Liberation teaching aims to help children overcome the effects of societal violence by creating a safe learning environment. The teacher works to prevent bullying and stigma by teaching social and emotional skills through books, role play, and class meetings. Liberation teaching is connected to other educational practices like encouraging classrooms, guidance, anti-bias education, and peace education that promote respect and social-emotional development. The teacher also encourages family involvement through sharing information, active involvement in the classroom, program participation, and supporting further education.

1. Chapter Twelve
“Liberation Teaching”
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2. Guiding Questions:
1. How are children in the classroom affected by violence in
society?
2. How is liberation teaching a response to societal
violence?
3. What is the liberation teaching response to bullying?
4. What is the connection between liberation teaching and
other socially responsive education practices?
5. Cultural Responsiveness/Family Partnerships: How does
liberation teaching
apply to relations with parents?
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3. Effects of Societal
Violence
• Societal violence enters classrooms
through the social and emotional after-
effects it leaves with children.
• There are correlations between exposure to
violence outside school and three levels of
mistaken behavior.
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4. Effects of Societal
Violence
• Level One—experimentation mistaken
behaviors:
– Makes play guns and weapons out of “non-
violent” materials (Legos, blocks)
– Initiates aggressive play such as wrestling,
chase, and “guns”
– “plays rough” with dolls, puppets, figurines
– Draws a picture with violent themes
– Is surprisingly competitive in play situations
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5. Effects of Societal
Violence
• Level Two—socially influenced mistaken
behaviors:
– Superhero play
– Creation of “in” groups that stigmatize other
children through exclusion, name calling,
bullying
– Demonstrate instrumental agressio
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6. Effects of Societal
Violence
• Level Three—strong needs mistaken behaviors:
– Violent pictures drawn repeatedly
– Rough-and-tumble play that often becomes aggressive
– Severe and continuing bullying
– Repeatedly lose emotional balance
– Psychologically withdraw or show marked anxiety
• The overlap between Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) and Level 3 mistaken behavior is complete:
– Difficulty managing emotions
– Avoidance of intimacy
– Provocative behaviors
– Disturbances in the attachment process
– Impairments in cognition and learning
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7. Liberation Teaching
• Liberation teaching means that the teacher
does not give up on any child, seeing children
beyond the frailties they may show.
• Liberation teaching helps children to find inner
resources for resiliency—to begin the healing
process.
• Stigma, in its many forms, is combated as the
teacher creates a healthy and safe learning
community where mistakes are viewed as
teachable moments.
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8. Responding to Bullying through
Liberation Teaching
• The liberating teacher works on prevention by talking and
teaching about bullying and the need for friendliness.
• There are a variety of ways that the teacher addresses
bullying and friendliness, such as:
– Children’s books
– Puppet and role play
– Story-pictures
– Experience charts and journals
– Class meetings
• Together, the teacher and children make a short list of
guidelines to define the spirit of encouragement.
• The teacher designs activities to foster cooperation and
relationships instead of competition.
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9. Connections to Other
Educational Practices
• Liberation teaching matches philosophically with other
socially responsive educational practices.
• Socially responsive educational practices include:
– The encouraging classroom
• Teach social problem solving skills through class meetings and
developmentally appropriate practices.
– Guidance
• Children learn democratic life skills through which they improve their chances
of academic success.
– Anti-bias education
• Children learn to actively challenge prejudice, stereotyping, bias, and the
various “isms.”
– Peace education
• Elevates all members of the classroom community, teaching mutual respect
through peaceful resolution of social problems.
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10. Family Partnerships
– The teacher encourages the maximum involvement in the
education of the child that is possible for each family.
– Four levels of strategies bring about this involvement:
• 1. Sharing information
– Introduce the family and child to the program
– Use a variety of methods of communication
• 2. Active involvement
– Offer a variety of ways to be involved, both in and outside the classroom
• 3. Program participation
– Invite family members to participate in event committees, advisory councils,
policy boards, etc.
• 4. Personal/professional development
– A family member experiences successful involvement and is motivated to
pursue further education or a career
©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.