Video: Experts Address the Issues
In this online module, we are honored to share the voices of four experts in the field of adolescent development, each with unique perspectives on both the ostracism case study, as well as broader issues of bullying and ostracism.
Thabiti Brown is the principal at Codman Academy, a charter public school in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Codman Academy's mission is to prepare students for full participation in the intellectual, economic and civic life of society, by ensuring their preparation for and access to further education, by developing the skills and vision to undertake a rewarding career and the motivation and character needed to engage deeply and productively in community life.
Richard Weissbourd is a lecturer in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work focuses on vulnerability and resilience in childhood, the achievement gap, moral development, and effective schools and services for children. For several years he worked as a psychologist in community mental health centers as well as on the Annie Casey Foundation’s New Futures Project, an effort to prevent children from dropping out of school. He is a founder of several interventions for at-risk children, including ReadBoston and WriteBoston, city-wide literacy initiatives led by Mayor Menino. With Robert Selman, he founded Project ASPIRE, a social and ethical development intervention. He is also a founder of a new pilot school in Boston, the Lee Academy, that begins with children at 3 years old. He has advised on the city, state and federal levels on family policy and school reform and has written for numerous scholarly and popular publications, including The New York Times, The New Republic, and The American Prospect. He has also written for NPR and blogs for Psychology Today. He is the author of The Vulnerable Child: What Really Hurts America’s Children and What We Can Do About It (Addison-Wesley, 1996). His book on moral development, The Parents We Mean to Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children's Moral and Emotional Development (Houghton Mifflin), was published in March, 2009.
Anna Nolin is the principal at Wilson Middle School in Natick, Massachusetts. She is also an adjunct professor at Framingham State College.
Dennis Barr is the Director of Program Evaluation at Facing History and Ourselves, as well as a psychologist. He is a Lecturer of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was the principal investigator for the Carnegie Corporation of New York-funded research entitled, Intergroup relations among youth: a study of the impact and processes of Facing History and Ourselves. The Ostracism Case Study emerged from this project. Barr has published articles based on his research on social and ethical development and risk taking behavior in adolescents.
Jenny Bender Berz holds a Master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has worked in the fields of education and psychology since 1992. From 1996 to 1998, she worked with Dennis Barr at Facing History and Ourselves to research what later became the Ostracism Incident. Currently, Jenny practices psychotherapy at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center, where she also directs the Connecting with Families parent education program. In addition, Jenny has a private psychotherapy practice and enjoys family life with her husband and two children.
Elizabeth Englander is a professor of Psychology at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. She is also the founder and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) at Bridgewater State University. Elizabeth Englander speaks on topics such as Bullying, Cyberbullying, Aggression and Violence, Social Success, and Success Online. She works with schools, colleges, teachers, administrators, parents, community groups, and students.
Eliza Byard is the Executive Director of GLSEN. She has been the executive director since 2008, and has been part of the organization since 2001. GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is a leading national education organization that focuses on ensuring safe schools for all students. GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Eliza Byard has been principally responsible for leading all of GLSEN's program areas and was instrumental in the development of many of GLSEN's signature programs and initiatives, including the organization's research capacity, student organizing and GSA support programs, and educator training programs. She also spearheaded the development of GLSEN's national ThinkB4YouSpeak campaign, the first-ever Ad Council campaign on LGBT issues. (bio adapted from GLSEN)
Our video clips are also organized by theme: