2024 Articles

Building resilience to hate in classrooms: Innovation in practice and pedagogy to prevent extremism and violence in U.S. schools

Sabic-El-Rayess, Amra; Joshi, Vik; Hruschka, Timon

Reimagine Resilience (2023), designed and established at Teachers College, Columbia University, is an innovative program that builds awareness and understanding among educators and educational personnel in the U.S. on the precursors and causes of educational displacement in students, supporting educators in promoting belonging, connectedness, and resilience to prevent educational displacement, extremism, and radicalization among students in their schools and classrooms. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the Reimagine Resilience Program in producing attitudinal shifts in participating education personnel as they cultivate an awareness of their own biased speech and conduct. Further, this study spotlights the Program’s efficacy in identifying ways to actively prevent educational displacement as educators gain new knowledge of protective and risk factors for radicalization and targeted violence. This study underscores the importance of innovation in pedagogy, practice, assessment, and professional training for educators and educational staff to effectively engage educators in extremism and violence prevention.