Violence
in Schools:
Identification, Prevention and Intervention
Strategies©
Instructor Name: Dr. Michael Sedler
Phone: 509-891-7219
Office
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST
Monday - Friday
Email:
Address: Virtual
Education Software
Technical
Support:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Welcome
to Violence in Schools, an
interactive computer-based instruction (CBI) course, designed to give you a
better understanding of school violence and increase your interventions
strategies. Violence in Schools
provides a foundational understanding of violence and the motivational purposes
behind aggression. The correlation with
and impact of the media, community and family upon violence will be
investigated. The course teaches
identification and intervention approaches for working with out-of-control
behaviors. In addition, each student
will receive information on available national resources for both parents and
teachers. This course will help each
person to increase his or her understanding of violence, the motivations behind
the use of violence and specific strategies to minimize the occurrence of
violence in a school and community.
This
computer-based instruction course is a self-supporting program that provides
instruction, structured practice and evaluation all on your home or business
computer. Information on installation and technical support can be found, and
will be covered in detail, in the User Guide section of your computer software.
Course Materials
Violence in Schools: Identification, Prevention and
Intervention Strategies (software package)
Author: Dr. Michael Sedler
Publisher:
Virtual Education Software, inc. © 2000, Revised 2004
Please keep the CD. There is a $25 replacement fee for CD-roms if
you need to replace yours due to theft, damage, misplacement, etc. Call 1-800-313-6744, with your credit card information,
if you need a replacement.
Academic Integrity Statement
The structure and
format of most distance-learning courses presume a high level of personal and
academic integrity in completion and submission of coursework. Individuals
enrolled in a CBI distance-learning course are expected to adhere to the
following standards of academic conduct.
Academic
Work
Academic work submitted by the individual (such
as papers, assignments, reports, tests) shall be the student’s own work or
appropriately attributed, in part or in whole, to its correct source.
Submission of commercially prepared (or group prepared) materials as if they
are one’s own work is unacceptable.
Aiding
Honesty in Others
The
individual will encourage honesty in others by refraining from providing materials
or information to another person with knowledge that these materials or
information will be used improperly.
Violations of these academic standards
may result in the assignment of a failing grade and subsequent loss of credit
for the course.
Level of Application
This
course is designed to be an informational course with application to work and
work-related settings. The intervention
strategies presented in this course may be generalized to all students
(pre-kindergarten through 12th grade) and adults. While an intervention may be geared toward a
specific age population, with minimal modifications an educator should be able
to adapt the strategy for his or her students.
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Course
Objectives
·
To identify factors contributing to violent behaviors
·
To develop strategies to address school/community violence
·
To effectively intervene, provide safety and minimize violent actions
·
To develop a “school violence” assessment with specific intervention
strategies
·
To assess the climate of the classroom and school, making the necessary
adjustments to increase safety
·
To address preventative methods within the school system for students
·
To write out an action plan for school safety
·
To complete a formal written evaluation of the school’s violence plan
after implementation
Course Description
Anger management strategies have become an
important topic in schools, businesses, homes and communities. Our society is inundated with classes, books
and counseling programs that explain various ways to “manage anger.” Despite our best attempts, aggression and
violence are still on the rise. We
regularly hear and read from various media sources how dangerous our society
has become, especially our youth population.
This class will focus on developing new ways of handling violence
without getting involved in the typical power struggles. During this course, each person will learn
specific strategies and practical ideas to aid in the reduction of school
violence. Key intervention ideas for
developing a civil climate within each school will be presented, and
identification and recognition of potential violence will be discussed. Included in this approach will be an emphasis
on safety for students and educators.
This course is not attempting to be a “cure all” or “fix it” approach,
but will aid educators in their ability to develop a safer environment in a
school and community. In addition, it
will help each person feel more qualified and capable of handling emerging
violent behaviors within a school, home or community setting.
The
course is divided into four chapters.
The intent of this course is to help each student “walk” through the
process of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation in the arena of
violence. There are numerous worksheets
that all students will be asked to complete for their own knowledge base. Throughout the course, role-play situations
will be presented to help each person recognize violent tendencies prior to
their development into violent behaviors.
The chapters are sequential and should be completed in the order in
which they are presented. At the
conclusion of each chapter, the student will be asked to complete an
examination covering the material. This
type of approach will help all students gain a better understanding of what
they have learned as they proceed through the course.
Student
Expectations
As a student you will be expected to:
·
Complete all assignments and activities
for the course Violence in Schools.
·
Complete the chapter exam on Assessment
with 70% accuracy or better.
·
Complete the chapter exam on Planning
with 70% accuracy or better.
·
Complete the chapter exam on Implementation
with 70% accuracy or better.
·
Complete the chapter exam on Evaluation
with 70% accuracy or better.
·
Complete all course journal article and
essay writing assignments with the minimum word count shown for each writing
assignment.
·
Complete a course evaluation form at the
end of the course.
Chapter Topics
Chapter 1 - Assessment
1. Introduction
2. Statistics
3. Types
4. Why Escalating Violence,
Part I
5. Why Escalating Violence,
Part II
6. Media
7. Reasons
8. Characteristics
9. Warning Signs
10. Self-Awareness Activity
11. Learned vs. Instinctive
12. Gang Assessment Tools
13. Anger/Aggression Activity
14. Possible Motives
Chapter 2 - Planning
1. Behavior Response
2. How to Respond
3. Avoiding Power Struggles
4. Tips for De-escalating
Violence
5. Controlling Anxiety
6. Control and Direct Activity
Chapter 3 - Implementation
1. Action Steps for Students
2. Action Steps for Teachers
3. Action Steps for Parents
4. Actions Steps for Schools
5. Patterns of Aggression
6. Preventing Behavior
7. Making Peace
8. Decision Making Activity
9. Confrontation Communication
10. Changing Behavior
11. Prevention Strategies
12. Conflict Negotiation
13. Crisis Planning Guidelines
14. Possible Interventions
15. Anger: It Won’t Work Here
Chapter 4 - Evaluation
1. Case Study
2. Identifying the Threatened
3. Watch your Language
4. Resources
Examinations
At the end of each course chapter, you will be
expected to complete an examination designed to assess your knowledge. You may
take these exams a total of three times. The software will save the last score,
not the highest score. After your third attempt, each examination will lock and
not allow further access. Your final grade for this course will be determined
by calculating an average score of all exams. This score will be printed on
your final certificate. As this is a self-paced computerized instruction
program, you may review course information as often as necessary. You will not
be able to exit any examinations until you have answered all questions. If you
try to exit the exam before you complete all questions, your information will
be lost. You are expected to complete the entire exam in one sitting.
Writing Assignments
This course has two required writing components.
To save your essays:
Macintosh: When you select the
question or article you wish to write on, simple text or text edit will
automatically be launched. When you are finished, simply click on FILE>SAVE.
Do not select SAVE AS. You do not
need to give the document a name before saving. When you are done, select
FILE>QUIT. You must quit before you
write another essay.
Windows: When you select the
question or article, Notepad will automatically launch. When you are finished,
click on FILE>SAVE. Do not select
SAVE AS. You do not need to give the document a name before saving.
1)
Essay
Requirement: Critical Thinking Questions
There is a critical thinking question for each
chapter or section. You will do research
on the question and write a brief essay relating it to the course content (and
your personal experiences when possible).
To view the questions, click on ESSAY REQ, and then on CRITICAL THINKING
QUESTIONS. You will see the questions,
one for each chapter or section. Click
on the question you would like to work on; this will bring up a screen where
you can enter your essay. You must write
a minimum of 500 words per essay.
2) Essay Requirement: Journal Articles
This task requires you to
write a review of three journal articles of your choice on a topic related to
this course. You may choose your topic
by entering the Key Words (click on the Key Words button) into a search engine
of your choice (Google, Dogpile, Yahoo, etc.). Choose three relevant articles
and write a 200-word review of each. You may also access the ERIC system and
choose a related topic from a journal listed in that system. Or you can access www.scholar.google.com or www.findarticles.com .Write a critical
summary of the information given in each article, explaining how the
information relates to, supports, or refutes information given in this course.
Conclude your paper with your thoughts and impressions. (200 words per journal
article minimum.) Be sure to provide the journal name, volume, date, and any
other critical information to allow the instructor to access and review that
article.
To write your essays, click
on ESSAY REQ. In the dialog box below that, click on JOURNAL ARTICLE
ASSIGNMENT; this will expand the folder which contains links to the screens
where you can write your reviews. When
you are ready to stop, click on FILE>SAVE.
You may go back at any point to edit your essays. For more information on the features of this
assignment, please consult the HELP menu.
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Instructor Description
Dr. Michael
Sedler
has presented seminars and classes throughout the Pacific Northwest and
Canada. Dr. Sedler has worked as an
administrator, behavior specialist, teacher and social worker within the public
school setting. Dr. Sedler is an adjunct
professor for two universities in the state of Washington and has been a
professor for a college in Georgia. He
has been a consultant for governmental agencies and worked for a state
correctional facility for juveniles and for a community mental health
agency. His 15 years of public education
experience combined with business experience increases his knowledge base for
course delivery. He has presented in schools, hospitals, residential settings
and for businesses in the public and private sectors.
Contacting the Instructor
You
may contact the instructor by emailing Dr. Sedler at
Technical Questions
If you have questions or problems related to the
operation of this course CD, please try everything twice. If the problem
persists please check our support pages for FAQs and known issues at
www.virtualeduc.com and also the Help section on your course disk.
If you need personal assistance then email
Minimum Requirements
Macintosh Operating Systems
Mac OS 9.x or OS 10.x, 256MB of RAM and 5MB of free hard disk space,
15" or larger color monitor with a minimum resolution of 800x600, CD
driver 4x minimum speed and a printer connected to your computer.
Windows Operating Systems
Windows 2000, XP Home, Professional or newer, 256MB of RAM and 5MB of
free hard disk space; 15" or larger color monitor with a minimum
resolution of 800x600, CD driver 4x minimum speed and a printer connected
to your computer.
Please
contact VESi if you have any questions about the compatibility of these
systems.
Refer to the
addendum included with your software package regarding Grading Criteria, Course
Completion Information, Items to be Submitted, and where to send your completed
information.
Bibliography
(Suggested
Readings)
Anyon, Jean. (2001). Being down: Challenging violence in urban schools.
Teachers College Press. (800)
575-6566. (Looks at the lives of young
people, rich with dialogue).
Beane, Alan. (1999). The bully free classroom. Boys Town Press. (800) 282-6657. (More than 100 interventions for the
classroom).
Bosch, Carl.
(1997). Schools under siege. Enslow
Publishers, Inc. (800) 398-2504. ISBN # 0-89490-908-0. (This book is excellent for students; written
for 6th-9th graders.)
Children’s Safety Network. (1995). Taking
action to prevent adolescent violence: Educational resources for school and
community organizations. Education
Development Center. #5622. (800)
332-1002. (Profile of 84 violence curriculums, bibliography and overview of
programs.)
Close-Conoley,
Jane. (2004). School violence interventions. Guilford Press. (800) 365-7006. (Models for setting up
violence programs, K-12 models).
Cruz, Barbara. (2002). School shootings and school violence.
Enslow Publishers. (800)
398-2504. (General book on violence and interventions).
Denmark, Florence. (2005). Violence in schools: Cross national and cross cultural
perspectives. (877) 687-7476. (Up to date knowledge on
violence in schools).
Dulmus,
Catherine. (2005). Kids and violence.
Haworth Press. (800) 429-6784.
(Examines violence from family perspective; holistic approach. K-12).
Gerler, Edwin (Ed.). (2004). Handbook of school violence..
Haworth Press. (800) 429-6784.
(Causes, prevention, and intervention approaches for all grades).
Greene, Ross W. (2001). The Explosive Child. Harper Perennial (HarperCollins). ISBN # 0-06-093102-7. (800) 242-7737. (Strategies for working with severe
aggression, K-12).
Hankey, Joyce, & Stevens, Peggy. (1996).
Creating classroom communities. Education Development Center. (800) 332-1002. (Cooperation and teamwork
activities for grades 5-10.)
Jimerson,
Shane, & Furlong, Michael J. (2006). Handbook
of school violence and school safety: From research to practice.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
(800) 926-6579. (History and understanding of violence.)
MacDougall, Jyl. (1993). Violence in the schools: Programs and policies for prevention. Canadian Education Association. (416) 924-7721; Fax (416) 924-3188. (76 pgs. of strategies, successful programs,
policies.)
McLaughlin, Karen, & Brilliant, Kelly. (1997).
Healing the hate. Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (ordered
through EDC) FREEJ. (800)
332-1002. (K-8, ten-unit curriculum focused on reducing hate crimes.)
Schrumpf, Fred, & Freiburg, Sharon. (1993). Life lessons for young adolescents. Research Press. (800) 519-2707. (Activities
for students, teamwork strategies, peer mediation.)
Sexton-Radek,
Kathy. (2004). Violence in schools.
Praeger-Greenwood Publishers.
(203) 226-3571. (Practical book for conflict resolution in schools).
Slaby, Ron.
(1995). Early violence prevention.
Education Development Center.
(617) 969-7100, ext. 2315 or (800) 332-1002. (Tools for teachers of young children, K-3.)
Wilde,
Jerry. (2002). Peace
in the halls. LGR Publishing. (800) 369-5611. (Ideas for teachers in Middle
School and High School).