@article{ref1,
title="School safety starts in the classroom",
journal="International journal of applied psychoanalytic studies",
year="2021",
author="Hawkes, T. Elijah",
volume="18",
number="3",
pages="285-293",
abstract="This paper combines reflection on my experiences as a public school principal with an analysis of two papers about safety in schools: &quot;School Safety and Violence: Research and Clinical Understandings, Trends and Improvement Strategies&quot; by Jonathan Cohen and &quot;Tipping the Balance: Moving Toward School Safety While Considering Student Needs&quot; by Nancy Rappaport. Cohen and Rappaport offer sound guidance on how to make schools safe--from macro system reforms to more micro, interpersonal interactions. I agree with Cohen's assertion that &quot;learning how to have constructive controversial conversations is an essential foundation for healthy relationships on the one hand and democracy on the other.&quot; Indeed, I believe that safe schools are necessarily democratic schools. And I strongly agree with Rappaport's assertion that we must &quot;make learning deeply personal.&quot; Just as important and true is the assertion conveyed by both Rappaport and Cohen that educators must be attuned to environmental conditions in the society--contemporary and historical--that erode safety in school communities, from systemic racism to pandemics and other threats to the wellbeing of children and families. My critique of both papers, and of many social-emotional school reform efforts in general, is that there is not enough emphasis on the place where students and teachers spend the majority of their time: the classroom. The teaching and learning that happen in the classroom--both what is taught and how it is taught--are dominant forces in determining whether a school is healthy and safe. Drawing from my own work as a teacher and principal, I describe several essential ingredients for curriculum and pedagogy that enable classrooms to be places of trust, healthy risk-taking, empathy, democratic practice and, ultimately, safety.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1742-3341",
doi="10.1002/aps.1721",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aps.1721"
}