Belonging: Author interview with Dustin Bindreiff, EdD, PSU alumnus

“With the publication of this book, Dr. Bindreiff strives to bridge the gap between research and practice by focusing on a topic of critical importance,” says Dr. Randall De Pry, Chair of the Special Education department at Portland State University. “His work exemplifies one of the critical features of our doctoral program, namely doctoral level preparation focused on preparing scholarly practitioners,” he notes.

Middle School Students Face a Trifecta of Challenges. Here’s How to Help

Middle school is a unique and often difficult time. Students go from the comfort and familiarity of spending all day with one teacher and one group of students to having six teachers and a wide range of classmates. For many students, this can feel like going from being a big fish in a small pond to the small fish in a big pond. Additionally, adolescence brings many physical and psychological changes. This trifecta of challenges helps explain why in the middle school years we lose many kids to drugs, violence, and despair.

One of the most difficult parts of working with students that are struggling with mental illness, income instability, and racism is balancing empathy for the challenges they face with high expectations. Questions such as, “Is it fair to expect students who lack basic essentials to have completed their research paper?” or “Should I require homework, if many of my students don’t have a place to do their homework?” are asked by the reflective educator. Finding a balance between high expectations and empathy can be especially difficult. It can be easy to blindly hold all students to the same standards, but, on the other hand, in the name of empathy, we may be inclined to “give the kid a break.”  However, in the long run, these “breaks” can become learning gaps.  Finding this balance requires much trial and error, plus a deep knowledge of and connection with each student.

Psychological safety isn’t about praising, protecting, or sheltering students. Rather, the key element of psychological safety is the sense that you won’t be rejected, laughed at, or bullied for making mistakes. The sense of safety Harvard Business school professor Amy Edmondson’s popular research describes is based in the confidence that it is OK to try and fail. Students feel this way when they trust their community will pick them up when they fall and protect them when needed. Rather than minimizing, comforting, or avoiding a child when mistakes are made, the wise teachers embrace mistakes and teach a process for learning from and addressing errors. Wise teachers have been known to turn mistakes into something to be celebrated, laughed at, or even a competition.

When we help young people focus on the things they can control and the actions they can take to prevent, stop, or heal from the painful experiences, we can eliminate one of the necessary ingredients for trauma, a sense of helplessness.  Agency is a feeling of control over one’s actions and consequences, the opposite of the helplessness trauma with which victims struggle.  This spirit of agency is the energy that gives victims of abuse, tragedy, illness, and oppression the power to change lives and be a light in the darkness.

The Dispropotioality of Latinx Students in Special Education