February 16, 2010

>Future Teachers Taught to Handle Bullying Before Stepping into Classrooms of Their Own

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Last week teacher education students at the University of Northern Iowa experienced first hand real life bullying scenarios in a workshop entitled, “Just a Matter of Teaching: From Teasing to Torment.” The workshop, which was led by Students Against a Violent Environment, a UNI peer theatre group, challenged students to participate in skits about bullying behavior in an effort to coach these future teachers on practices for handling bullying and harassment.

For students like Josh Gitch, the teaching lab experience opened his eyes to aspects of bullying he hadn’t even thought of.

Everyone knows that bullying is wrong. What you don’t see are the enablers.

Starting this March, Students Against a Violent Environment will lead two workshops focused on LGBT student bullying and the stress endured by those students.

   

About Elizabeth Free

       

Elizabeth Free is the communications manager at GLSEN--the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. Elizabeth joined GLSEN in 2009 to make schools safer for all students and says one of the best parts of her job is working with GLSEN's Student Ambassadors. She is originally from Texas and has a B.A. in Public Relations and Advertising from the University of Houston.