PBS/POV Documentary"From This Day Forward" portrays an American family coping with one of life’s most intimate transformations. Years ago, when director Sharon Shattuck’s father came out as transgender and began living as Trisha, Sharon was in the awkward throes of middle school. Her father’s transition to female was difficult for her straight-identified mother, Marcia, to accept, but her parents stayed together. As the Shattucks reunite to plan Sharon’s wedding, she seeks a deeper understanding of how her parents’ marriage, and their family, survived intact. From This Day Forward is shown…

In the quietly powerful Raising Bertie, three black boys in North Carolina’s rural Bertie County come of age right before our eyes. Filmed over six years, they deal with the same issues that every boy approaching the leap to manhood faces—and others triggered by their specific and often precarious conditions. As the quote from James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son that opens the film puts it, “I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also so much more than that. So are we all.” Raising Bertie has its national broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary series…

The American Psychological Association (APA) is pleased to announce the first-ever APA Summit on High School Psychology Education, which will take place July 9-14, 2017, at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. The goal of the summit is to strengthen the value, delivery, assessment, and reach of psychological science through the teaching of high school psychology. In a high school psychology course, students gain an understanding of the complexities and diversity of human thought and behavior. Enrollment numbers in high school psychology courses are strong and growing. APA has supported…

Join an investigation into the science and politics of vaccine safety. Despite a scientific consensus that there is no link between vaccines and disorders like autism, the war over whether to immunize children continues. If a few un-immunized children catch a dangerous disease, it can suddenly threaten thousands of children and adults alike, sparking a pandemic. Maybe social science, popular education, and public policy are as important as medical science when it comes to keeping a human society healthy. Read more at www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/vaccines.

The New York Times provides "25 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity With Students" at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/learning/lesson-plans/25-mini-films-for-exploring-race-bias-and-identity-with-students.html?_r=0 There are some opening ads by Exxon-Mobil, but these are short. Lesson plans are here too. These are free downloads. In the introduction to the collection, Michael Gonchar writes (March 25, 2017): "Teachers traditionally turn to literature, history and current events to open up these conversations, but it’s always helpful to have a bigger toolbox to tackle such…

In the wake of recent tragic and fatal events between men of color and law enforcement, learn how black and Hispanic families counsel their kids to stay safe if they are stopped by the police. Visit http://www.pbs.org/wnet/the-talk/ "The Talk – Race in America is a two-hour documentary about the increasingly common conversation taking place in homes and communities across the country between parents of color and their children, especially sons, about how to behave if they are ever stopped by the police. In many homes, “the talk,” as it is called, usually contains phrases like this: If you…

In this talk, Dr. Hope examines critical consciousness as a protective factor, and possible coping strategy, against experiences of racism that negatively affect mental health for Black adolescents. Racism has negative mental health implications for Black adolescents (Benner et al., 2018). Critical consciousness (critical reflection, critical agency, critical action) may be one way that Black youth combat oppression and the resulting negative effects (Hope & Spencer, 2017). It is also possible that critical action exacerbates the negative mental health effects of racism. Participants were…

Documenting the human experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial to preserving the history of this extraordinary time in which we live. Documenting youth experiences during the pandemic is beneficial to not only gaining insights from our youngest citizens about how they were impacted by COVID-19, but also how student research about the causes and impact of the pandemic can promote historical empathy. Research is growing about the challenges and, in some cases, potential benefits that students, teachers, schools, and communities faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This presentation…

The beginning of the 2020 school year will be unlike any other.  Now more than ever schools and districts must take into account the social and emotional needs of students and teachers. How will they respond to being back in school under restrictive protocols?  How can teachers build community if they must begin the year virtually?  What role can social studies instruction play in meeting the SEL needs of students? National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), and inquirED explore these important questions. Panelists …