1) There needs to be a top down message from the school administration for
zero tolerance for harassment and policies in place wrt harassment.
2) Teachers need to be trained with regard to classroom management skills.
Training on policy is not sufficient. Training should combine group case
studies and roleplaying. It should offer proactive strategies that teachers
can use to integrate students who are different into the classroom.
Some teachers do ignore harassment, a greater number don't know how to
identify or respond effectively to it and their well meaning attempts have
failed. Classroom management is the hardest part of teaching for most
teachers and it is the part for which they receive the least preparation.
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Donna Milgram
IWITTS
3010 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite E-10
Washington, DC 20016
(202)686-7275
www.serve.com/iwitts