Student Listening Circles and Bullying Prevention

1. Student Listening Circles and Bullying Prevention Leslie Poynor, PhD Regional Coordinator, North Coast/Bay Area Health and Human Development Program WestEd lpoynor@wested.org 510-302-4241

2. Agenda • Social and Emotional Health • What is it? • Why is it important? • Developmental Supports and Opportunities • What are they? • How do we measure them? • Social and Emotional Health and Bullying • What’s the relationship? • What can we do? • Understanding and Supporting Social and Emotional Health • The Student Listening Circle • The Protective Factors

3. What is social and emotional health? The capacity to: • Form positive and secure relationships; • Recognize and regulate emotions; and • Problem solve effectively. Zins, J.E. & Elias, M.J. (2006)

4. Why is Social and Emotional Health Important? People with good social and emotional health • have an ability to bounce back from adversity, trauma, and stress. • have the tools for coping with difficult situations and maintaining a positive outlook. • remain focused, flexible, and creative in bad times as well as good. This ability is called resilience.

5. What Supports Social and Emotional Health? • Opportunities for Meaningful Participation • Caring Relationships • High Expectations

6. How Do We Measure the Developmental Supports and Opportunities for Social and Emotional Health? Check Our Assumptions!

7. What students say about caring adults What percentage of students respond it is very much/pretty much true one adult at school really cares about them? Elementary = 81% Middle School = 58% High School = 60%

8. What adults say about caring adults What percentage of teachers and staff in California agree nearly all/most teachers really care about all students? Elementary = 95% 81% 58% 60% Middle School = 88% High School = 86%

9. How Do We MeasureSocial and Emotional Health? 85 to 90% of teachers and staff agree that nearly all or most adults at their school really care about every student, yet 20% of elementary and 40% of secondary students cannot think of one teacher or some other adult who really cares about them at school.

10. Social and Emotional Health and Bullying What’s the relationship? • What can we do?

11. How Do We UnderstandSocial and Emotional Health? The Student Listening Circle is a four-part focus group process that examines: • positive caring relationships, • high expectations, • opportunities for meaningful participation, and • other areas of improvement in school climate including substance use, bullying and safety.

12. Student Agreements for the SLC • Turn off cell phones and refrain from texting. • Focus on what you do like, want, or need (not on what you don’t). • Only use people’s names when making positive comments. • Be respectful of each other. • Pay attention to the timekeeper. • Speak your truth!

13. Student Orientation • Describing the purpose and process of the listening circle • Explaining the “Agreements” • Helping students feel comfortable with speaking out • Helping students reframe complaints, criticism, and negative comments as positive examples, ideas, and suggestions

14. Questions students answer • How do you know when an adult in your school CARES about you? • How do you know when an adult in your school BELIEVES in you? • What makes your classes engaging or interesting to you? • What kinds of things could you do to help others feel included and safe at school? • If you could change or improve one thing about how bullying is handled at this school, what would it be? • Please share your goals and dreams with us. What else do you need from the adults in your school to help you achieve your goals and dreams?

15. Adult Orientation • Describing the purpose and process of the listening circle • Explaining the “Agreements” • Describing what will happen with the students • Describing the action items portion of the SLC

16. Adult Agreements for the SLC • Turn off cell phones and refrain from texting. • Stay for the entire listening circle. • Be silent during the student voice (response) portion, i.e. listen attentively. • Commit to a plan of action that reflects the students’ perspectives.

17. Student Listening Circle • Students sit in a circle facing each other. • Adults sit in a concentric circle around the students. • Questions will be asked one at a time and each student will have the opportunity to answer without interruption. • Students will be asked in the order they are sitting, so they will always know when their turn to respond is coming up. • Adults listen.

18. Dialogue and SMART Goals • Everyone will move their chairs to form one large circle. • Two volunteers (one adult and one student) will capture the main ideas on chart paper during the discussion. • The facilitator will ask the whole group what were the main ideas expressed by students. • The facilitator will ask the adults and students to suggest actions that can be taken to address the ideas expressed by students.

19. How to use student voice to create an action plan

20. How to use student voice to create an action plan

21. Social and Emotional Protective Factors • PBIS • Family Advocate, Student Parent Liaison • ASES • COST • Out Reach Consultant • After School Program • Garden Days • Counseling • Movie Night • Business/Agency Partnerships • Family Math, Literacy Nights • Morning Messages • Out Reach Consultant • Jaguar Store • Counseling • Community Service • YWCA “Life Skills for Healthy Relationships” • YWCA “Girls Health in Girl’s Hands” • Individual Academic Goal Setting • After School Program • Career Day, Four Year Plan • Anger Management • COPS/Cross Roads/Code 4 • Sun Street • Fun Fridays, Good Guys and Gals • Girls Inc. • Parenting and Adolescent Workshops • Caring Relationships • Strengthening Families Program • Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways • Student Listening Circles

22. Social and Emotional Protective Factors • YWCA “Life Skills for Healthy Relationships” • YWCA “Girls Health in Girl’s Hands” • PIQE • Summer School • Fun Friday, Good Guys and Gals • PBIS • Community Service • Student Assemblies • Family Math and Literacy Nights • Counseling Services • Saturday School • Morning Announcements • Goal Setting • Sun Street “Life Skills” • Life Skills Group • Student Recognition Assemblies • Accelerated Reader (AR) • Literacy/Math/CST Nights • Spelling Bee • Teacher Tutoring • Achievement Awards Assemblies • After School Program • Awards Assemblies • Fun Friday • Homework Center • Student Success Class • Zeros are not Permitted • School Service Classes • High Expectations • Single School Culture • Student Listening Circles

23. Social and Emotional Protective Factors • Opportunities for Meaningful Participation • Associated Student Body (ASB) • Campus Beautification Days • Community Services • Student Council • YWCA “Girls Health in Girl’s Hands” • YWCA “Life Skills for Healthy Relationships” Conflict Resolution Teams • Not in Our Schools (NIOS) • After School Program • Conflict Mediators • Music Classes • Yearbook Club • Clubs • Competition Sports • Family Math and Literacy Nights • Art Counseling • After School Programs • Student Assemblies • Art Fair • Fun Fridays, Good Guys and Gals • Girls Inc. • Yearbook, clubs, sports • Community Service • YMCA Lunch Achievement • PBIS • Conflict Mediation • Recognition Assemblies • Student Councils • Fun Filled Day • June Jam • Fun Friday • Storytelling for Empowerment • Reconnecting Youth • Leadership and Resiliency Program • Student Listening Circles

24. What You Do Matters! I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized. --Dr. Haim G. Ginott