Build THE skills that make a difference

CHALLENGES:

Issues of overt racism at a Southern California K-12 School District site were becoming more frequent and the teachers didn’t know how to react to them. The school board realized that they needed to be proactive in dealing with the increasing incidents.

SOLUTIONS:

Epoch Education taught leaders, teachers and staff how to use the RIR Protocol™ and Compassionate Dialogue® to guide productive and respectful conversations between students, and repair relationships without escalation. 

RESULTS:

Prior to the sites' work with Epoch Education, student surveys showed that about half of the students had heard racial slurs, and multiple people reported incidents of religious, racial, or gender discrimination. 

After the Epoch Education sessions the same survey was given. There was a positive impact on the school as a whole: racial slurs had decreased by half, religious hate speech had decreased, and overall bullying had decreased. 

The training had built a more open climate and culture about discussing racism, homophobia, and other difficult topics, and empowered teachers to intervene.