School Climate

The following resources can be used in a single classroom but also to address the climate of the whole school. They are especially relevant to schools seeking to become a human rights school community. The activities below are broken down by topic area. Also see, Human Rights Friendly Schools

GENERAL RESOURCES

The Myra Sadker Foundation
Resources on promoting gender equity, especially in education.

Crossroads
Works to dismantle systemic racism and build antiracist multicultural diversity primarily by training institutional transformation teams. Offers 1-2-workshops for institutions such as: Introduction to Systemic Racism, Introduction to Anti-Bias, AntiRacist, Education, and Critical Cultural Competency.

Teaching Tolerance: School Climate
A collection of all-school activities to encourage a culture of tolerance and diversity in the school community. Deals with topics such as bullying, reducing ethical and racism prejudice, homophobia, and evaluating the school’s climate.

BULLYING

Bullying and Human Rights Newsletter
Provides lesson plans, prevention ideas, resources, bibliography, and other tools to address bullying. Source: The Advocates for Human Rights.
Type: Newsletter
Grade Level: elementary – high school
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

Cyberbullying: Understanding and Addressing On-line Cruelty
Source: Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference Institute, 2008
Provides educators with the tools to increase awareness about the problem of cyberbullying with age-appropriate information and skills that encourage youth to think critically about Internet communication, develop empathy for others, respond constructively to cyberbullying, and online aggression, and interact safely on the Internet.
Grade Level: elementary – high school, educators
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

How to Be Bully Free Workbook: Word Searches, Mazes, What-ifs, and Other Fun Activities for Kids
Source: Free Spirit.
Based on The Bully Free Classroom, this hands-on workbook is full of engaging activities that help kids recognize bullying behaviors, understand that bullying is not acceptable, respond appropriately if they are bullied, know what to do when others are bullied, and more. May be used as a stand-alone, as a companion to the book, or as part of an anti-bullying effort already in place in a classroom, school, district, or youth group.
Grade Level: elementary – high school, educators
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

Making Decisions: Ally or Bystander
Source: Welcoming Schools
Lesson plan that explores what it means to be an ally and explores possible interventions into bullying, harassment, and name-calling.
Grade Level: upper elementary – middle school
Subject Area: Social studies, all-school activity

Name Calling and Feeling Safe in School
Source: Welcoming Schools
Lesson plan that helps students take responsibility for creating a safe school environment for everyone.
Grade Level: lower elementary
Subject Area: Social studies, all-school activity

Not in Our School
Source: Not in Our Town.
Uses video, lesson plans, and storytelling to inspire young people to speak out against bullying and harassment.
Type: Video action kit
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: school climate

Ready, Set, Respect! Elementary Toolkit
Source: GLSEN, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association for the Education of Young Children
Lessons focus on name-calling, bullying and bias, LGBT-inclusive family diversity, and gender roles and diversity. Designed to be used as either stand-alone lessons or as part of a school-wide anti-bias or bullying prevention program.
Grade Level: elementary
Subject Area: all school activities

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Peacebuilding Toolkit for Educators
Middle school High school
Source: US Institute of Peace
Handbook with discussion exercises that address the complexities of school conflicts and how to prevent or resolve them through peacefully.
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: all school activities

The Road to Peace
Source: The Advocates for Human Rights
A teaching guide contains ten lesson plans on conflict resolution and restoration of justice in the aftermath of war, emphasizing the processes that countries coming out of conflict undertake to seek resolution, address past human rights abuses, reform their societies, and heal from violence. It challenges students to apply these methodologies to transform conflict in their own lives and stop the cycle of violence.
Grade Level: middle-high school
Subject Area: all school activities

DISABILITY
Understanding Disability
Middle School High School
Source: Teaching Tolerance
Lesson plans that introduce vocabulary for talking about disability and explores ways to communicate sensitively with people with disabilities.
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

DISCRIMINATION

No Name-Calling Week
Elementary Middle School High School
Source: GLSEN
Lessons and activities for an all-school effort to stop verbal abuse, bullying, and discrimination.
Subject Area: all-school activities

Speak Up: Stop Discrimination
Source: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
A number of short videos – Highly recommended: “The Riddle.”
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: social studies, school climate

DIVERSITY

Activities that Promote Racial and Cultural Awareness
Source: PBS
Article and learning activities that discuss cultural awareness in young children. Offers experiential learning activities to raise awareness of and respect for difference.
Grade Level: pre-school – elementary
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activities

YWCA Anti-Racism Toolkit
Source: YWCA
This handbook offers ideas about combating personal and institutional racism. Includes an excellent discussion of diversity vs. white privilege.
Grade Level: high school – adult
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activities

GENDER

Exposing Gender Stereotypes
Source: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy, 2012
Addresses gender stereotypes in personal perception and media representations.
Grade Level: middle school
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

Female Identity and Gender Expectations
Source: Teaching Tolerance
Examines how gender stereotypes affect sense of identity. Lesson include “Girls’ Attitudes About STEM Careers: Similarities and Differences Among Race/Ethnic Groups,” “Gender and Jobs—Women in the Workforce,” “The Importance of Female Voices,” “Legislating Equal Access.”
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

Gender Doesn’t Limit You
Source: Teaching Tolerance
Each lesson in this six-lesson unit addresses a different form of gender bullying: peer exclusion, role exclusion, teasing about gendered activities, biased judgments, gendered beliefs, highlighting gender.
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

Think outside the Box
K – 2 or 3-5
Source: Teaching Tolerance
Explores gender identity and stereotypes and their harmful effects.
Grade Level: K – 5
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activity

Killing Us Softly 4
Director: Jean Kilbourne, Producer: Cambridge Documentaries, 2010
Focuses on images of women in advertising, in particular on gender stereotypes, the effects of advertising on women’s self-image, and the objectification of women’s bodies. Accompanying study guides available.
Time: 45 minutes
Grade Level: high school

RACISM

Racial Discrimination Edition
Source: Advocates for Human Rights, 2014
A newsletters with lesson plans, articles, resources, and more dedicated to helping teachers and schools assist students in recognizing, accepting, and respecting diversity as well as exploring ways in which prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination may be addressed.
Grade Level: middle – high school
Subject Area: social studies, all-school activities

Dismantling Racism: A Resource Book for Social Change Groups
Source: Western States Center
A compilation of materials originally intended supplement a Dismantling Racism workshop. Chapter topics include “Developing a Shared Language and Analysis,” “From Internalized Racist Oppression to Empowerment,” “From Internalized White Supremacy to Anti-Racist White Ally.”
Grade Level: high school – adult
Subject Area: social studies, community use

Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes
Producer: PBS
Classic documentary of a classroom experiment in racism conducted in 1968. Offers opportunities to examine role of racism in the United States, as well as the role of prejudice and stereotyping today. Includes accompanying Teachers Guide.