{"id":205020,"date":"2014-01-28T09:15:55","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T14:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=205020"},"modified":"2023-09-25T09:18:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T13:18:54","slug":"neag-school-hosts-respect-for-all-workshops-to-improve-school-inclusivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/01\/neag-school-hosts-respect-for-all-workshops-to-improve-school-inclusivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Neag School Hosts \u201cRespect for All\u201d Workshops to Improve School Inclusivity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Teachers and administrators from throughout New England spent two days attending a Neag School of Education-sponsored workshop that focused on challenging stereotypes, exploring gender roles, reducing bullying and helping ensure that school is a place where all youths\u2014no matter what their background\u2014can thrive.<\/p>\n<p>The National Network for Educational Renewal selected the UConn Neag School of Education as the site for this progressive, timely and important \u201cRespect For All\u201d pilot training program, which presented four interactive workshops made up of short films, group discussions, experience sharing and various other activities. Topics included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cLet\u2019s Get Real\u201d: A look at bullying and bias through the eyes of middle school-aged youth<\/li>\n<li>\u201cStraightlaced \u2013 How Gender\u2019s Got Us All Tied Up\u201d: An exploration of how gender roles and sexuality pressures impact teens<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s A Family!\u201d: An exploration of what children growing up in a wide range of family structures would like classmates to know about their families<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIt\u2019s Elementary \u2013 Talking About Gay Issues in School\u201d: A documentary and discussion about the power and possibility of LGBT-inclusive education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6088\"><a href=\"http:\/\/education.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/RFA-2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6088 size-medium img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/media.education.uconn.edu\/aurora\/neag\/2014\/01\/RFA-2-400x241.jpg\" alt=\"Teachers and administrators shared experiences as it related to the four short films. \" width=\"400\" height=\"241\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 400px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 400\/241;\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Teachers and administrators shared experiences as it related to the four short films shown during the workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>More than 30 teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, social workers and guidance counselors attended, including Ellen Montgomery. \u201cThe information fueled my passion for social justice issues and made me feel like I am not alone in trying to make change in this world,\u201d said Montgomery, who teaches art at Hunt Middle School in Burlington, VT.<\/p>\n<p>She said she was especially inspired by the gender issues workshop, which made her see how terms like \u201cmale\u201d and \u201cfemale\u201d could alienate some people. \u201cOne of the biggest changes I saw in myself was a shift in thinking regarding gender and sexuality, which I now realize should be looked at as part of a spectrum and not as just black and white.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Run by the San Francisco-based educational and social non-profit GroundSpark, the event was organized by Neag Teacher Education Associate Director and Clinical Professor Ren\u00e9 Roselle, who said she found the workshops \u201cdeeply moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe workshop allowed participants to bond and connect over very important topics of social justice,\u201d Roselle added.<\/p>\n<p>High school math teacher Kevin Liner, a Neag alumnus, walked away with similar sentiments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved hearing how honest and vulnerable the other participants were willing to be,\u201d said Liner, who teaches at the Metropolitan Learning Center magnet school in Bloomfield. \u201cTheir stories were inspiring to me, because there are always perspectives you don\u2019t consider, and it helped us discuss topics from various angles. The workshop also inspired me to take more action on a day to day basis with my students and helped me realize the magnitude of importance that a safe school climate has on a student both personally and in regards to their academic success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Respect For All instructor Amy Scharf said one of the most exciting aspects of the event was the GroundSpark-Neag School partnership, which ensured the topics and issued covered were relevant to participants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cParticipants were also interested in staying connected with each other for ongoing support, so we will create a listserv where they can maintain their relationships, get advice and remain motivated,\u201d Scharf added.<\/p>\n<p>Roselle said she or a Respect For All liaison will follow up with participants in three and six months to see how they\u2019ve used workshop materials and training.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important that local communities move the work forward,\u201d Scharf added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Teachers and administrators from throughout New England attended a Neag School-sponsored workshop that focused on challenging stereotypes, exploring gender roles, reducing bullying and helping ensure that school is a place where all youths\u2014no matter what their background\u2014can thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":205021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2424,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2455],"class_list":["post-205020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag-community-engagement","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-06 13:24:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205023,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205020\/revisions\/205023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/205021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205020"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=205020"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=205020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}