Western Justice Center and Encompass have formed a collaboration that allows us to expand our services to schools. WJC would like to introduce you to our partner’s educator training program, Creating Bias-Free Classrooms.  This interactive teacher-training program uses live, improvisational theater to equip educators to build safe and inclusive classroom environments.  During each training session, teachers learn the laws and relevant teaching standards for creating a safe classroom.  They assess their own comfort and competence in handling these issues, learn to identify various forms of bias, and get hands-on experience in the most effective techniques to use in a classroom. By watching realistic classroom scenes performed by teenage actors, the teachers get to see how bias affects every student in the classroom. Teachers can safely experiment with different strategies of addressing bias related to gender, race or sexual orientation by practicing on teenage actors who are trained in improvisational theater.

The program was created by Encompass and is a project of a service-learning class at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.   Join us on January 19, 2012  from 5-7:30 p.m. for an overview and demonstration of the program. Please RSVP with This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

As a long-time activist, I have understood the theory of non-violent action for many years.  I have studied the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins and the teachings of Cesar Chavez.  Only recently, however, have I come to understand and fully embrace the practice of non-violent action and conflict resolution.

August was a training whirlwind for WJC program staff and the stakeholders we work with across the education spectrum: teachers, students, and security officers.  This approach of training stakeholders disperses conflict resolution knowledge throughout an educational institution so that all members of the school community can support one another in using conflict resolution skills.