Healing Power of Protest
**Although the following information was created to guide classroom conversations, we also know that this information can also be a resource for caregivers and/or community members with creating healing centered spaces to discuss the healing power of protest.**
Self-Awareness
In our current age, students and our communities are grappling with huge issues and stressors. Some of these stressors include our students and communities witnessing the deaths of Black men, women and children at the hands of police. Students are also grappling with the effects of Global Warming; immigrant children being detained at the US border, and also hate crimes being committed against Black, Indiginous people of color, people of Asian descent and LGBTQ community members. We need to support our students’ mental health as they process these and other issues that touch their lives. To support your work, we have created a lesson on the Healing Power of Protest, linked here.
As you review the presentation, spend some time identifying how you are feeling about these topics. The goal here is for you to build a strong foundation for yourself so you can facilitate the conversation with your students. By reviewing this information on your own, you will also be able to build empathy and reduce the amount of anxiety you may/may not be feeling. Some questions to ask yourself are: What am I feeling right now? Where am I feeling it in my body? Notice your breath. Notice your face as your disposition can dictate the emotional climate in your classroom.
Please be mindful of all of your privileges. It's best that you limit your comments during these discussions to allow students' voices to take center stage to create a Healing Centered and Civically engaged space. Each school team will decide where these conversations will take place.
Do
Validate feelings
“I understand you are feeling:_______”
Remind students they are cared about
“I am here for you”
“I care about you and your well being”
“You matter and are important to me”
Normalize Feelings
Reassure students the range of emotions they are feeling are valid.
Let your students talk amongst each other.
Allow students to have space to verbally express themselves without judgement (i.e. students of color being perceived as dangerous inappropriate when expressing anger)
Ask Open-ended questions
“How are you all feeling/what is on your mind?”
“What kinds of conversations are you having with your families about ___________”
Don't
When discussing race, do not say things like:
“It’s not about race”
“I don’t see color”
“Let’s wait until all the facts are out”
“Let the FBI investigate”
“This isn’t the way to get justice”
Don’t call parents without asking how they are doing
Don’t make it about you or defend
Remember, we will not be able to answer all of our students’ questions, but we can make time and co-create brave spaces that focus on healing.
If you have a student that needs additional mental health support, we asked that you refer them to your building social worker.
*Some of the ideas above have been adapted from The Future of Healing: Shifting from Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement, Healing Spaces and Mental Health; Facing History and Ourselves Election 2020 Webinar and We Can't Be Neutral: Abolitionist Teaching Strategies on November 4 by the Abolitionist Teaching Network
What Will be covered
Remember, we will not be able to answer all of the questions being asked of us, but we can take time to co-create brave spaces that focus on individual and communal strengths as we move together towards healing. The Healing Power of Protest is a classroom lesson that allows students to think about and explore issues they feel strongly about, and it teaches them the healing power of protesting. If you find that you need more information on this topic, you can contact Judy Brown and the Mental Health Support team.
Notes for the presentation:
This presentation is a Pear Deck Lesson.
Pear Deck© is a way to make this lesson more interactive for those students who are still doing Distance Learning. You can also use the presentation as a normal Google Slide presentation, and disregard the Pear Deck© instructions. If you are new to Pear Deck©, go here to learn how to add Pear Deck© functions to Chrome. It is easy and fun!
Create Class Agreements
There are some suggested class agreements in the notes section of the lesson presentation. We encourage you to review and also incorporate your already established class agreements in this section as well.