a young, educated, well-spoken white American.” He describes white nationalists as “smart, mostly middle class and a democratic slice of America.”</p>
<p>To claim to have never seen a racist does not preclude the ubiquity of racism or white supremacy. Today, white supremacists are not white sheet, brown shirt types. But as <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/august-20-2017-the-sunday-edition-1.4251715/the-new-white-supremacist-movement-isn-t-caused-by-trump-and-it-s-only-getting-worse-1.4251728">Zeskind </a>says, “they’re black suits, brown suits, business people.”</p>
<h2>Engage critically with race</h2>
<p>Those who do not experience racism may be unaware of how it functions in Canada — perniciously and insidiously. For example, <a href="http://edu.yorku.ca/files/2014/06/Black-Experience-Project-GTA-OVERVIEW-REPORT.pdf">The Black Experience Project</a>, a six-year study released this July found Blacks, when compared to non-Blacks nationally, “earn lower incomes, experience higher rates of unemployment, and higher rates of incarceration. They also suffer poorer health outcomes, have more housing difficulties and are more likely to be victims of violence.”</p>
<p>In Vancouver, we like to tout our inclusivity and diversity <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Life/2013/08/07/Race-Conversation-Vancouver-Needs-to-Have/">without acknowledging racism</a> or the experiences of <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+equity+myth">Indigenous</a> and <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Most+Chinese+South+Asians+report+discrimination/10294503/story.html">racialized</a> people.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184965/original/file-20170906-9862-1tvk8ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man wearing a rainbow mask participates in an anti racist protest on Aug. 19 at Vancouver City Hall. Approximately 4000 protestors were there to demonstrate against a white extremist rally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I find many residents not only ignorant of the historical Black British Columbian past but also of Black people currently living in British Columbia. </p>
<p>If you’re interested, a few important contributors to British Columbia Black history are: Alice Walker biographer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Every-Goodbye-Aint-Evelyn-White/dp/0973251913/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8">Evelyn C. White</a>, journalist and college professor <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Go-Do-Some-Great-Thing/dp/0978498151">Crawford Killan</a>, and Wayde Compton, a Vancouver activist and acclaimed <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-Canaan-Essays-Writing-Region-ebook/dp/B004I8WJUY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504310986&sr=8-2&keywords=after+canaan">writer</a> who is also the program director of creative writing in continuing studies at Simon Fraser University.</p>
<h2>Challenge ‘normal’</h2>
<p>How often do those of us who work at universities question <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/20466716">who receives awards or who gets admitted to programs?</a> Do we question the <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/the-equity-myth">the lack of representation of racialized and Indigenous tenure-track and tenured faculty</a>. Do we challenge <a href="https://uofaawa.wordpress.com/awa-diversity-gap-campaign/">the predominant whiteness of senior leadership teams and Canada Research Chairs</a>? These examples illustrate how white supremacy surreptitiously and successfully performs its work.</p>
<p>In a recent essay, education researcher Michelle Stack gives <a href="https://theconversation.com/charlottesville-white-educators-need-to-fight-racism-every-day-82550">practical examples of how white educators can work against racism</a>. </p>
<p>All of us must do anti-racist and anti-oppressive work.</p>
<p>If only Indigenous and racialized instructors are teaching about colonialism, systemic racism and white supremacy, the burden remains greater for these marginalized faculty. The same applies to only women, or only LGBTQ instructors teaching about feminism or sexuality, or only people in disability studies teaching about disability. All of us need to be involved. </p>
<p>Moreover, when these subjects are taught in disparate ways in disparate departments, students cannot understand the intersections of these social dimensions. </p>
<p>Although we cannot be experts in all areas, we need to give students a framework to analyze the world in which they live — and will hopefully work to change. </p>
<p>With all of us, including senior leadership, persistently contributing to eradicating these pernicious practices and developing transformative strategies, conversations about race and equity can become part of the everyday dialogues in classrooms, departments, selection committees and wherever important decisions are made.</p>
<p>The white male protester who said he’d never seen a racist has most likely lived with the white privilege of never having to witness or to recognize incidents of racism that people of colour frequently encounter. </p>
<p>He likely would not have confronted the ways that systemic racism pervades all of our lives and is routinized in everyday Canadian life.</p>
<p>Whether the racism is crude and obvious — or hidden in normal routines like a sly fox — he simply may not have recognized it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annette Henry receives internal funding from UBC although it is not relevant to this essay. </span></em></p>Canadians have a deep investment in their country as a “colour-blind society.” Actually, racism is everywhere, just hidden behind a polite veneer.Annette Henry, Professor, David Lam Chair in Multicultural Education, Faculty of Education, cross-appointed to the Social Justice Institute, Faculty of Arts, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/831352017-09-05T23:44:52Z2017-09-05T23:44:52ZWhy your kids need a national school food program<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184587/original/file-20170904-9750-15e6i9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Canada is one of very few industrialized countries not to have a national school food program. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children who <a href="https://are.berkeley.edu/%7Emlanderson/pdf/school_lunch.pdf">eat nutritious lunches feel better and learn better</a>. The evidence is clear and consistent. So why, in a rich country like Canada, will so many children be sitting in their new classrooms feeling hungry this week? </p>
<p><a href="http://proof.utoronto.ca/resources/fact-sheets/#children">One in six Canadian children</a> lives in a household too poor to put nutritious food on the table. <a href="http://davidhammond.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2016-Fruit-Veg-Consumption-J-School-Hlth-Minaker-et-al.pdf">Fewer than one in 10 Canadian children</a> and youth are eating the amount of fruits and vegetables recommended for healthy development. Called food insecurity, insufficient access to affordable and nutritious foods is a problem that is on the rise across Canada. </p>
<p>Good nutrition impacts children’s health, well-being and learning, and if children are not adequately nourished during childhood, the impact can last a lifetime. Hunger in childhood has <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/383613">long-term adverse consequences for health</a>. </p>
<p>This is why I, and others, have been <a href="http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1308652-national-school-food-program-an-urgent-necessity">calling for a national school food program</a> to be <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/28/national-school-food-program-needed.html">established in Canada</a>. </p>
<h2>Healthy foods, better moods</h2>
<p>My own research reveals that school children experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity report <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980014001414">more mood problems and lower health-related quality of life</a> than children from food secure households. </p>
<p>In this research of over 5,800 Grade 5 children, mood problems were common even among children from households classed as marginally food insecure. Food insecurity was also associated with lower diet quality and higher body weight. This suggests a greater reliance on energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods when money for food is tight. </p>
<p>In a subsequent study, we found that lower diet quality, along with breakfast skipping and sugary drink consumption, were <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/11/14857">each associated with lower academic performance</a>, reinforcing the value of good nutrition to the health and learning of Canadian children. </p>
<h2>Universally available</h2>
<p>There is no better time to take action. According to a recent <a href="http://www.unicef.ca/en/unicef-report-card-14-child-well-being-sustainable-world">UNICEF report</a>, Canada ranks 37 out of 41 countries in providing access to nutritious food for children. Canada’s mediocre ranking in child well-being among other rich countries hasn’t improved over the past decade either. We are failing our children right now. And we will continue to fail them in the future if we don’t act soon, and fast.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184588/original/file-20170904-9717-rum2c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the absence of a national lunch program, healthy foods are enjoyed only by those children whose parents have the available resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Action is needed to address many contributing factors to food insecurity, like low income, poverty and the increasing costs of healthy and nutritious foods. But the advantage of school food programs is that they are universally available to all children. They can support the development of healthy eating patterns for <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/12751/chapter/1">all students</a>, regardless of income. </p>
<p>Universal school food programs make sense because all children attend school, spending more of their waking hours in this environment than any other. Yet Canada is one of only a few industrialized countries <a href="http://dcjournal.ca/doi/10.3148/cjdpr-2016-037">without a national school food program</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, school food provision is left up to individual provinces and territories, meaning there are no federally mandated standards for foods served or sold in schools. This leads to <a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/apnm-2017-0125#.WaRu160ZNBz">inequitable access to nutritious foods during school hours</a> for students from across the country. </p>
<h2>The right thing to do</h2>
<p><a href="https://foodsecurecanada.org/sites/foodsecurecanada.org/files/coalition_for_healthy_school_food_0.pdf">The Coalition for Healthy School Food</a>, comprised of 30 organizations across Canada, is calling for an investment of $1 billion, phased in over five years, to establish a cost-shared Universal Healthy School Food Program. This will enable all students in Canada to have access to healthy meals at school every day. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184589/original/file-20170904-9729-131vsk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children eating a healthy school meal in Milan, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While this may seem like a lot of money, the return on investment for school food programs is an impressive <a href="http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/resources/wfp281517.pdf">$3 to $10 for every dollar invested</a>. This represents the added value to a country’s overall development, including increased productivity due to improvements in educational achievement. </p>
<p>Given the burden that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4907549/">chronic diseases</a> already place on the Canadian health care system — a cost estimated at $190 billion each year — a $1 billion investment in the health of our next generation is a small price to pay. </p>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/heapro/dat055">Public and political support are essential </a> to address the systemic barriers that undermine the health of children across Canada. If we want to improve the health of our population, from the youngest to the oldest, we must examine why so few of us are able to adopt healthy behaviours. And this requires us to look at our social norms and values that make it so hard to access healthy foods. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/management/News/News%20&%20Events/21135-Food-Price-Report-Eng-2017-Final.pdf">food prices on the rise</a>, and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-food-industry-conspiring-to-make-you-fat-81537">food environment that is not supportive of health</a>, we have to move beyond a focus on individual choice and responsibility as a solution to child hunger. Our children deserve more, and better, when it comes to good nutrition. </p>
<p>A national school food program is, put simply, the right thing to do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83135/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara FL Kirk receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Heart and Stroke, the Lawson Foundation, the Max Bell Foundation and the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation. She is a member of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which is advocating for a national school food program. She is also a board member of Canada Bikes, a not-for-profit that promotes everyday cycling in Canada. </span></em></p>As Canadian kids head back to school this week, many will be hungry. Lacking fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods, they will suffer mood problems, disease and low academic performance.Sara F.L. Kirk, Professor of Health Promotion, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/826362017-09-04T23:02:02Z2017-09-04T23:02:02ZRape at universities: One program is proven to reduce it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184288/original/file-20170831-22427-m8qk2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance program is the only campus education program proven to decrease sexual assault.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As students return to universities across Canada and the United States this month, the safety of female students is a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sudbury-colleges-sexual-assault-policies-1.4255460">major concern</a>. Sexual violence <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/08/26/what-schools-do-not-tell-you-about-campus-sexual-assault_partner/">occurs on all campuses</a> and <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ccsvsftr.pdf">can no longer be ignored</a>. </p>
<p>It’s now widely recognized that universities and governments need to invest deeply in prevention. The province of Quebec, for example, recently announced a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-provincial-sexual-assault-policy-campus-1.4255310">$23 million investment</a> into campus sexual assault policies and prevention. </p>
<p>Less widely recognized is the importance of empowering women to talk about desire. This is a vital part of any comprehensive solution to campus sexual assault.</p>
<p>As a psychology professor who studies male violence against women, I have spent the last 10 years developing the <a href="http://sarecentre.org">Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance program</a>. The program is designed for women in the first year of university, because that’s when the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0886260514554425">risk of sexual assault</a> is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260508314308">highest</a>. </p>
<p>The EAAA program is the only campus education program proven to decrease sexual violence. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1411131">Study results</a> show that attending women were 46 per cent less likely to experience rape and 63 per cent less likely to experience attempted rape or other forms of sexual assault in the next year. Women who took EAAA also benefited from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684317690119">lower rates of sexual assault two years later</a>. </p>
<p>Women also increased their ability to detect risk in men’s behaviour and their confidence in asserting their rights. They learned, and became more willing to use, the most effective verbal and physical strategies for defending themselves. Importantly, these changes were accomplished while substantially decreasing women’s (already relatively low) beliefs in rape myths and woman-blaming. </p>
<h2>Sexual desire at the centre</h2>
<p>So how does EAAA accomplish all this? In 2001, prominent sexual violence researchers <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1471-6402.00030">Patricia Rozee and Mary Koss</a> synthesized a decade of rape research and suggested the Assess, Acknowledge, Act (AAA) components of an effective program for women. I brought the idea to life and added an “enhancement” — emancipatory sex education. This puts women’s own values and desires at the centre of the discussion. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184383/original/file-20170901-27315-5u4i82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helping women to explore their sexual desires and communicate their needs is critical to reducing sexual assault.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The EAAA program focuses on sexual assault by acquaintances and adds to women’s existing strength, knowledge and skills. It provides space for them to explore their sexual and relationship goals and desires. It reinforces, with knowledge and skills, their rights to seek and engage in sex they do want, to resist sex they don’t want and to fight back against threats to their bodily integrity. </p>
<p>EAAA is never prescriptive. The goal is to increase women’s options so that they are able to participate in their lives fully and without fear. </p>
<h2>Asserting sexual needs</h2>
<p>Most of the media coverage about the EAAA has focused on the Act unit which includes two hours of self-defence originating in a long tradition of <a href="http://wendo.ca/">feminist self-defence in Canada</a> and the <a href="https://seejanefightback.com/about-2/">United States</a>. This is definitely a critical element of EAAA and the reduction in completed sexual assaults. But that doesn’t explain how EAAA reduces <em>attempted</em> sexual assaults even more dramatically.</p>
<p>The final Relationships & Sexuality unit is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684310384101">likely responsible</a>. This provides women with sexual knowledge. It offers time for exploring their sexual desires and practice in communicating their interests (in, for example, a specific sexual act) and asserting their needs (for safer sex, for example). It provides a positive sexuality frame within which resistance to sexual assault is contextualized. </p>
<p>Greater sexual knowledge and confidence around desires and values makes coercion visible earlier. If a woman sees coercion earlier, then her options for leaving or resisting in other ways are greater. </p>
<h2>Holding women responsible?</h2>
<p>Some feminists have expressed the view that all interventions for women are implicitly or explicitly holding women responsible for men’s behaviour. </p>
<p>I agree that many campaigns have done this. Women are still being told (by parents, media, posters and talks on campus) that they should restrict their behaviour in various ways. That they should limit where they go and when, how they dress and how they behave — to stay safe. This “advice” is based on myths, not evidence. These social precautions <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J012v04n01_06">interfere with a woman’s quality of life</a> without providing actual protection, especially since most danger comes <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170711/dq170711a-eng.htm">from men whom women already know</a>. </p>
<p>The EAAA program for women undermines these messages. The program makes it clear that there is no risk in any situation unless there is a man present who is willing to engage in coercive behaviour. “Risk factors” (such as isolation or the presence of alcohol) are described as circumstances which provide perpetrators with certain advantages. Women brainstorm ways of undermining those advantages and come up with strategies that work for them personally. </p>
<p>Our research findings show that this message about perpetrator responsibility gets through; women decrease their belief in woman-blaming explanations for rape. And EAAA is beneficial for women even if they are sexually assaulted after they take it. Survivors who have taken EAAA blame themselves less than do survivors who did not receive the program. </p>
<h2>Beyond bystander education</h2>
<p>Universities need to invest deeply in effective prevention to reduce campus sexual assault. I, like many feminists on campus, would like universities to “tell men not to rape.” Unfortunately, the research evidence shows us that the available educational programs for men <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2014.05.004">do not work to accomplish their goals</a>. Only comprehensive strategies working on multiple levels will produce the individual and campus-wide changes we are striving for. Large and sustained changes cannot be accomplished with brief interventions or during one occasion during a university orientation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184385/original/file-20170901-27276-1hkorrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A range of sexual education efforts are required on campus to shift ‘rape culture.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The relatively recent focus on bystander education is one prevention option endorsed <a href="https://dr6j45jk9xcmk.cloudfront.net/documents/4593/actionplan-itsneverokay.pdf">in Canada</a>, the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/905942/download">United States</a> and the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/sv-prevention-technical-package.pdf">CDC</a>. And it’s a good choice. Bystander programs have been shown to change students’ attitudes toward intervening when they see a problem. More importantly, they <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039660">increase students’ actual intervention behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>But these bystander programs weren’t designed to, and do not, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2014.05.004">decrease sexual assault perpetration or victimization</a> in the short term. Additionally, most sexual assaults occur in circumstances where <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039073">no one is present</a> who could intervene. So they’re primarily effective in increasing interventions in “precursor” settings where risk is elevated (for example, where a man overhears his friend say that he doesn’t care what it takes, he is going to “hit that” tonight) but a sexual assault has not begun. </p>
<h2>A comprehensive solution</h2>
<p>If a good bystander program is delivered broadly and in a sustained way on any campus, over time, we expect that a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.10078">culture shift will occur</a>. In this context, not only would social norms stop supporting a “rape culture,” but perpetrators would also find it extremely difficult to act unnoticed and uninterrupted. Unfortunately we aren’t there yet. </p>
<p>Empowering women is, therefore, another critical piece of a comprehensive solution to the problem of sexual violence. EAAA empowers women students with the resources they need to defend their own sexual rights. It does this within a positive sexuality frame that fits well with other sexual education efforts on campus, such as sexual consent education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82636/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlene Senn is a researcher at the University of Windsor. She is also the founder/CEO of the SARE Centre, a non-profit organization, created to disseminate the EAAA sexual assault resistance program. The research described was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FRN #110976).</span></em></p>A program developed by a University of Windsor professor significantly reduces a woman’s risk of rape on campus. It also focuses on communicating sexual desires.Charlene Senn, Professor of Psychology, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/820492017-09-01T00:20:27Z2017-09-01T00:20:27ZBack-to-school anxiety? Here are seven simple solutions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184077/original/file-20170830-22218-16eshd2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Understanding the source of child anxiety is important. Some fears may be easily soothed; others, such as fears of bullying, may require adult intervention.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As school starts up again this week, many children will return with excitement, happy to be reunited with teachers and friends. </p>
<p>Others will experience anxiety about this change in routine and the challenges offered by the school day. Sometimes this anxiety might become intense, or persist longer than is healthy.</p>
<p>The good news is that most young people adapt well and their anxiety reduces to normal levels within the first month of school. As a former teacher, and an educational psychologist, I can offer parents a few suggestions to help this adaptation happen faster.</p>
<h2>1. Understand the anxious brain</h2>
<p>From birth to age 11 or 12, children’s brains grow dramatically and <a href="http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/">neuronal connections are made rapidly</a>. This allows them to learn from many sources and amass important knowledge and skills (think about learning to talk, read, write and socialize). After that, the focus of brain development turns to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1196/annals.1308.001/full">consolidating and integrating learning</a> while they gain a fuller understanding of the world and how they fit into it.</p>
<p>Whatever stage they are in, children and adolescents are reaching out to explore the world around them, embracing new experiences and facing challenge and change. These new experiences carry with them uncertainty, which has the potential to provoke anxiety.</p>
<p>In its purest form, anxiety is adaptive and helpful. It alerts us to potential risks in the environment around us, helping to ensure that we look before we leap. It keeps us close to those who will protect us. Unfortunately, the brain’s alarm system can become over activated and trigger anxiety in unnecessary circumstances, or evoke excessive anxiety that keeps us from doing things in normal daily life.</p>
<h2>2. Get a good night’s sleep</h2>
<p>Excitement and anxiety can affect sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep is important in helping us cope with stress. Some children get so worked up that they cannot sleep the night before school, or they wake up early. </p>
<p>In the evening, acknowledge your kids’ excitement about school, then try some warm milk (which releases tryptophan to help with sleep). Tuck them into bed to read a familiar story that might even be a little boring. Soft lighting and gentle music can also help. Melatonin is a natural substance that makes them feel sleepy, which can be used for a few nights if needed (consult a pharmacist). Bedtime routines are helpful. And electronics with screens should be shut off <a href="https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/how-blue-light-affects-kids-sleep">90 minutes before sleep</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Talk about morning anxiety</h2>
<p>Anxiety can present as tummy aches and tears, as well as irritability and avoidance of going to school. It is important to talk with your child about their worries and fears. But do not give in and let them stay home unless there is a really good reason. Staying at home will only reinforce their anxiety and make it worse in the end.</p>
<h2>4. Help kids transition</h2>
<p>It is normal for young children to experience some separation anxiety, especially if they have not previously had the chance to attend daycare or day camps. In this case, you might need to accompany them to the door of the school or classroom to help them transition to the teacher. </p>
<p>Sometimes, it helps to have another child with them. Your child can meet with their friend before school or even travel to school together, an approach that works well with older children and youth.</p>
<h2>5. Figure out the worries</h2>
<p>Ask your child what they are worried about. Once you have found out the cause or trigger for the anxiety, you can take steps to respond. Work together with your child to develop a plan that will help them be successful. </p>
<p>Sometimes problems will require adult intervention. The last thing you want to do is send your child off to school when they have real worries about being bullied or physically hurt by peers who have threatened them. Similarly, some youth can feel threatened by certain teachers or school staff who may not be respectful or sensitive to their needs. Of course, the anxieties may be exaggerated or unfounded but real problems should never be dismissed.</p>
<h2>6. Deal with your own anxiety</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1005260311313?LI=true">Parental anxiety can affect children</a>. It helps if you talk to your partner or trusted friends about your anxiety. Is this your first child starting school? Try to connect with a more seasoned parent who can help make your journey easier.</p>
<h2>7. Know when to consult a specialist</h2>
<p>There are some types of anxiety that are more severe and require specialized support and treatment. It is important not to let these run on for too long without intervention, as these types of anxiety tend to persist if they are not treated. Anxiety also tends to run in families. </p>
<p>Generalized Anxiety Disorder is characterized by frequent worrying about many topics and situations (including worrying about family members, peers and schoolwork) that provokes an impairing anxiety response. Separation Anxiety Disorder is characterized by marked anxiety at separation from significant adults. </p>
<p>Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by significant and impairing anxiety and self-consciousness in social situations, which can make it hard to talk or eat in groups. Panic Disorder (rare before age 13) is characterized by an unexpected adrenaline pulse that provokes a strong physiological anxiety response, which can make it difficult to stay in enclosed or public spaces.</p>
<p>Though it is common to experience some anxiety during the first month, most children will make a successful transition. If anxiety continues beyond that, you might need to consult with a specialist such as a child psychologist or pediatrician. An excellent resource that is useful for both transitional anxiety and clinical levels of anxiety is the book <a href="http://barronseduc.com/1438004834.html"><em>Keys to Parenting Your Anxious Child</em></a>.</p>
<p>Help your children to prepare, then you can enjoy the first weeks back at school just as much as your children do!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lee Zwiers consults with the CanLearn Society in Calgary, Alberta, a non-profit society that supports people with attention and learning problems, as well as autism. He has a small independent consulting company that supports and trains psychologists and mental health professionals.</span></em></p>As the first days of school approach rapidly, an educational psychologist offers strategies for combating anxiety in children and teens.Michael Lee Zwiers, Assistant Professor Educational Psychology, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/818892017-08-30T23:27:43Z2017-08-30T23:27:43ZWhat creativity really is - and why schools need it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183880/original/file-20170829-5012-mu9wnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this time of global technological change and sustainability challenges, we need to increase creativity levels in the next generation, to ensure the innovations that will keep us afloat. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although educators claim to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461451841/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1461451841&linkCode=as2&tag=jackaphd-20">value creativity</a>, they don’t always prioritize it. </p>
<p>Teachers often have <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Killing-ideas-softly-creativity-classroom/dp/1623963648">biases against creative students</a>, fearing that creativity in the classroom will be disruptive. They devalue creative personality attributes such as risk taking, impulsivity and independence. They inhibit creativity by focusing on the reproduction of knowledge and obedience in class. </p>
<p>Why the disconnect between educators’ official stance toward creativity, and what actually happens in school? </p>
<p>How can teachers nurture creativity in the classroom in an era of rapid technological change, when human innovation is needed more than ever and children are more distracted and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-smartphone-affected-an-entire-generation-of-kids-82477">hyper-stimulated</a>?</p>
<p>These are some of the questions we ask in my research lab at the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia. We <a href="https://people.ok.ubc.ca/lgabora/research.htm">study the creative process</a>, as well as how ideas evolve over time and across societies. I’ve written almost 200 scholarly papers and book chapters on creativity, and lectured on it worldwide. My research involves both computational models and studies with human participants. I also write fiction, compose music for the piano and do freestyle dance.</p>
<h2>What is creativity?</h2>
<p>Although creativity is often defined in terms of new and useful products, I believe it makes more sense to define it in terms of processes. Specifically, creativity involves cognitive processes that transform one’s understanding of, or relationship to, the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183882/original/file-20170829-8679-1ws6eqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A society thrives when individuals are given the space to create or imitate ideas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Chris Barbalis)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There may be adaptive value to the seemingly mixed messages that teachers send about creativity. Creativity is the novelty-generating component of cultural evolution. As in any kind of evolutionary process, novelty must be balanced by preservation. </p>
<p>In biological evolution, the novelty-generating components are genetic mutation and recombination, and the novelty-preserving components include the survival and reproduction of “fit” individuals. In <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2013.03.006">cultural evolution</a>, the novelty-generating component is creativity, and the novelty-preserving components include imitation and other forms of social learning.</p>
<p>It isn’t actually necessary for everyone to be creative for the benefits of creativity to be felt by all. We can reap the rewards of the creative person’s ideas by copying them, buying from them or simply admiring them. Few of us can build a computer or write a symphony, but they are ours to use and enjoy nevertheless. </p>
<h2>Inventor or imitator?</h2>
<p>There are also <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/psychology/social-psychology/dark-side-creativity?format=HB&isbn=9780521191715#UqdtxHOxfTEV0OGi.97">drawbacks to creativity</a>. Sure, creative people solve problems, crack jokes, invent stuff; they make the world pretty and interesting and fun. But generating creative ideas is time-consuming. A creative solution to one problem often generates other problems, or has unexpected negative side effects. </p>
<p>Creativity is correlated with rule bending, law breaking, social unrest, aggression, group conflict and dishonesty. Creative people often direct their nurturing energy towards ideas rather than relationships, and may be viewed as aloof, arrogant, competitive, hostile, independent or unfriendly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183881/original/file-20170829-5016-2gk88d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers may fear creative mess, but time for reflection and interdisciplinary thinking can nurture innovation too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Also, if I’m wrapped up in my own creative reverie, I may fail to notice that someone else has already solved the problem I’m working on. In an <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1309.7524.pdf">agent-based computational model of cultural evolution</a>, in which artificial neural network-based agents invent and imitate ideas, the society’s ideas <a href="https://people.ok.ubc.ca/lgabora/papers/Gabora-Tseng-PACA2017.pdf">evolve most quickly</a> when there is a good mix of creative “inventors” and conforming “imitators.” Too many creative agents and the collective suffers. They are like holes in the fabric of society, fixated on their own (potentially inferior) ideas, rather than propagating proven effective ideas.</p>
<p>Of course, a computational model of this sort is highly artificial. The results of such simulations must be taken with a grain of salt. However, they suggest an adaptive value to the mixed signals teachers send about creativity. A society thrives when some individuals create and others preserve their best ideas. </p>
<p>This also makes sense given how creative people encode and process information. Creative people tend to <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1308.5037.pdf">encode episodes of experience</a> in much more detail than is actually needed. This has drawbacks: Each episode takes up more memory space and has a richer network of associations. Some of these associations will be spurious. On the bright side, some may lead to new ideas that are useful or aesthetically pleasing. </p>
<p>So, there’s a trade-off to peppering the world with creative minds. They may fail to see the forest for the trees but they may produce the next Mona Lisa.</p>
<h2>Innovation might keep us afloat</h2>
<p>So will society naturally self-organize into creators and conformers? Should we avoid trying to enhance creativity in the classroom? </p>
<p>The answer is: No! The pace of cultural change is accelerating more quickly than ever before. In some biological systems, when the environment is changing quickly, the mutation rate goes up. Similarly, in times of change we need to bump up creativity levels — to generate the innovative ideas that will keep us afloat.</p>
<p>This is particularly important now. In our high-stimulation environment, children spend so much time processing new stimuli that there is less time to “go deep” with the stimuli they’ve already encountered. There is less time for thinking about ideas and situations from different perspectives, such that their ideas become more interconnected and their mental models of understanding become more integrated. </p>
<p>This “going deep” process has been <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.02478">modeled computationally</a> using a program called <em>Deep Dream</em>, a variation on the machine learning technique “Deep Learning” and used to generate images such as the ones in the figure below. </p>
<p>The images show how an input is subjected to different kinds of processing at different levels, in the same way that our minds gain a deeper understanding of something by looking at it from different perspectives. It is this kind of deep processing and the resulting <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1610.02484v1.pdf">integrated webs of understanding</a> that make the crucial connections that lead to important advances and innovations.</p>
<h2>Cultivating creativity in the classroom</h2>
<p>So the obvious next question is: How can creativity be cultivated in the classroom? It turns out <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461451841/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1461451841&linkCode=as2&tag=jackaphd-20">there are lots of ways</a>! Here are three key ways in which teachers can begin:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Focus less on the reproduction of information and more on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-kids-innovate-from-an-early-age-81891">critical thinking and problem solving</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Curate activities that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, such as by painting murals that depict biological food chains, or acting out plays about historical events, or writing poems about the cosmos. After all, the world doesn’t come carved up into different subject areas. Our culture tells us these disciplinary boundaries are real and our thinking becomes trapped in them. </p></li>
<li><p>Pose questions and challenges, and follow up with opportunities for solitude and reflection. This provides time and space to foster the forging of new connections that is so vital to creativity.</p></li>
</ol><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liane Gabora's research is supported by a grant (62R06523) from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
</span></em></p>Technology requires humanity to innovate at a faster pace, but it also hampers true creative thinking. The good news? Nurturing creativity in children is easier than most people think.Liane Gabora, Associate Professor of Psychology and Creative Studies, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/825592017-08-29T23:33:09Z2017-08-29T23:33:09ZHow well do students perform when retaking courses?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182457/original/file-20170817-28132-vs3skk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ah, September is almost here. A new school year beckons, with new courses, new books and new students. </p>
<p>Except … some of the students are not new. They are retaking courses they had previously failed, or barely passed. They may be doing that to boost their marks, qualify for advanced courses, maintain scholarships or just stay in their degree programs.</p>
<p>Repeating, unfortunately, is not unusual, especially for first-year university courses. First year is especially challenging because students must adjust to the differences between high school and university.</p>
<p>Despite being widespread, little is known about course repeating. On their second attempt, do students score higher, lower or about the same as before? How do they compare to first-time course-takers? Does it matter whether they originally had failed or just scraped by? Which students have the best chance of success when repeating?</p>
<p>To investigate these questions, I conducted three studies with my colleague, finance professor <a href="https://brocku.ca/goodman/faculty-research/faculty-directory/ernest-n-biktimirov/">Ernest Biktimirov</a>. A <a href="https://brocku.ca/pedagogical-innovation/research/chancellors-chairs/#2012">Chancellor’s Chair for Teaching Excellence</a> award funded our research.</p>
<h2>How much do they improve?</h2>
<p>We <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08832323.2012.725109">initially examined</a> 232 repeat attempts in first-year courses with high repeat rates, such as calculus, economics and accounting. These repeats involved 116 students, each retaking between one and five courses. In 58 per cent of these cases, the student had originally failed. In the other cases, the student had barely passed.</p>
<p>In this sample, the average grade on students’ original attempts was 44 out of 100, versus an average on their repeat attempts of 60. (At our university, 50 or more is a pass.) This means repeaters improved their grades by 16 marks on average.</p>
<p>However, the degree of improvement varied widely. It ranged from a decrease of 45 marks to an increase of 65 marks. About nine per cent of the repeat grades were lower than the originals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182443/original/file-20170817-28163-ck5tm0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This diagram shows how students’ grades changed between their original attempt and their repeat attempt. For example, 65 students increased their grades by between 6 and 15 marks. Eight students saw their grades drop between 5 and 14 marks.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who benefits most?</h2>
<p>We found that students with the highest original grades tended to get the highest grades when repeating. And students with the lowest original grades tended to get the largest increases from repeating.</p>
<p>The student’s original course grade and their overall university average were both good predictors of their repeat grade. For example, suppose a student had barely passed on the original attempt and had good marks in their other courses. That student would likely do well when repeating.</p>
<p>Conversely, consider a student who had failed badly in their first attempt, and had barely passed their other courses. That student would likely score poorly when repeating.</p>
<h2>Repeaters versus first-timers</h2>
<p>Our follow-up research examined 931 student grades in first-year <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2444334">economics</a> courses and 665 in second-year <a href="http://jfedweb.org/TOC/jfedS15.pdf">finance</a> courses. This time we sorted repeating students into two groups: those who had originally failed and those who had originally passed. We also included grades of students taking the course for the first time. This let us compare repeaters to first-timers.</p>
<p>We found that repeaters who had originally passed earned the highest grades on average. They seemed to benefit from their previous course experience. First-timers had the next highest grades on average.</p>
<p>Students who had originally failed the course earned the lowest grades on average. It seems they mostly continued to suffer from the problems they experienced during their original attempt.</p>
<p>Interestingly, their grades were also more varied than those of the other two groups. While most of the original failers did poorly, a few did very well. They somehow overcame their earlier difficulties in the course.</p>
<h2>Advice for students and advisers</h2>
<p>These results imply two suggestions for students thinking of retaking a course. First, repeating is more likely to succeed if their original grade is not too low and their other course grades are good.</p>
<p>Conversely, students with very low original grades and weak marks in other courses may not find repeating worthwhile. They may be better off taking a different course, or even a different degree program.</p>
<p>Second, the wide variation in outcomes suggests that students should thoughtfully prepare for repeat attempts. Simply continuing their original behavior and hoping for “better luck” the second time is unwise.</p>
<p>Instead, students should make changes to improve their odds. They could free up more studying time by spending fewer hours at part-time jobs or on sports teams. They might also benefit from attending learning skills workshops or joining study groups.</p>
<h2>Broader benefits</h2>
<p>This research is part of a larger program to help individual students make better decisions about their studies. We want to help them learn their material better, earn higher marks and ultimately graduate.</p>
<p>By helping individual students this way, our results should also benefit universities and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-university-funding-be-tied-to-student-performance-75385">governments that fund them</a>. Increased student success at repeating courses is another small way to reduce <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">drop-out rates</a> and boost <a href="https://cudo.ouac.on.ca/">graduation</a> <a href="http://collegecompletion.chronicle.com/">rates</a>. Those are <a href="http://www.acenet.edu/news-room/Pages/National-Commission-on-Higher-Education-Attainment.aspx">increasingly important goals</a> on many campuses and in many countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael J. Armstrong's research on course repeating was funded by a 2012-2015 Chancellor's Chair for Teaching Excellence award from Brock University. </span></em></p>University students sometimes retake courses they had previously failed. How well do they perform on their second attempt?Michael J. Armstrong, Associate professor of operations research, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/818912017-08-28T23:02:15Z2017-08-28T23:02:15ZHow to help kids innovate from an early age<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183481/original/file-20170825-19955-1lhhhfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In school makerspaces, students problem-solve with traditional craft materials alongside
digital technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality, programmable robots and video work. </span> </figcaption></figure><p>As community <a href="http://spaces.makerspace.com/">makerspaces</a> begin to take root in <a href="http://janettehughes.ca/lab/">Ontario’s elementary schools</a>, students are behaving better. They are also getting higher grades.</p>
<p>What are makerspaces? They’re creative spaces where students can gather to explore, tinker, discover and create, and they’re making students more enthusiastic about school. </p>
<p>In these spaces students are learning how to tinker collaboratively with a problem and keep trying until they find a solution. They are learning to be thinkers, innovators and problem-solvers rather than mere consumers of information. And these are just some of the benefits teachers are reporting. </p>
<p>Makerspaces <a href="http://teacherlibrarian.com/2014/06/18/educational-makerspaces/">support hands-on exploration and learning</a>. They are most often associated with STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math). But really, they’re interdisciplinary, promoting important educational principles such as inquiry, play, imagination, innovation, <a href="https://www.learntechlib.org/p/154441/">critical thinking</a>, problem solving and passion-based learning. </p>
<p>They arise from the wider <a href="http://time.com/104210/maker-faire-maker-movement/">maker movement</a> and they are emerging now in <a href="http://hepg.org/her-home/issues/harvard-educational-review-volume-84-number-4/herarticle/the-maker-movement-in-education">formal education settings</a> globally.</p>
<p>As the founder of MAKE magazine Dale Dougherty states in his 2011 TED Talk: “<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/dale_dougherty_we_are_makers">We are all makers.</a>”</p>
<h2>Makerspaces in Ontario schools</h2>
<p>In partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Council of Ontario Directors of Education and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, I am leading a team of researchers to put makerspaces into elementary schools in 20 Ontario school boards. My research explores how teachers work together to explore news ways of teaching and learning through makerspaces.</p>
<p>Our project began by introducing teachers to a number of innovative ideas and practices in makerspace teaching and learning. </p>
<p>Teachers attended a two-day professional learning session, where they explored digital technologies such as digital circuits, 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality, e-textiles, programmable robots, coding and green screen video work. They had opportunities to collaborate, plan lessons with colleagues and do their own making. </p>
<p>We then gave funding to each of the first 11 school boards — to purchase equipment and supplies for participating schools. Researchers then followed teachers to track their use of tools and technologies and their promotion of student inquiry, creativity, design and critical thinking.</p>
<p>To date, they have created more than 100 maker-focused lesson plans for students in Grades 1 to Grade 8 in both English and French Immersion programs. Nine more school boards have joined for the second year of the project. </p>
<h2>Teaching perseverence</h2>
<p>Teachers in all participating schools stated that their students are more engaged and more motivated when they are learning in a makerspace environment. </p>
<p>They also noticed a reduction in discipline problems. And they recorded improvements in academic achievement, particularly among students with learning disabilities and those who struggle in a traditional classroom setting. </p>
<p>Giving students the freedom to pursue projects that are authentic, meaningful and based on their own “wonderings” or passions has provided opportunities for a more personalized and inclusive learning experience for all students. </p>
<p>Teachers also observed that a variety of 21st-century skills and competencies were developed as a result of the makerspaces, such as problem-solving, communication, collaboration and the development of perseverance. Collaboration was one of the most highly reported competencies developed across all schools. </p>
<p>“In the beginning they were nervous,” said one teacher. </p>
<p>“They wanted me to help them all the time. But once they got the hang of just trying it, figuring it out, knowing that I’m not going to fix the problem for them, then they would persevere.” </p>
<p>What’s particularly noteworthy is that the increase in collaboration emerged not just among the students, but the teachers and staff, as well. Inter-generational and bi-directional learning occurred between students and teachers, peers and students of different ages. </p>
<h2>A maker mindset</h2>
<p>It can be a challenge to implement a makerspace — to motivate and train staff, outfit and maintain equipment and the space, and to build a true maker culture in a school. The benefits, however, outweigh the costs and effort. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/meaningful_making.html">Having a maker mindset is key</a>. In order for schools to establish a true makerspace, there must be buy-in and a commitment from staff, students and the wider community — to establish a culture of innovation, trial-and-error, problem-solving, persevering through difficult tasks, learning from mistakes and taking risks. </p>
<p>A makerspace is so much more than a space that houses equipment. A maker culture fosters 21st-century skills such as communication, collaboration and creativity. It offers opportunities for students to share their learning at local and global community levels through Maker Faires and websites such as <a href="http://www.instructables.com">www.instructables.com</a>, <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com">www.thingiverse.com</a> and <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com">www.DIY.org</a>. </p>
<p>In Ontario, we expect significant and sustainable ongoing benefits in teacher practice when the imaginative, integrated and innovative inquiry-based projects are developed, implemented and shared throughout the province.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81891/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janette Hughes receives funding from Ontario Ministry of Education through Council of Ontario Directors of Education and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Creative makerspaces in Ontario schools weave passion with digital technologies to teach 21st century skills.Janette Hughes, Canada Research Chair in Technology and Pedagogy, Ontario Tech UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/820472017-08-27T23:19:34Z2017-08-27T23:19:34ZThink disability is a tragedy? We pity you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183352/original/file-20170824-24034-1lws59m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Disability prejudice in the classroom can teach children early on that some lives are more worthy than others.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You pick your child up at school and see her hanging out with a child with autism. Your reaction is: A) pride, B) confusion, C) concern, D) pity. If you said yes to any of the above you could have ableism. </p>
<p>In schools, disability prejudice impacts opportunities for connection and learning for all children. Another word for it is “ableism” — a form of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ableism">discrimination that favours able-bodied people</a>. It has long permeated our culture through stereotypes — from hunchback movie villains to the idea of the “<a href="http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/persons-disabilities/common-portrayals-persons-disabilities">supercrip</a>” that defies all odds.</p>
<p>Ableism contributes to the isolation of children with disabilities. It encourages students without disabilities to see relationships with their disabled peers as helper-helpee relationships, rather than reciprocal friendships. Worst of all, ableism teaches children early on that some lives are more worthy than others. This can have deadly consequences — evidenced by the <a href="https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2015/02/02/living-archives-on-eugenics-in-western-canada">eugenics movement</a> of the early 20th century, and by more recent events such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-has-japans-massacre-of-disabled-gone-unnoticed-for-answers-look-to-the-past-64201">2016 massacre</a> in a home for the disabled in Japan. </p>
<p>As a society, we need to <a href="https://mic.com/articles/121653/6-forms-of-ableism-we-need-to-retire-immediately">say no to ableism</a>. We must see disability for what it is — <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/projectmyvalue/about">a natural part of human experience</a>, rather than something to be feared.</p>
<p>We are two university professors, working in disability ethics and in education, who met in high school. Our friendship was very nearly destroyed by ableism. We offer <a href="http://bit.ly/1mfRmNp">our story as an illustration</a> — of how disability prejudice can afflict all kids, and how to avoid it, in the classroom and at home.</p>
<h2>A “normal” friend</h2>
<p>We were both giving mainstream education one last chance when we met in Grade 11 English at Alberta College. What brought us together was our mutual (warped) sense of humour and bewilderment over why some people thought being just like everyone else was a good thing.</p>
<p>So, how did ableism almost destroy our friendship?</p>
<p>Well, there was the explicit ableism. A few months after we met, a nurse of Heidi’s told her, “Michelle’s just helping you because she feels sorry for you. You can’t have a normal friend.” Heidi started to pull away. Michelle felt like she had done something wrong. Eventually, Heidi told Michelle what the nurse had said. That was the first of many close encounters we’ve had with ableism.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183063/original/file-20170822-13644-mlupwn.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1015&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Doctor Loveless in the TV show The Wild Wild West is a villainous dwarf.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Wikimedia Commons)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there were people who didn’t bother to ask Heidi to repeat herself when they did not understand her. Others would simply ignore Heidi and talk to Michelle. When we’d go to restaurants, servers asked Michelle what Heidi wanted to order. Most memorably, there was the shopping mall Santa — who asked Michelle what Heidi’s name was. </p>
<p>But there was also the implicit ableism. Michelle went from being seen as poorly behaved to being seen as angelic, just because she’d befriended Heidi, the disabled kid. Yet Heidi was given no credit for getting Michelle to school on time every day. </p>
<p>Michelle knew she needed to take Heidi’s coat off and take her books out. (This was the 1980s; Heidi didn’t have an aide at school.) Heidi developed her very own behaviour modification program. She ran over Michelle’s feet with her very heavy power chair if she was late. She offered her a coffee or cookie from the cafeteria if she was on time.</p>
<h2>Learning together</h2>
<p>Heidi had an amazing occupational therapist that worked with both of us. She booked us an independent living suite to learn how to take care of each other over a week. We learned how to cook together (which did result in a visit from the fire department). Michelle learned how to dress Heidi, feed her and take her to the washroom. </p>
<p>Heidi learned to tell Michelle to drink her coffee before she attempted to help her with anything. “It’s not safe before your coffee. I can wait. Go drink your coffee.” By the end of Grade 11, we flew to Vancouver and spent five days on our own.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183061/original/file-20170822-13660-6c2xgl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The blindness of superhero Daredevil, from Marvel Comics, has enhanced his other senses to superhuman levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We grew together and encouraged each other to do what many did not expect us to do — go to university and eventually become academics. We are in different fields but have a similar commitment to expanding research-based public conversations and policy aimed at creating more equitable and inclusive societies.</p>
<p>Today, 33 years after we met, we see some changes in attitudes, but we still often encounter deeply entrenched <a href="http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/11/19/what-is-ableism-five-things-about-ableism-you-should-know/">ableism</a>. This is not surprising given that from earliest childhood, we are inundated with <a href="http://courses.washington.edu/intro2ds/Readings/2_Nelson-stereotypes.pdf">disability stereotypes</a>, such as telethon kids whose survival depends on the charity of able-bodied people. As we get older, we watch news stories about burdensome disabled people or the “<a href="http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/persons-disabilities/common-portrayals-persons-disabilities">supercrip</a>” who achieves remarkable things. And many of the insults in the English language <a href="http://www.disabilityandrepresentation.com/2013/09/14/ableist-language/">are based on disability</a>. </p>
<h2>How to de-ableize yourself</h2>
<p>Approximately <a href="http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/">15 per cent of the world’s population</a> has a disability, and that number is increasing as the population ages. Most people will acquire disabilities at some point. Signatories of the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html">Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</a> agree to foster respect for the rights of people with disabilities from early childhood on. </p>
<p>But how realistic is it to expect able-bodied people to have the capacity to implement non-ableist policies and practices? </p>
<p>If we want to educate children about the harmfulness of ableism, we need to start with de-ableizing adults. There are many <a href="http://www.pattan.net/Videos/Browse/Training%20Series/Starting+Points+and+Possibilities+Promoting+Inclusion+Learning+and+Relationships+for+Students+with+Complex+Needs">strategies teachers can use in the classroom</a> — to promote inclusion, learning and relationships between students with and without disabilities. But this is not just the job of teachers. It starts at home. </p>
<p>Think about fears you have about disability and where those fears come from. Think about what values are at play in deciding what makes for a good school, workplace or community. How might the values be different if people with disabilites were at decision-making tables?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two university professors explore their unlikely longtime friendship, providing lessons for parents of both “abled” and disabled children today.Heidi L. Janz, Adjunct Professor of Disability Ethics, John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, University of AlbertaMichelle Stack, Associate Professor, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/810182017-08-22T23:14:13Z2017-08-22T23:14:13ZHow to help your kids transition to high school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182853/original/file-20170821-12584-c4e514.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The challenges of making new friends, managing schedules and the hormones of puberty can be overwhelming for new high school students. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Benjamin Voros)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At this time of year, it can sometimes be hard to tell who’s more excited about returning to school, youth or their parents.</p>
<p>But the excitement for kids about new friends, teachers and ventures can be overshadowed by anxiety and stress, particularly if they’re moving into high school.</p>
<p>The sheer size of a high school building can be overwhelming to the uninitiated. The <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035500000252">potential loss of social status among a larger group of peers</a> and the increased number of teachers — each having different styles and expectations – can be intimidating for newcomers. Add to this the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410522/">hormonal changes that accompany puberty</a> and drive physical, emotional and cognitive growth, and the demands on young people can be overwhelming.</p>
<p>In high school, teachers tend to stay in one place while the students rotate through their classrooms. This can be difficult for students who are used to having a homeroom teacher for the majority of their subjects. </p>
<p>Some high schools have instituted <a href="https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/support/my_foundation/my_education.pdf">homerooms for core subjects</a> such as language arts and social studies. These allow students to connect daily to at least one key adult who knows them and ostensibly has their best interests in mind. Regrettably, this practice is rare past Grade 8.</p>
<p>Fortunately, parents and their children can take some steps to make the transition easier. As an educator and a psychologist from the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, I offer you a few simple strategies:</p>
<h2>1. Get to know the school space</h2>
<p>Familiarity helps to <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED397832">reduce anxiety</a>. If possible, youth should try to tour the school halls in advance to get to know where specific rooms are located. Of course, it helps if they can have a school map to help them navigate. It’s always important to learn where key spaces are such as the administrative offices, washrooms, cafeteria and water fountains.</p>
<h2>2. Make the leap with a few friends</h2>
<p>The adolescent years are significant in the transition from relying on parents to <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0272431604274174">learning to trust and rely on peers</a>. During this time, peer socialization becomes critically important and being part of a peer collective can make the transition smoother while <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035500000264">helping to ease stress</a>. Confidence in social interactions with peers <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/67358/10.1177_027243169401400205.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y">contributes to positive self-evaluation and successful school transitions</a>. </p>
<p>Youth can identify friends from their previous school who plan to attend the same high school. If they live close together, they can travel together to school or plan to meet up before school, at lunch breaks and during times when they might not have scheduled classes. Among other things, this will give them the opportunity to share and compare experiences — essentially normalizing what they are going through, while brainstorming solutions to challenges they might be facing.</p>
<h2>3. Identify clubs and interest groups</h2>
<p>These hobby-based groups tend to be smaller than regular classes and have supportive teacher sponsors with an interest in the subject area. This can be an easy way to connect with others who have similar interests, while building a support network at school. </p>
<p>Since the high school years are ones of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8457355_Risk_Taking_and_Novelty_Seeking_in_Adolescence_Introduction_to_Part_I">exploration, novelty seeking and even risk-taking</a>, such groups offer an opportunity to explore interests in a safe environment.</p>
<h2>4. Help with planning and organization</h2>
<p>In high school, there’s an increased expectation for students to take responsibility for planning and organizing materials for themselves, as well as getting to class on time, handing in homework and assignments and coming prepared for quizzes and exams. This also includes managing class materials, unique clothing for sports and clubs, musical instruments and other school equipment. Most schools offer a personal planner booklet that can help students to overcome some of these challenges. However, most will require support to be able to use and maintain them properly. </p>
<p>It’s true that adolescence is a time of cognitive growth and consolidation. This comes from the <a href="http://www.brainfacts.org/brain-basics/neuroanatomy/articles/2015/myelin/">myelination of nerves</a> (insulation for faster signals) and the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20803-brains-synaptic-pruning-continues-into-your-20s/">pruning of neural networks</a> (specialization for efficient brain function) that improve thinking capacities. However, the adolescent brain keeps developing well into the early 20s. Higher order thinking, planning and foresight can take time to develop.</p>
<h2>5. Organize a study schedule</h2>
<p>Family support and parental engagement are <a href="https://www.horizonsd.ca/Services/Literacy/Documents/Pushor-Parent%20Engagement%202007.pdf">linked to academic success</a>. It’s important to start building study habits early, even if there is no assigned homework to do. Students should plan for 30 to 60 minutes of study, homework and project work per night. It is often best to schedule a regular time, such as just before or after the family dinner. </p>
<p>Whatever the schedule, it’s also important to take breaks after school. And try to plan time carefully so that such work does not drag on and become demotivating.</p>
<h2>6. Monitor stress</h2>
<p>Even after settling into the new environment, getting to know teachers and their expectations and collecting a group of friends, the level of stress in high school can still be intense. Schools can be competitive environments. Exams (particularly high-stakes final exams) can be stressful to the point of debilitation. And social demands can be overwhelming. </p>
<p>Challenges like these can be exacerbated if students have unique needs such as physical or sensory impairments, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or a mental health condition such as anxiety or depression. In cases where such challenges are known in advance, it is important to connect to the receiving school’s specialized supports, which often come in the form of guidance and counselling services and accessibility services. </p>
<p>Kids should also be monitored to ensure they’re coping with the demands being placed on them. Their ability to cope can change day to day and month to month, and parents should be ready to offer support when it’s needed. In some cases, stress can become overwhelming or persistent to the point of immobilization. If they aren’t experiencing <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED482301.pdf">reduced anxiety within a month, they likely need help</a>. </p>
<p>If so, specialized professional support may be needed to identify the underlying problem and intervene appropriately. School counsellors can be a good place to start, while family doctors can often point the way toward a good child psychologist or counselling specialist.</p>
<p>With the right kind of planning and support, the transition to high school can be a life-changing and empowering one that can set your youth on the path toward an amazing future. Start now to plan for success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81018/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lee Zwiers consults with the CanLearn Society in Calgary, Alberta, a non-profit society that supports people with attention and learning problems, as well as autism. He has a small independent consulting company that supports and trains psychologists and mental health professionals.</span></em></p>An education psychologist offers tips for parents of new high school kids on everything from navigation to time management.Michael Lee Zwiers, Assistant Professor Educational Psychology, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/803512017-08-16T01:37:07Z2017-08-16T01:37:07ZHow parents can help their freshman teens cope with stress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182151/original/file-20170815-21358-o7z2f8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Starting a new school can be stressful. But as a parent, you can help.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenager-problems-mother-comforts-her-troubled-210886180">Kamira/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Entering high school can be an exciting experience, but for some teenagers it can also be scary, intimidating and confusing.</p>
<p>According to one study, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2015.01028">approximately half</a> of all high school students feel a great deal of stress on a daily basis. As author and film producer <a href="http://www.racetonowhere.com/film-team">Vicki Abeles</a> writes, there’s a “<a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Beyond-Measure/Vicki-Abeles/9781451699234">nationwide epidemic of school-related stress</a>.” The cause? Abeles says that “expectations surrounding education have spun out of control,” with excessive loads of activities, homework and sports.</p>
<p>As I explain in my book, “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475829839/Raise-Your-Kids-to-Succeed-What-Every-Parent-Should-Know">Raise Your Kids to Succeed</a>,” this stress can be excessive <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8p3TBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA137">and even toxic</a> if kids are ill-prepared. Like many parents, I’ve wondered what I could have done to help my teenagers adjust well to the first year of high school. As a parent and teacher, here’s what I’ve learned.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182155/original/file-20170815-26751-fjny9c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Don’t let your teenager go through this alone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stressed-kid-sit-on-bench-autumn-324331094">Sabphoto/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Why all the anxiety?</h2>
<p>A few of the factors that can cause <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/high-stress-high-school/409735/">anxiety for high school freshmen</a> include going to school for the first time with <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo16468748.html">older, bigger, physically mature students</a> who are essentially adults. Your teen is now one of the youngest in the school, having come from a school where she was among the oldest and most senior. The change can be jarring.</p>
<p>Your teen also has to get used to a new school building as well as new teachers and classrooms for every subject. I know from experience that teens might worry, perhaps even obsess, about their new teachers: Will I like them? Will they be too strict? Too hard to understand? They’ll also likely worry about the work being too difficult, how they can achieve satisfactory grades and if they’ll be able to make new friends.</p>
<p>In some unfortunate cases, teens may also have to deal with <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-bullying-needs-more-efforts-to-stop-it-58678">bullying</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-cyberbullying-all-that-goes-over-the-line-when-kids-are-online-45150">cyberbullying</a>, intimidation or <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-disturbing-connection-between-bullying-and-sexual-harassment-68033">sexual harassment</a>. Studies have shown that between <a href="https://www.stopbullying.gov/media/facts/index.html#stats">20 and 30 percent</a> of students in grades 6-12 have been bullied.</p>
<h2>What can parents do?</h2>
<p>How can you, as a parent, help your teen manage their anxieties in a healthy way? Here are six ideas:</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182142/original/file-20170815-27845-s26t62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just talking to your teenager can be the first step in helping her cope with a new school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/depressed-college-student-talking-counselor-284521187?src=KPjrIZE1HYQgiAZbloXj2g-1-49">Monkey Business Images</a></span>
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<ul>
<li><p>Be caring, empathetic and affectionate. Listen to teens intently and give them emotional security. Be as supportive as possible. Try not to give advice too quickly. Let them <a href="http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/5-3-interview-play-as-preparation.pdf">solve their own problems</a> if they can. In fact, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2012.29">some research</a> suggests that extreme levels of parental protection can be counterproductive.</p></li>
<li><p>Listen. More importantly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-9920-9">listen without making judgements</a> and without rushing to offer your own solutions. Remember their roiling anxiety and that they need you now more than ever – even if they try to be “cool” and push you away. Expect your teen to be occasionally grumpy, moody and cantankerous. Try not to take it personally.</p></li>
<li><p>Be supportive. Emphasize that you love your teen unconditionally, and that you admire and respect him for the effort he’s making to tackle the challenges of starting high school. Research shows us that diligence, effort and hard work <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2012.722805">can increase intelligence</a>. Grit is <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087">something to be encouraged</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Attend to the basics. When teenagers are stressed, the essentials can be neglected. Do whatever you can to help them get enough <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06149.x">sleep</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1499-4046(06)60031-6">eat healthily</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-2430">and exercise regularly</a>. All of those things will help them to manage their stress.</p></li>
<li><p>Help them get involved. Find out – or have your teen find out – about extracurricular activities at the high school. Joining a club, sport or activity can be a great way to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023%2FA%3A1012285729701">build a community of friends</a> quickly and adjust to new surroundings.</p></li>
<li><p>Get help. If you think it advisable, reach out to the <a href="https://www.unigo.com/admissions-advice/how-do-you-build-a-good-relationship-with-your-high-school-guidance-counselor/112/3">school counselor</a> before school begins and set up a meeting for your teen to meet the counselor to talk about the transition to high school. This may not be the right move for all teens, but consider whether it would help with your child.</p></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182135/original/file-20170815-21358-p39yz0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helping your teenager to get involved in new activities can help her make the transition to high school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/softball-girls-team-mates-happy-1570671/">Keith Johnston/Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Stress can be good. And bad</h2>
<p>Your teen cannot – <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/stress-report.pdf">and should not</a> – avoid all stress. Stress arising from challenging situations that they can successfully handle is healthy and even desirable.</p>
<p>Even biologically, stress prompts the body to produce <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-happens-to-your-body-when-youre-stressed-81789">adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol</a>. In short bursts, these hormones raise our performance, keep us focused and increase our capabilities, which is good. However, over the long-term, prolonged and excessive stress can be damaging.</p>
<p>In short, some anxiety is natural and to be expected. It will help your teen get prepared for the start of school. But if you sense your teen has a damaging level of anxiety, reach out to the school counselor (or another appropriate professional) for help.</p>
<p>Helping your teen face stress head-on at the start of high school will help him or her prepare for potentially higher levels of stress associated with getting into college or finding a job.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Palmer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>School can always be stressful, but starting high school for the first time comes with its own fears and anxieties. Here’s some simple advice for parents to help their freshmen navigate the new year.Chris Palmer, Professor of Film and Media Arts, American University School of CommunicationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/792262017-07-25T18:30:45Z2017-07-25T18:30:45ZHow to succeed in college with a disability<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179637/original/file-20170725-12396-1waslfk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2383%2C1321&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whether you have a physical disability, mental illness or learning challenge, there are strategies to help you earn your degree.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-graduates-standing-inside-a-room-493436/">Stocksnap</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’re entering college as a student with a disability, the first thing you should know is that you’re not alone. In a study of approximately 11,000 young adults with disabilities, nearly 20 percent were found to have <a href="https://nlts2.sri.com/reports/2011_09_02/">attended a four-year college or university</a> at some point after high school. </p>
<p>And, like all students, you should have a sense of pride in what the college experience can do for you: You’ve demonstrated self-determination in deciding to take classes, meet new friends and have many exciting experiences. What’s more, you and your family are making an important contribution to your future. Many studies show that success in college is an indicator of <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ896246.pdf">success in the work world</a>.</p>
<p>As a professor of education and program coordinator for special education, I teach first-year students and advise students throughout their undergraduate careers. Over my 12 years of teaching, I’ve seen some of the challenges that stand in the way of success for college students with special needs – many of which apply to nearly all students.</p>
<p>These challenges can prove daunting, but there are strategies that can help.</p>
<h2>Help your professor understand</h2>
<p>Often disabilities are hidden, but that just means that you can’t see them when you meet someone. Hidden or not, disabilities are real.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179526/original/file-20170724-6656-1y96wbr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t be afraid to talk to your professors and help them understand your disability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/friends-working-discussion-meeting-sharing-ideas-422451733">Rawpixel/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Many professors <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ896246.pdf">don’t know very much about disability</a> or may not have had much experience making changes to their classes. Or perhaps it’s been a while since they’ve had a student with special needs in their classroom.</p>
<p>Providing some <a href="https://adata.org/faq/what-definition-disability-under-ada">websites</a> or <a href="http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home.html">simple readings</a> may be helpful. </p>
<p>The important thing is to help your professor understand that you’re not trying to get by with easier work. Instead, you want them to see that your accommodations are there so that you can be successful. Communicate to them that you’re willing to work hard and put in the extra time that’s necessary to master the content. </p>
<p>In my experience, faculty can be very supportive – and your best advocates at college. Know that they’re going to be your mentors and the ones to help you find internships and even jobs. They’re going to be the ones writing your recommendation letters in the future. </p>
<h2>Get the most out of class</h2>
<p>Just like every other college student, you want to get the most out of every class. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179527/original/file-20170724-24759-1l814rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You’ll need to figure out the best study habits for each class.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/disabled-young-man-sitting-wheelchair-using-139937536">Stokkete/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This particular aspect of college may be more difficult if you have a learning disability. According to special education researcher <a href="http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/school-of-education/departments/special-education/faculty/david-j-connor">David J. Conner</a>, some students “face <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2011.590158">greater difficulties than their nondisabled counterparts</a> in: concentrating on the task at hand, determining the saliency of information presented in class, applying test strategies, and managing time.”</p>
<p>Get yourself prepared. Think about how you’re going to deal with the daily, weekly and long-term reading and assignments in your courses.</p>
<p>Remember that each of your classes requires its own set of skills and study habits. Don’t think that the same study habits are going to work for a philosophy course that work for a math course.</p>
<h2>Find academic and social support</h2>
<p>Often freshmen with special needs <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1107472">don’t seek out academic support</a> through their university’s disability services. They see acknowledging disability as a stigma or are sometimes reluctant to accept their disability. Rather than seeing support as something to be ashamed of, understand that it’s a way of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292366922_Requesting_classroom_accommodations_Self-advocacy_and_conflict_resolution_training_for_college_students_with_disabilities">demonstrating that you can succeed</a> – and that you know how to succeed.</p>
<p>Disability services on your campus are there for you. Whether it’s part of the office of student life, a dean’s office or a dedicated office, someone on-campus is charged with meeting accommodations. Make an appointment in your early days on campus, before you get too far into the semester and the support you need isn’t there. Though it’s not always an official practice, ask them if you might be given a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F004005991204400502">senior student mentor</a> who can answer your questions or even act as an advocate.</p>
<p>The other side to this equation is your personal support group. Many college students find that a special “group” gives a sense of belonging on the campus – something that’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2015.0072">especially important</a> if your disability makes you feel like an outsider. Find a group of friends that can help you as you negotiate your early days of being on campus. For all students, this can also be a great way to <a href="https://doi.org/10.14204/ejrep.35.14053">reduce stress</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179530/original/file-20170724-5139-kg5enr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participating in activities (like theatrical productions) can provide you with social support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/U4SZ9W">UIS Theatre</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most colleges have an organization fair at the beginning of the year; attend that to find out what you might be interested in. You might not have ever had an interest before in that particular area, but consider trying something out of your comfort zone.</p>
<h2>Find and pursue your major</h2>
<p>As you choose and take your classes, remember to be keeping in mind the bigger picture. You don’t have to know what you want to do right away; many of your colleagues who don’t have special needs are undecided on their majors too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start the process.</p>
<p>Some people make jokes about <a href="http://www.slu.edu/beabilliken/quiz-college-majors">interest</a> <a href="http://www.luc.edu/undergrad/academiclife/whatsmymajorquiz/">surveys</a>, but they can be helpful in directing the thinking process around your future career.</p>
<p>Here are some other helpful questions that any student – special needs or not – can consider: What do I think I could do? What have I had success in before? Are the skills being taught in this course the same types of skills that I have? What do my friends or mentors say I’m good at?</p>
<p>The most important thing to remember is that college is a doorway, and once you go through, you’re going to find a lot of great opportunities. Support is there on the college campus, but you have to do your part to find it. Be patient with yourself, but don’t forget to push yourself, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Byrd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For many disabled students, college is the first time that they’re put to the test of making their own way. The experience can be challenging, but there are strategies to help ease the way.Stephen Byrd, Associate Professor of Education, Elon UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/792242017-06-15T04:03:00Z2017-06-15T04:03:00ZDear students, what you post can wreck your life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173436/original/file-20170612-3809-okxd5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-worried-roommates-reading-bad-news-556708990?src=jwiFJHKMkpaxMisAB8pyaA-1-0">Antonio Guillem/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dear Student,</p>
<p>Harvard recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-rescinds-student-acceptances-over-obscene-facebook-memes-2017-6">rescinded admission offers</a> for some incoming freshmen who participated in a private Facebook group sharing offensive memes. The incident has sparked a lot of discussion: Was Harvard’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/learning/did-harvard-go-too-far-in-its-decision-to-rescind-admission-to-10-incoming-freshmen.html">decision</a> justified? What about the <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2017/06/07/harvard-rescinded-acceptances-private-facebook-posts-doesnt-violate-first-amendment/">First Amendment?</a> Do young people know the <a href="http://nypost.com/2017/06/06/how-can-harvard-kids-still-not-understand-that-what-happens-online-doesnt-stay-online/">dangers of social media?</a></p>
<p>I’m a business school lecturer, career services counselor and former recruiter, and I’ve seen how social media becomes part of a person’s brand – a brand that can help you or hurt you.</p>
<p><a href="http://press.kaptest.com/press-releases/kaplan-test-prep-survey-college-admissions-officers-say-social-media-increasingly-affects-applicants-chances">College admissions staff</a>, <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=4%2f28%2f2016&siteid=cbpr&sc_cmp1=cb_pr945_&id=pr945&ed=12%2f31%2f2016">future employers</a> and even <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/10/21/online-dating-relationships">potential dates</a> are more and more likely to check your profile and make decisions or judgments about you.</p>
<p>Here’s what you should know so you don’t end up like those Harvard prospects.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/173444/original/file-20170612-1873-1xuec6c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The rescinded Harvard admissions have sparked debate over First Amendment rights to free speech.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cambridge-ma-may-29-students-harvard-197551889?src=zzQ6Ds1FUrXmj9TF-xRVcg-1-48">f11photo/shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Social media posts disappear, right?</h2>
<p>Let’s be clear about one thing: You’ve been building your online reputation since your first Snapchat. Think the posts disappear? Think private pages are private? Think again.</p>
<p>You might feel like your life and opinions are no one’s business, but you can’t always control <a href="http://www.askamanager.org/2015/09/i-was-fired-after-a-stranger-sent-photos-of-my-private-text-messages-to-my-employer.html">who sees what you post</a>. Every photo, video, tweet, like and comment could be <a href="https://mic.com/articles/150198/people-are-dragging-miss-teen-usa-2016-karlie-hay-for-using-the-n-word-a-lot-on-twitter#.xfuFXLXqF">screenshotted</a> by your friends (or frenemies). You might make a mistake with your privacy settings or post to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/kitchen-aid-twitter-tweet-obama-grandmother_n_1938031.html">the wrong account</a>. And a determined online sleuth can sometimes find ways around privacy settings, viewing photos and posts you might think are well hidden.</p>
<h2>2. Do employers and colleges actually look at this stuff?</h2>
<p>Your profile will very likely be scrutinized by college admissions officers and employers. According to CareerBuilder’s 2017 <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/number-of-employers-using-social-media-to-screen-candidates-at-all-time-high-finds-latest-careerbuilder-study-300474228.html">social media recruitment survey</a>, social media screening is through the roof:</p>
<ul>
<li>600 percent increase since 2006 in employers using social media to screen</li>
<li>70 percent of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates</li>
<li>34 percent of employers found online content that caused them to reprimand or fire an employee</li>
</ul>
<p>This trend is common with admissions as well. Kaplan Test Prep’s 2017 <a href="http://press.kaptest.com/press-releases/kaplan-test-prep-survey-college-admissions-officers-say-social-media-increasingly-affects-applicants-chances">survey of over 350 college admissions officers</a> found that 35 percent checked applicants’ social media profiles. Many who do said social media has influenced their admission decisions.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3iWI7/7/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>
<h2>3. What are recruiters watching out for?</h2>
<p>So what are the potential hazards to avoid? These are some of the types of posts that left a bad impression on me when I used to recruit:</p>
<ul>
<li>References to illegal drugs, sexual posts</li>
<li>Incriminating or embarrassing photos or videos</li>
<li>Profanity, defamatory or racist comments</li>
<li>Politically charged attacks</li>
<li>Spelling and grammar issues</li>
<li>Complaining or bad-mouthing – What’s to say you wouldn’t do the same to a new school, company, boss, or peer?</li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"12944403659"}"></div></p>
<h2>4. What can I do to build a positive online reputation?</h2>
<p>Remember, social media is not all bad; in many cases it helps recruiters get a good feel for your personality and potential fit. The CareerBuilder survey found <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/number-of-employers-using-social-media-to-screen-candidates-at-all-time-high-finds-latest-careerbuilder-study-300474228.html">44 percent of employers</a> who screened candidates via social networks found positive information that caused them to hire a candidate.</p>
<p>From my experience, the following information can support and confirm a candidate’s resume:</p>
<ul>
<li>Your education and experiences match the recruiter’s requirements</li>
<li>Your profile picture and summary is professional</li>
<li>Your personality and interests align with the values of the company or university </li>
<li>Your involvement in community or social organizations shows character</li>
<li>Positive, supportive comments, responses, or testimonials</li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"869743954735939586"}"></div></p>
<h2>5. How do I clean things up?</h2>
<p>Research. Both the college of your dreams and your future employer could Google you, so you should do the same thing. Also check all of your social media profiles – even the ones you haven’t used for a while – and get rid of anything that could send the wrong message. Remember, things can’t be unseen. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Would you want a future boss, admissions officer, or blind date to read or see it? If not, don’t post it. If you already have, delete it.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Your Career Counselor</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79224/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thao Nelson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To post or not to post? Colleges and employers are increasingly checking social media to get a sense of their candidates. Here’s what you should (and shouldn’t) post in order to secure your future.Thao Nelson, Lecturer, Kelley School of Business, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/740192017-04-11T01:51:24Z2017-04-11T01:51:24ZThe sound of inclusion: Why teachers’ words matter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164489/original/image-20170407-3845-u88bp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=451%2C0%2C6125%2C3922&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Language matters in every class: English, math, history and science.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/classroom-learning-mathematics-students-study-concept-395032942">Rawpixel / Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There isn’t just one way to sound like a scientist, or to sound like a scholar. Scientists and scholars come from a wide variety of backgrounds and speak in different ways, in different accents, dialects and languages.</p>
<p>In classrooms across the U.S., students do too. No student (or teacher) leaves their language patterns at the door when they enter a classroom – even classes like math and science, where language is often seen as secondary.</p>
<p>For the past decade, as professors who study the role of language and culture in education, we’ve been working to help educators understand these dynamics across all subject areas. As the U.S. student population continues to <a href="http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/You-May-Also-Be-Interested-In-landing-page-level/Organizing-a-School-YMABI/The-United-States-of-education-The-changing-demographics-of-the-United-States-and-their-schools.html">rapidly diversify along cultural and linguistic lines</a>, the demographics of the teacher population remain stable at <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2426481/the-state-of-teacher-diversity.pdf">roughly 82 percent white and predominantly female</a>. </p>
<p>How can educators make sure that teaching and learning in their diverse classrooms is effective and equitable? </p>
<p>Understanding how and why culture and communication matter in all areas of education – <a href="https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2017/webprogram/Session15094.html">from science to the humanities</a> – is a critical starting point.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162721/original/image-20170327-3273-39j7c9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students from Higher Achievement (Richmond) tour the biology labs at William & Mary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anne Charity Hudley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>When students don’t sound the same</h2>
<p>Students who speak differently can face a number of challenges at school.</p>
<p>Studies have found that at all levels of education, instructors often <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X035008030">favor students who sound like themselves</a> and can be biased against those who don’t. Educators might form negative assumptions about a student’s intelligence and ability based simply on how he or she talks, which can result in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/English-with-an-Accent-Language-Ideology-and-Discrimination-in-the-United/Lippi-Green/p/book/9780415559119">lowered expectations, stereotyping and discrimination</a>. Teachers sometimes also send messages, whether consciously or unconsciously, that a student’s language is <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/skin-that-we-speak">wrong, dumb or out of place</a> at school.</p>
<p>For instance, consider what one mother told us about an interaction she witnessed in her son’s first grade classroom. One of the boys, who is African-American, was playing a game and realized he didn’t have the materials he needed. He raised his hand and said to the teacher, “I don’t got no dice.” His teacher immediately responded, “Joshua, we speak English in this class!” The mother was appalled and felt that this experience could discourage Joshua from speaking up at school.</p>
<p>When students absorb and internalize such messages, they can experience what linguist <a href="http://www.ling.upenn.edu/%7Ewlabov/home.html">William Labov</a> called “<a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/1083.html">linguistic insecurity</a>” – feelings of anxiety and apprehension that can take root even at an early age.</p>
<p>These negative experiences with language and communication in the classroom can have a direct impact on students’ academic achievement. As early as kindergarten, students who come to school speaking in similar ways as their teachers are more likely to get ahead, whereas those who speak differently are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00744.x">more likely to fall behind</a>. These language-based educational inequalities <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Dialects-at-School-Educating-Linguistically-Diverse-Students/Reaser-Adger-Wolfram-Christian/p/book/9781138777453">disproportionately affect</a> African-American students and other students of color, English language learners and students who come from a social class or regional background that is different from that of their teacher.</p>
<p>As Joshua’s mother said to us, “There must be a better way to respond.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164491/original/image-20170407-7394-1veadu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What happens when a teacher doesn’t sound the same as her students?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-children-raised-their-hands-multi-248169208?src=tULU8tJbWtCpYFTX-XRsEw-1-73">Gagliardi Images / Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Putting language into the equation</h2>
<p>For the past decade, we’ve worked not only as <a href="https://charityhudleymallinson.com/book/">scholars</a> but as <a href="https://charityhudleymallinson.com/professionaldevelopment/">teacher trainers</a> as well. Some of our professional development workshops are geared toward a particular group of educators: those who teach K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM.</p>
<p>In 2011, we began a <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1050938">three-year study</a> with 60 K-12 STEM educators in Maryland and Virginia to explore how language can affect teaching and learning for STEM students, particularly for African-American youth. The teachers were eager to learn, but also to share experiences from their own classroom teaching about <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11422-016-9743-7">the role that language can play in STEM</a> – whether it’s answering a word problem in math, reading an engineering text or writing a lab report.</p>
<p>One of the biggest challenges is that, in STEM, word problems, questions, texts and directions often contain unfamiliar terms, both technical and nontechnical. In fact, nontechnical words can <a href="https://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335205984.pdf">often be as problematic</a> as the more specialist terms of science. “It’s kind of like learning a language twice,” a geometry teacher said, because “the vocabulary can be so intense.”</p>
<p>And it’s not just vocabulary that matters; everyday classroom communication plays an important role, too. “We all use language,” one STEM teacher recognized, “whether it’s in the directions we give or the handouts we use.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164494/original/image-20170407-3845-u0kwxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Though STEM teachers receive little training when it comes to teaching and using language, communication is a vital part of every classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/students-working-together-digital-tablet-build-432874750">DGLimages / Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can we do right now?</h2>
<p>How can teachers make an immediate difference in their classes? For educators who want to know how to take this information and apply it directly to their teaching, there are relevant, accessible materials.</p>
<p><a href="https://languageandlife.org/">The Language and Life Project</a>, out of North Carolina State University, hosts a number of videos and podcasts about language.</p>
<p>In addition to <a href="https://charityhudleymallinson.com/">a comprehensive website</a>, we created a series of <a href="http://www.doetest.virginia.gov/instruction/english/literacy/language_culture.shtml">webinars</a> about the role of language in teaching and learning across the disciplines, as well as a <a href="https://baltimorelanguage.com/language-variation-in-the-classroom-podcast/">podcast</a> in which educators themselves describe how this information positively impacted their teaching and their relationships with students.</p>
<p>These materials can help teachers learn how to respond to students who speak differently, avoid cultural and linguistic bias on tests and design culturally supportive curricula.</p>
<p>In the course of our research, we also created a free iOS app (“<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/valuable-voices/id1145710477?mt=8">Valuable Voices</a>”) for educators. The app provides a year of monthly classroom-ready exercises and activities, adaptable for elementary through high school students. One exercise introduces students to the concept of language change by analyzing the linguistic innovations of William Shakespeare. Another activity invites students to explore “linguistic landscapes,” or the language found in public places and spaces around them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/164493/original/image-20170407-31640-721tfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With the right tools, teachers can incorporate language and culture into any classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/97aGY8">World Bank Photo Collection / flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Language matters</h2>
<p>Good teaching relies on effective communication, whether it’s in English class, biology class or any subject in between. The words that teachers and students use, their meanings and their intentions are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405849509543675">central to classroom interactions and dynamics</a>. Ensuring that students, peers and teachers from diverse backgrounds understand and communicate respectfully with each other is often just as important as helping students understand the material in their textbooks. </p>
<p>Language matters – not just for fostering mutual respect, but for making sure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed.</p>
<p>As one high school algebra teacher who participated in our study pointed out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Spending time showing students how their language is respected, and allowing them to have the skills to analyze different ways of speaking and writing, creates a classroom where we celebrate what we can each bring to our learning environment.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Simply put, she said, “It’s worth our time.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74019/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Mallinson has received funding from the National Science Foundation under Grant #1050938/1051056 and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, via a UMBC Dresher Center Summer Faculty Research Fellowship (2013–2014), a UMBC Special Research Assistantship/ Initiative Support award (2010–2011), and a UMBC Alex Brown Center for Entrepreneurship Course Initiative Grant (2008), as well as from the UMBC Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Office of the Dean. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Charity Hudley receives funding from the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) Capstone English Project, Senior English Academy, and Visible Leaders grants; the QEP Mellon Initiative at the College of William & Mary; the College of William & Mary Community Studies Professorship, the William and Mary Class of 1952 Professorship, the National Science Foundation grants BCS-105105 and SES- 0930522, The Jessie Ball DuPont Charitable Foundation, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation Grant, the College of William and Mary and many generous individual donors to the William and Mary Scholar Undergraduate Research Experience. She is a volunteer with The Democratic Party of Virginia.</span></em></p>In English and science alike, every student and teacher brings his or her own language patterns to class. But how can educators make sure that language bias doesn’t harm student achievement?Christine Mallinson, Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyAnne Charity Hudley, Associate Professor of Education, English, and Linguistics, William & MaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/741192017-03-15T00:03:15Z2017-03-15T00:03:15ZSchool bus routes are expensive and hard to plan. We calculated a better way<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159609/original/image-20170306-20746-16q05z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Got to get to school on time.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanhochman/8314450897/in/photolist-tq91V-9i7PEf-56DhC-cPFGew-a2MPnK-4LZMG4-9aBbP-pgFL3F-4tj5ps-phMrUj-dEHJzF-fB9iWh-a61ipd-qvaWyB-tq91c-aRCqJT-6orCeH-acDMgs-9fHD25-aNgYXT-9JAP84-aVq97V-qn4rmr-pGvf93-quBNXc-5mLuHu-qwtSfA-rVkwy-5pCZsE-4LWEza-8k5DR1-byhkqp-8Y7XMv-nErxmf-peVfZP-8YaZRC-nJiK8x-pkgb9Y-aFmjid-pw83Mr-pGvfZm-pxbo8a-9HMWrF-ohd2j-cByBhb-pJagEE-qnkhjq-7nH3Rq-q769WQ-pGvfzo">Cropped from deanhochman/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Here’s a math problem even the brightest school districts struggle to solve: getting hordes of elementary, middle and high school students onto buses and to school on time every day.</p>
<p>Transporting all of these pupils presents a large and complex problem. Some school districts use existing software systems to develop their bus routes. Others still develop these routes manually.</p>
<p>In such problems, improving operational efficiency even a little could result in great advantages. Each school bus costs school districts somewhere between US$60,000 and $100,000. So, scheduling the buses more efficiently will result in significant monetary savings.</p>
<p>Over the past year, we have been working with the <a href="http://www.hcpss.org/">Howard County Public School System</a> (HCPSS) in Maryland to analyze its transportation system and recommend ways to improve it. We have developed a way to optimize school bus routes, thanks to new mathematical models. </p>
<p>Finding the optimal solution to this problem is very valuable, even if that optimal solution is only slightly better than the current plan. A solution that is only one percent worse would require a considerable number of additional buses due to the size of the operation.</p>
<p>By optimizing bus routes, schools can cut down on costs, while still serving all of the children in their district. Our analysis shows that HCPSS can save between five and seven percent on the number of buses needed.</p>
<h2>Route planning</h2>
<p>A bus trip in the afternoon starts from a given school and visits a sequence of stops, dropping off students until the bus is empty. A route is a sequence of trips from different schools that are linked together to be served by one bus. </p>
<p>Our goal was to reduce both the total time buses run without students on board – also known as aggregate deadhead time – as well as the number of routes. Fewer routes require fewer buses, since each route is assigned to a single bus. Our approach uses data analysis and mathematical modeling to find the optimal solution in a relatively short time. </p>
<p>To solve this problem, a computer algorithm considers all of the bus trips in the district. Without modifying the trips, the algorithm assigns them to routes such that the aggregate deadhead time and the number of routes are minimized. Individual routes become longer, allowing the bus to serve more trips in a single route. </p>
<p>Since the trips are fixed, in this way we can decrease the total time the buses are en route. Minimizing the deadhead travel results in cost savings and reductions in air pollution.</p>
<p>The routes that we generated can be viewed as a lower bound to the number of buses needed by school districts. We can find the optimal solution for HCPSS in less than a minute. </p>
<h2>Serving all students</h2>
<p>While we were working on routes, we decided to also tackle the problem of the bus trips themselves. To do this, we needed to determine what trips are required to serve the students for each school in the system, given bus capacities, stop locations and the number of students at each stop. This has a direct impact on how routes are chosen.</p>
<p>Most existing models aim to minimize either the total travel time or the total number of trips. The belief in such cases is that, by minimizing the number of trips, you can minimize the number of buses needed overall. </p>
<p>However, our work shows that this is not always the case. We found a way to cut down on the number of buses needed to satisfy transportation demands, without trying to minimize either of the above two objectives. Our approach considers not only minimizing the number of trips, but also how these trips can be linked together.</p>
<h2>New start times</h2>
<p>Last October, we presented our work at the Maryland Association of Pupil Transportation conference. An audience member at that conference suggested that we analyze school start and dismissal times. By changing the high school, middle school and elementary school start times, bus operations could potentially be even more efficient. Slight changes in school start times can make it possible to link more trips together in a single bus route, hence decreasing the number of buses needed overall. </p>
<p>We developed a model that optimizes the school bell times, given that each of the elementary, middle and high school start times fall within a prespecified time window. For example, the time window for elementary school start times would be from 8:15 to 9:25 a.m.; for middle schools, from 7:40 to 8:30 a.m.; and all high schools would start at 7:25 a.m. </p>
<p>Our model looks at all of the bus trips and searches for the optimal combination of school dismissal time such that the number of school buses, which is the major contributing factor to costs, is minimized. We found that, in most cases, optimizing the bell times results in significant savings regarding the number of buses. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>Using our model, we ran many different “what if?” scenarios using different school start and dismissal times for the HCPSS. Four of these are currently under consideration by the Howard County School Board for possible implementation.</p>
<p>We are also continuing to enhance our current school bus transportation models, as well developing new ways to further improve efficiency and reduce costs. </p>
<p>For example, we are building models that can help schools select the right vendors for their transportation needs, as well as minimize the number of hours that buses run per day. </p>
<p>In the future, the type of models we are working on could be bundled into a software system that schools can use by themselves. There is really no impediment in using these types of systems as long as the school systems have an electronic database of their stops, trips and routes. </p>
<p>Such software could potentially be implemented in all school districts in the nation. Many of these districts would benefit from using such models to evaluate their current operations and determine if any savings can be realized. With many municipalities struggling with budgets, this sort of innovation could save money without degrading service.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74119/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Haghani has worked as an independent consultant for Howard County Public School System. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ali Shafahi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Every year, school districts across the U.S. try to plan out a bus schedule that works for all students while keeping costs and emissions low. Our mathematical models can help.Ali Haghani, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of MarylandAli Shafahi, Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/718862017-02-09T19:12:14Z2017-02-09T19:12:14ZBack to school – understanding challenges faced by Indigenous children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155579/original/image-20170205-18772-1rb2ed0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One way teachers can respect culture is by embedding it into 'mainstream' subjects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tracey Nearmy/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Chances are that many a tear has been shed throughout Australia in recent weeks with the start of the school year. But enough about the parents, let’s talk about the kids!</p>
<p>As with other students, many Indigenous kids will be excited about school, while others will be feeling nervous as they come to grips with new teachers, peers, and environments. </p>
<p>For Indigenous children, there are some added and unique challenges and opportunities.</p>
<p>In 2017, it is likely that more Indigenous children than ever will be commencing school for the very first time. The Indigenous population is young and growing fast. </p>
<p>In 2011, the percentage of Indigenous people under the age of five years was <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/indigenous-observatory/reports/health-and-welfare-2015/indigenous-population/">double the percentage</a> for the rest of the population.</p>
<p>Not only is the Indigenous population younger, but statistics are showing signs of improved Indigenous enrolment in early childhood education in the past decade. </p>
<p>In 2001, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/30EDAC9D34AFC189CA256E9E0028706F?opendocument">46% of Indigenous</a> four-year-olds attended preschool. And in 2013, approximately <a href="http://closingthegap.dpmc.gov.au/assets/pdfs/closing_the_gap_report_2016.pdf">75% of Indigenous</a> four-year-olds were enrolled in early childhood education. </p>
<p>Increased participation is encouraging – getting off to a positive start is important when it comes to lifelong learning. <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-childhood-education-is-key-to-closing-the-gaps-54322">Research shows</a> that preschool and childcare participation are positively associated with reading and literacy, as well as maths and abstract reasoning over the long term. </p>
<p>The challenge of providing positive starts to learning is not confined to remote communities alone. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="http://closingthegap.dpmc.gov.au/assets/pdfs/closing_the_gap_report_2016.pdf">enrolment data</a> of Indigenous children in early childhood education programs show higher rates in remote areas than in major cities and regional areas. </p>
<p>The reasons for lower rates of participation in urban areas can be due to a <a href="https://www.mq.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/103615/barriers_to_participation.pdf">combination of generic factors</a> (such as cost and transport) and cultural factors (namely, Indigenous parents’ concern about the cultural identity of their children being supported and valued). </p>
<p>If Australia wants to close the gap in education, then we cannot afford to look at schooling in a vacuum to other socioeconomic factors. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/2015-aedc-national-report">Australian Early Development Census</a>, Indigenous children in 2015 were twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable on two or more of the AEDC developmental domains (physical health and wellbeing; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive skills; and communication skills and general knowledge).</p>
<h2>Embedding Indigenous culture into subjects</h2>
<p>The growth in the number of Indigenous children entering school has implications for schools and governments alike. </p>
<p>Principals and teachers will need to work hand-in-glove with Indigenous families to ensure school is a culturally safe environment for their children. This means that <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/uploadedFiles/ClosingTheGap/Content/Publications/2012/ctgc-rs15.pdf">Indigenous heritage is respected and promoted</a>. </p>
<p>If school environments get this right early, then the downstream effects can be very positive, as shown by a young Koori woman <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-01/jessica-buhagiar/8229784">scoring 98.3%</a> in the 2016 New South Wales Higher School Certificate. </p>
<p>One way teachers can respect culture is by embedding it into “mainstream” subjects. </p>
<p>Take for example, a school in the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-01/trail-blazing-aboriginal-bilingual-maths-program-revisited/8134998?site=indigenous&topic=latest">Top End</a> which is using kinship systems to teach maths. By building on the children’s understanding of kinship relationships, Yolngu teachers help children see the link between particular patterns in kinship names across generations, then associate them with number patterns in conventional maths. By working from what they know, children are actively building a bridge to western concepts and finding grounds of commonality. </p>
<h2>Getting to know each child</h2>
<p>If we want to grow more success stories in Indigenous education, teachers will need first to establish positive relationships, not only with children but with their families and the wider Indigenous community’s people and culture. </p>
<p>While school policies are important, relationships are the real keys to success.</p>
<p>For teachers, the message is simple – get to really know your kids, their families, their community and its history, and what’s going on at home. </p>
<p>Have a cuppa with Elders. Share a joke with the kids, kick a footy, ask how their weekend was, find time for the children to share their stories, be it through play, art, sport, writing, or show and tell. </p>
<p>You might be testing children, but they’ll be testing you too. They will be looking to see if you’re friendly, trustworthy, caring. If you pass their test, then there is a stronger chance they will pass yours.</p>
<p>Culture is a large part of an Indigenous child’s story, but it is not the only part.</p>
<p>Many (not all) Indigenous children are under stress (educationally, socially, emotionally) due to low income, family mobility, overcrowded homes, and poor health and disability. </p>
<p>Last year I co-authored a paper about Indigenous education that we called <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/policyinsights/4/">“Creating expectations that are really high and highly real.”</a></p>
<p>The point of our paper is that Indigenous success in education requires simultaneous and coordinated action inside the school gates and outside of them – all aimed at promoting Indigenous child wellbeing. </p>
<p>Social stressors often make the educational climb far steeper and longer for Indigenous children.</p>
<h2>Cost of education</h2>
<p>Schooling affordability remains as a big issue for many families – Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike. </p>
<p>The notion of “free education” is fast disappearing into Australian mythology. </p>
<p>As a mother in <a href="http://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/mum-rant-cost-school-supplies-goes-viral/3133806/">Queensland recently showed</a> via her Facebook post (which went viral), the cost of schooling is a concern for many low-income families. Her message will have struck a chord with many Indigenous families who find books and a pencil case with pencils in it hard enough to buy, let alone a computer case with a computer in it, and having access to Wi-Fi.</p>
<h2>Targeted funding</h2>
<p>At a systems level, we have got to get the education dollar to <a href="https://theconversation.com/educating-australia-why-our-schools-arent-improving-72092">where it is most needed</a>; and nowhere is it <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-education-results-show-need-for-needs-based-funding-23656">more needed</a> than in Indigenous education. </p>
<p>About eight in ten Indigenous students <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/4221.0Main+Features52010?OpenDocument">attended public schools in 2010</a>, so adequate resourcing for public schools in low socioeconomic areas (where many Indigenous people reside) <a href="https://www.indigenousjustice.gov.au/resources/dropping-off-the-edge-2015-persistent-communal-disadvantage-in-australia/">is imperative</a>. </p>
<p>Schools in low socioeconomic status areas are not only faced with the challenge of providing quality teaching, but often they will need resources to meet the needs of the “whole child”, including their psychology, nutrition, speech, career prospects, and cultural identity. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.murrischool.com/">Murri School</a> in Queensland is showing the way by providing wrap-around services for children. </p>
<p>The school works with Aboriginal health services and the University of Queensland, among other organisations, to provide <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/brisbane-murri-school-raises-indigenous-student-retention-rates/6332272">holistic support services</a> to children such as in the areas of family support, psychology, ear, nose and throat services, occupational and speech therapy. </p>
<p>They are also supporting children who have shown signs of inter-generational trauma, through tailored healing programs.</p>
<p>Bolstering Indigenous success in education is a shared responsibility: students, families, schools, communities, and governments alike. To paraphrase the poet John Donne,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“No child is an island, entire of herself; every child is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… I am involved in education, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If we can get the three R’s (relationships, responsibilities, and resourcing) right, then in future years, we can get children off to a positive start at school and shed a tear for the right reasons.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Dreise does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers – get to really know your kids, their families, their community and its history, and what’s going on at home. While school policies are important, relationships are the real keys to success.Tony Dreise, Indigenous policy analyst & researcher, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/712652017-01-26T19:12:08Z2017-01-26T19:12:08ZHow to tell if your child’s educational needs are being met at school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153564/original/image-20170120-5217-81wv3p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The teacher’s task is to help your child be motivated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a new school year begins, your child will most likely have a new teacher. With a new teacher comes a new opportunity for your child to learn the academic and personal skills important for school - and beyond. </p>
<p>From an educational psychology perspective, there are lots of ways teachers greatly influence children’s outcomes. These include:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Motivation and engagement</p></li>
<li><p>Buoyancy, resilience, and adaptability</p></li>
<li><p>Personal best goals</p></li>
<li><p>Load reduction instruction (not overloading a child with work)</p></li>
<li><p>Interpersonal relationships and social support</p></li>
</ol>
<p>These can also be used to help parents consider how their child’s educational needs are being met at school.</p>
<h2>Motivation and engagement</h2>
<p>The teacher’s capacity to motivate and engage the class is vital to your child’s journey this year. </p>
<p>“Motivation” refers to children’s inclination, interest, energy and drive to learn, work effectively, and achieve their academic potential. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/building-classroom-success-9781847065605/">“Engagement”</a> is the behaviour that accompanies this inclination and energy.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lifelongachievement.com/the-wheel-i7/">The Motivation and Engagement Wheel</a> is a useful way to understand your child’s motivation and engagement. </p>
<p>The Wheel comprises positive motivation (self-belief, valuing of school, learning focus), positive engagement (planning, task management, persistence), negative motivation (anxiety, fear of failure, low control), and negative engagement (self-sabotage, disengagement).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/153990/original/image-20170123-8075-1jfdivp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Motivation and Engagement Wheel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.lifelongachievement.com/">Lifelong Achievement Group</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It can be helpful in identifying and sustaining specific motivational strengths in your child. It can also be used to target specific areas that might need further assistance. </p>
<p>The teacher’s task is to help support your child’s positive motivation and reduce your child’s negative motivation.</p>
<h2>Resilience and adaptability</h2>
<p>In this coming year, your child will experience academic setback, difficulty, and adversity. How your child deals with academic adversity is very important. </p>
<p>How the teacher helps your child work through this adversity is also very important.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980902934639">Research</a> has identified two types of academic adversity. </p>
<p>The first type is low-level or everyday adversity. All children experience this. Examples include struggling to complete difficult schoolwork, receiving a disappointing result, imminent deadlines, and clashing due dates. </p>
<p>The second type of academic adversity is major adversity. Fewer children will experience this. Examples include poor physical and/or mental health, learning difficulties or disabilities, chronic failure, bullying, suspension or expulsion, changing schools or repeating a grade. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032794">third factor</a> in this area is the capacity to navigate uncertainty, change, variability, novelty, and transition. </p>
<p>During any school day, your child will change tasks and lessons, interact with different teachers and school staff, work with different groups of students, and frequently experience new or changing conditions. </p>
<p>Children need to be able to adapt to help them deal with these sorts of changes, transitions, and uncertainties.</p>
<h2>Personal best goals</h2>
<p>There is growing awareness of the limits of comparative approaches to assessing students. Assessment along these lines typically involves ranking and comparing your child with other children. </p>
<p>There is useful information in knowing how your child is travelling compared to other children - but it tends to be narrow information and gives little insight into some important aspects of your child’s development.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.01.001">Research shows</a> it is beneficial to benchmark a student against him/herself (not just against other students). This is called a growth approach to academic development. Here, children are assessed against their previous best performance or efforts.</p>
<p>There are great motivational and achievement benefits in encouraging a student to compete with him/herself. Teachers play a major role in the goals students set. With teacher and parental support, personal best goals might be something for your child to consider this year.</p>
<h2>Load reduction instruction</h2>
<p>In the initial stages of learning any new skill or knowledge, your child is a novice. Because of this, it is important not to overload them in these early learning stages. </p>
<p>Reducing the load on your child involves teaching that is structured, organised in small and manageable tasks, provides clear examples, and is explicit in the content to be learned. </p>
<p>It also involves practice and repetition, so that key skills and knowledge can be readily implemented or recalled when needed.</p>
<p>This approach is called <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310102750_Using_Load_Reduction_Instruction_LRI_to_boost_motivation_and_engagement">“load reduction instruction”</a> and describes ways the teacher can reduce the load on your child in the initial stages of learning. </p>
<p>As your child develops these skills and knowledge, the teacher then moves onto more open-ended and guided discovery learning approaches.</p>
<p>Both explicit and discovery approaches are critical to your child’s academic development. It is the sequencing of these that is really important to get right. With core skills and knowledge under your child’s belt, high quality discovery learning then follows.</p>
<h2>Interpersonal relationships and social support</h2>
<p>The extent to which your child will be receptive to the teacher’s efforts I have described here will depend on the relationship the teacher builds with your child. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325583">three key relationships</a> that help children learn: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The interpersonal relationship – the extent to which the teacher is interested in, helps, and encourages your child.</p></li>
<li><p>The substantive relationship – the extent to which your child relates to and is interested in the content of what is being taught.</p></li>
<li><p>The pedagogical relationship – the extent to which your child relates to the methods the teacher uses to teach.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Parents/carers also share a substantial part of the responsibility – and children are greatly assisted when parents/carers and the teachers are on the same page.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71265/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Martin is author of the Motivation and Engagement Scale and also the Motivation and Engagement Workbook that are published by Lifelong Achievement Group and for which he receives royalties. He also receives funding from the Australian Research Council and this funding has underpinned some of the research mentioned in this article.</span></em></p>There are lots of ways teachers greatly influence children’s outcomes, including improving motivation and resilience.Andrew J. Martin, Scientia Professor and Professor of Educational Psychology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/571632016-04-06T09:46:07Z2016-04-06T09:46:07ZWhat schools don’t tell you about campus sexual assault<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117557/original/image-20160405-28970-1yg3ju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Safety issues on dorms are often not discussed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pennstatelive/4947132601/in/photolist-8xamaF-adWxu2-8Bzf8L-7e4b5b-8wmqxn-6PTBXG-8DkW2n-g7Eabs-8rGpj-8tHcsV-4Wgyem-8w41yV-3bm2Xo-7hgije-5afFS9-58CiXg-4yoSdK-5fdbWY-8Dp7Am-8Dm1KB-b5fHh-659Zq-8Dp78W-p5PAzV-8DkYAD-8Bz9oC-5Tt3mD-oNko46-8Dp6nG-5K47YE-bnDRdA-oyAsB1-8x6qR8-8DkXnx-5afLCb-8DkYwM-8Dm3FH-8Bw4bR-5afNDA-cYMuW7-8DkYPc-65a1D-5abuM6-6rL3bB-8Dp7ZC-8Dp8tN-5afCah-6FXLE-8Dpc5Y-2F2Y8">Penn State</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Throughout the summer before my daughter left for college, I repeatedly warned her: never put a glass down at a party; use the buddy system when going to parties; and never go upstairs at a fraternity party.</p>
<p>Instead, what I should have told her is: the place you are most likely to be assaulted is in your dorm; you are most vulnerable the first weeks of the semester; and your attacker is most likely to be a friend or acquaintance.</p>
<p>In the past couple of years, much has been written about the high rate of sexual assaults on college campuses. What no one seems to be talking about is that most assaults occur in the dorms.</p>
<h2>Vulnerable freshman year</h2>
<p>A 2015 study found over 20 percent of all women surveyed <a href="https://www.aau.edu/uploadedFiles/AAU_Publications/AAU_Reports/Sexual_Assault_Campus_Survey/Report%20on%20the%20AAU%20Campus%20Climate%20Survey%20on%20Sexual%20Assault%20and%20Sexual%20Misconduct.pdf">experienced unwanted sexual contact</a> while attending college. This confirmed earlier findings from a survey conducted between 2005 to 2007, in which <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221153.pdf">one in five women</a> reported being sexually assaulted since entering college. </p>
<p>The most vulnerable time is the <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ccsvsftr.pdf">first two months</a> of the freshman year. In fact, to symbolize the danger, the first few months of the fall freshman semester are now commonly called the <a href="http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/424768/original/2008.kimble.uws.pdf">sexual assault “red zone.”</a></p>
<p>Most likely an attacker will be a friend or acquaintance. A study conducted by the <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf">National Institute of Justice</a>, the research wing of the U.S. Department of Justice, found that 90 percent of college sexual assault victims knew their assailant.</p>
<p>The majority of assaults happen when one or both parties have <a href="http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/media/Journal/118-Abbey.pdf">consumed alcohol</a>. Parents and students usually associate alcohol use with parties, and particularly fraternity parties. Rarely is the connection made about what happens when a student returns to the dorm after those parties. </p>
<h2>Schools’ legal reporting obligation</h2>
<p>Colleges and universities that receive federal funding (which is virtually all schools) are required under the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1092">Clery Act</a> to compile and publish an annual report <a href="http://clerycenter.org/summary-jeanne-clery-act">on the nature, date, time and place</a> of crimes occurring on and off campus. On-campus crime reports must indicate whether the crime occurred in on-campus residential housing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117526/original/image-20160405-29010-wk2zol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is likely that campuses underreport sexual assault victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolframburner/8676416641/in/photolist-edGUon-bM5Hq4-rn5uEw-rBmcFb-DzAqsS-D4qe9n-rQWZAK-rQXpS9-s8pkgK-DBUEWT-xxq1jz-mp3CzV-7WEzA9-8QMbRx-9C7LFP-mp4Luw-bM5HQT-mp3Cq6-mp2YxK-kvgmR7-byb1QQ-fzxfNy-mp4KBQ-mp2XXr-eefZ2p-mp4LUu-mp4Kxw-qGD5Xy-owx9WU-nN8PsL-nN8PE9-mp3CR6-mp4KwE-mp3Cup-offxnR-rBmdz5-ouHnvA-owxagG-owKeog-oyuWKF-rkjh3t-oyuWCg-rnbTnn-rnbT84-DruBuh-ptMZBB-DaMTgs-DaMZdN-CEoL2w-8RbWea">Wolfram Burner</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rapes and “fondlings” are among the crimes that must be reported. Fondlings are <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.pdf">defined</a> as forcible and/or nonconsensual touching for sexual gratification. Nonconsensual situations include those in which the victim is incapacitated and thus unable to consent.</p>
<p>It is quite likely that the Clery Act reports significantly <a href="http://www.aauw.org/article/clery-act-data-analysis/">underrepresent</a> the number of campus sexual assaults. As the table below shows, in 2014, the <a href="http://ope.ed.gov/security/Index.aspx">combined total Clery Act</a> reports from <em>all</em> U.S. colleges and universities was 4,971 reported rapes and 2,521 reported fondlings. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/aemoq/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="256"></iframe>
<p>Even if the data underreport the total number of sexual assaults, what they do show is <em>where</em> assaults happen. </p>
<h2>Where campus sexual assaults happen</h2>
<p>Here’s what national <a href="http://ope.ed.gov/security/Index.aspx">Clery Act data</a> show:</p>
<p>In 2014, 3,658 out of 4,971 (74 percent) of <em>all</em> reported rapes and 1,236 out of 2,521 (49 percent) of <em>all</em> reported fondlings occurred in on-campus residential housing. When looking only at <em>on-campus</em> occurrences, as opposed to the total of on- and off-campus occurrences, the percentages are even higher. Approximately 82 percent of all reported <em>on-campus</em> rapes (3,658 out of 4,464) and 53 percent of all reported <em>on-campus</em> fondlings (1,236 out of 2,330) occurred in campus housing.</p>
<p>These data are consistent with Clery Act reports <a href="http://ope.ed.gov/security/Index.aspx">from earlier years</a>, which also show the majority of sexual assaults occurring in campus residential housing.</p>
<p><a href="https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/handbook.pdf">On-campus residential housing</a> includes dorms, other student residences and fraternity and sorority houses owned or controlled by the university or located on university property. Under the Clery Act, schools do not need to distinguish between fraternity houses and dorms when reporting where sexual assaults happened. </p>
<p>However, a <a href="http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/ogr/lawenforce/analysis-of-college-campus-rape-and-sexual-assault-reports-2000-2011-finalcombined.pdf">10-year study</a> looked at rapes and sexual assaults between 2001 and 2011 occurring on Massachusetts’ college and university campuses – including dorms, apartments and fraternity houses. The study found that 81 percent of all reported rapes and assaults occurred in the dorms, 9 percent occurred in houses or apartments and only 4 percent occurred in fraternity houses.</p>
<h2>“See-no-evil” approach is risky</h2>
<p>Why does knowing where assaults occur matter? </p>
<p><a href="http://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2028&context=gsulr">As my scholarship suggests</a>, part of the sexual assault education process involves debunking myths and stereotypes.</p>
<p>Exposing the myth that most sexual assaults happen in fraternity housing, as well as educating students about the dangers of dorm-based assaults, raises awareness and allows students to take appropriate precautions.</p>
<p>Paying attention to the fact that most assaults occur in the dorms also allows targeted prevention measures. At the very minimum, given how many assaults occur early in the fall semester, parent and student summer orientation programs should include education about dorm-based assaults and appropriate preventative measures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117528/original/image-20160405-29010-tlnbpx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why the ‘see-no-evil’ approach does not work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/allyaubryphotography/2443089993/in/photolist-4HTtxg-4op42H-hS1L4u-Qtwet-cVfgP9-7W5zZU-cVfunS-8wnWZC-cVffzY-56dRWh-ajRgr9-cVftg5-cVftKA-cVg54Q-cVfBUb-cVfzZG-cVfqRQ-eUgQKc-cVg9uj-cVfyUu-6FxZMt-cVfha5-81JzpW-cVfDfh-cVfgYs-cVfDxo-cVfAEG-cVfsoQ-cVfjTC-cVg75G-ajRiuw-rYPT4F-cVgbdJ-cVfguw-cVfN7s-cVfsdw-ajPcac-aQZm5r-cVfqzs-cVftTo-cVfp6Y-cVfYZh-cVfzRh-cVfivU-cVg1yC-cVg7B3-o3vHKJ-cVfjxs-cVg5No-cVfrdf">Ally Aubry</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Schools may be reluctant to acknowledge and discuss where assaults are happening because they don’t want to frighten either parents or students. But the “see no evil” approach comes with significant risk of potentially preventable harm and liability.</p>
<p>Recently, parents of a young woman allegedly assaulted in her dorm filed a <a href="http://www.brownandcurry.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Petition-File-stamped.pdf">class action lawsuit</a> against the University of Kansas (KU). </p>
<p>The suit alleges KU violated the <a href="http://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch50/050_006_0023.html">Kansas Consumer Protection Act</a> when it solicited students through representations of its residence halls as “safe and secure” despite its knowledge that numerous students had sexually assaulted other students in its dorms. </p>
<p>The student herself filed a Title IX <a href="https://issuu.com/tcj5/docs/lawsuit_documents?e=15618686/34323417">lawsuit</a> against KU. Title IX protects against gender based discrimination with regard to educational opportunities. Her lawsuit rests mainly upon allegations about KU’s conduct after the assault report. However, it also alleges KU is liable for its failure to take reasonable steps to make the dorm safer in light of the data it had about dorm-based assaults.</p>
<p>Other <a href="http://www.stetson.edu/law/academics/highered/home/media/2002/Preventative_Law_on_Campus.pdf">lawsuits have been filed</a> against colleges, alleging failure to warn of and protect students from the reasonably foreseeable danger of sexual assaults occurring in college dorm.</p>
<p>While colleges likely will <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/14/parents-sue-kansas-university-over-alleged-dorm-rapes.html">refute allegations of wrongdoing, as KU has done</a> in the suits against it, these suits lead to undesirable publicity and expenditure of university resources on litigation defense. </p>
<h2>Preventing sexual assault</h2>
<p>When colleges fail to examine where assaults happen, they expose themselves to litigation. More importantly, they miss critical opportunities to explore solutions to the widespread campus sexual assault problem.</p>
<p>Schools should look closely at their own sexual assault reports and consider targeted solutions if there are particular dorms with a high incidence of assaults.</p>
<p>Studies should be conducted at the national level to examine overall patterns. Those studies should examine questions such as whether sexual assaults are more likely to occur in certain types of dorms, such as athlete dorms or even coed dorms. Studies should also look at whether it makes a difference if dorms are coed by floor, by hall or by room. </p>
<p>Using and building upon campus sexual assault location data brings the issue of where campus assaults occur into the open. It also adds an important component to the education and prevention discussion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57163/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea A. Curcio does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students are going back to their campuses, and ought to be aware of the danger.Andrea A. Curcio, Professor of Law, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.