Teaching Tolerance and Respect: Preventing Bullying in High School

(Grades 9-12) / Flex Course

PDI Course Number: 110T02 / UCSD Course Number: EDUC40224

Course Description

Are you concerned about the prevalence of bullying and violence in high schools across America? For many different reasons, the classrooms, quads, hallways, and cafeterias of many high schools are not as simple as they used to be. This online course is designed for high school teachers who are looking to discover strategies and initiatives for addressing these bullying behaviors in their classrooms and schools. This course begins by digging into the different types of bullying. Teachers learn how to proactively approach a variety of bullying behaviors so that students’ important social and emotional skills are addressed and nurtured as a way of regulating and resolving a variety of intense emotions. This course specifically addresses research-based approaches to bullying prevention, including the establishment of rules and expectations, teaching recognition strategies to all involved stakeholders, and the various methods of reporting and communicating violent outbursts. At the end of the course, teachers will understand how to best help students penetrate the deep-seated code of silence so that they can transform from bystanders into important and critical upstanders. Teachers will also learn how to correctly respond to incidents of bullying so that victims are taught to refuse to partake in the continuing behavior. By doing so, students are taught how to replace aggression with compassion and kindness. By the end of this course, teachers will be better informed and better prepared to prevent bullying. This course is worth 3 ⅓ semester units/5 quarter units (50 hours of training) from University of California San Diego (UCSD) Division of Extended Studies. For detailed information on university credit, click here.

"LOVED this course! Bullying is a growing epidemic and I feel as though I had very little grasp of its definition, scope, and extent of what to do about it before this course. I feel quite the opposite now. The resources were plentiful, the textbook fascinating and valuable, and I feel much more adept at being able to prevent and respond to bullying appropriately in the classroom." - Paul Green