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3-8-18 Education in the News

NJ Spotlight--Op-Ed: Fear and Learning in America

Children need to feel emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and physically safe in order to realize their full potential

A high school student once told me that he needed his school to be safe enough for him to tell his teachers that he could not read. That's the kind of safe that is far beyond what security guards, metal detectors, and gun-packing teachers could ever provide and nobody is talking about that. The mind makes no distinction between real and imagined fear. Fear is fear and when we experience it our brains downshift and we can't learn. We can be trained but we have little capacity to be educated. Go no further than Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs to understand that every level of human consciousness is built upon feeling safe and loved. Soldiers can be educated about military tactics, but they are trained to kill. There is a difference.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/18/03/07/op-ed-fear-and-learning-in-america/

Ross Danis | March 8, 2018

 

Trenton Times--Don't punish students who take part in gun-control protests | Editorial

Spurred on by their grief at losing friends, classmates and teachers at the hands of a young man with an AR-15, students from Parkland, Fla., have stirred up enough support to convince major companies to reconsider the way they do business.

Think Avis, Budget, Hertz, United Airlines, Dicks Sporting Goods, among others.

Now these eloquent youngsters have galvanized their peers nationwide to plan peaceful protests and walkouts this month and next, throwing the grown-ups in the room - teachers and administrators - into a tizzy.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/03/dont_punish_students_who_take_part_in_gun-control.html#incart_river_index

Times of Trenton Editorial Board| Updated Mar 7, 7:40 PM; Posted Mar 7, 7:40 PM

 

The Atlantic-- The Ripple Effect of the West Virginia Teachers' Victory

The success of the statewide strike has intensified education unrest nationally—and could have lasting implications for the country’s schools.

West Virginia lawmakers at last reached a deal on Tuesday to raise teachers’ salaries by 5 percent. The agreement—along with the prospect of policy solutions to the educators’ other demands—brought to a close a teachers’ strike that had kept K–12 classrooms across all the state’s 55 counties closed for nine school days. Even though the West Virginia walkout is over, however, observers suspect that it has jump-started a national movement that could have lasting implications for country’s schools.

Evidence that the success of West Virginia’s roughly 20,000 K-12 classroom teachers is intensifying educator unrest nationally can already by seen.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/03/west-virginia-teachers-victory/555056/

Alia Wong Mar 7, 2018

 

Education Week--Thwarted School Shooting Plans Don't Get Much Attention. Here's How That Affects School Safety Debates.

Schools, parents, and law enforcement agencies regularly intervene before would-be shooters attack schools, but those thwarted plans understandably don't get the same level of coverage as mass shootings. And the resulting imbalance in discussions can affect the debate over how to keep schools safe, school safety experts say.

That's because focusing largely on successful attacks can make them seem inevitable, turning conversations toward physical safety measures—like security hardware and armed officers meant to minimize damage in the event of a shooting.

But experts say school safety is also about "invisible" prevention measures: intervening with students in crisis before they develop an intent to harm others, creating an environment where students feel safe and comfortable reporting concerns about their peers, and developing systems to respond quickly to threats.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2018/03/thwarted_school_shooting_plans_dont_get_much_attention_heres_how_that_affects_school_safety_debates.html

Evie Blad on March 7, 2018 3:18 PM |