Purpose: Preventing Violence and De-escalating Aggression

This primer provides teachers with hands-on tools to help pre-empt violence before it surfaces in our classrooms and to de-escalate aggression.

Explored in this resource are:

• definitions of violence and aggression
• violence as a symptom in society
• principles underlying our approach to violence prevention and de-escalation
• tools for prevention and de-escalation
• de-escalation: the language to say it
• trauma informed consequences
• resources for staff who have experienced violence
• safe and affirming school cultures
• partnering with parents and caregivers
• case studies

Discussions on the themes above will focus on student-on-student aggression and student-on-school staff violence. Teachers and educators are also experiencing aggression from parents/caregivers and others in the school and larger community, but these issues go beyond the scope of this primer and will therefore not be explicitly addressed here.