Inspire yourself, your students, your educational community Teachers and educators have a responsibility to themselves, to their students, and to the

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Inspire yourself, your students, your educational community

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Inspire yourself.

Teachers and educators have a responsibility to themselves, to their students, and to the learning communities of which they are a part. They have the right to feel safe in their teaching environment.

Students have a responsibility to themselves, to their families, and to society. They have a responsibility to the learning community of which they are a part. They have a right to learn and feel safe in their school community.

Testimonials

“Who can say if it is Queenie or something else, but bullying has most definitely reduced since she has delivered her one day workshops throughout the school.” - Assistant Principal

“This was the best class I have ever taken.” - Educator

“Bullying isn’t as bad now because of the workshops Queenie did with us.” - Student

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Never write a kid off. They are always changing.

Who am I?

Dr. Valerie Mason-John, aka Queenie, has an honorary doctorate of literature; a masters degree in creative writing; the arts and education; and a stage one teaching certificate from the UK. She is a trained meditation instructor and has been meditating for almost twenty years. She is the author of six books, including Detox Your Heart: Working with Anger, Fear and Hatred. She is also the author of several plays, the most recent of which is Hot Head, a play for elementary and junior high students on the subject of anger.

Queenie is an expert in conflict transformation, and has delivered training in the fields of leadership, gangs, bullying, community conferencing, mediation, meditation, and self esteem to audiences of professionals and young people in education, youth justice, social services, police services, and the corporate world.

Queenie is a consultant for the Edmonton Public School Board and the Centre For Race and Culture in the field of conflict and Leadership. She was the artist in residence at Victoria Composite School of the Arts in 2010-11. She has facilitated conflict transformation among senior, middle and lower management, and she is also a coach to professionals and young people. She is an expert advisor for LEAP Confronting Conflict, the leading UK organization battling conflict (www.leapconfrontingconflict.org.uk). She has worked throughout North America and Europe.

bullydoctor@gmail.com

What I Offer

▪ Training for school administrators, teachers, educators, professionals, students, youth, and adolescents
▪ Expertise and conflict consultancy for organizations and institutions

www.bullyvictimbystander.com

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Inspire yourself, your employees, your students, your educational community.

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Courses for School Administrators, Teachers, and Educators

RECHARGE

This intensive four-day training is an experiential and highly participatory course for teachers, educators, and other staff who work directly with young people. It is for those wish to develop their professional and personal skills and the resources required to deal with conflict situations. This course can be run over a week or over a period of three months.

Outcomes
* Gain awareness of yourself in relationship to conflict.
* Gain understanding of what triggers conflict and how it escalates.
* Identify your own patterns of behaviour in conflict.
* Learn different models for communicating effectively in conflict situations.
* Learn techniques for defusing conflict situations.

Testimonial: “Please bring Queenie back … Excellent instructor that many could benefit from. Thanks!” - Educator

WORKING WITH CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

This can be a two-day, one-day, or even a half-day course for teachers, educators, and other adults who are challenged by the behaviour of the young people with whom they work. The emphasis of this course is on developing the individual professional skills and resources of workers so that they are better able to deal effectively with such behaviour. 

Outcomes
* Identify your existing skills in working effectively with challenging behaviour, and increase your confidence in applying them.
* Identify the skills you would like to develop in working effectively with challenging behaviour. Practice and develop those skills.

Testimonial: “Our staff looks to Queenie for guidance and expertise in working with challenging behaviour and preventing bullying.” - Assistant Principal

LEADERSHIP

This is a one-day course for educators in leadership roles where participants explore creativity, leadership, and what it takes to be an effective leader within the academic community.

Outcomes
* Identify key characteristics of effective leadership.
* Recognize personal leadership skills.
* Identify the blocks to effective leadership.

Testimonial: “The attendees of her session were twenty-eight academic administrators in post-secondary leadership positions across the country, including deans. Her session was very well received and ignited camaraderie and cohesiveness amongst the attendees.” - University of Alberta

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“It's not the noise that makes us angry. We make the noise angry.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

MINDFULNESS IN THE CLASSROOM

This is a course for both teachers and students. Thirty- to fifty-minute sessions are taught over a four-week period. Together, participants explore the benefits of mindfulness approaches, introducing stillness into the teaching environment.

Outcomes

▪ Experience mindfulness in a classroom setting.
▪ Understand what mindfulness is.
▪ Explore the benefit of mindfulness approaches.

Testimontial: “I never thought I could sit still and be quiet for more than ten seconds.” - Student

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Courses for Students, Youth, Adolescents

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I am responsible for me

SHORT FUSE

This is a one-day workshop educating and informing students about the different types of bullying that can take place in their lives. This course is most effective when every class in the school has the opportunity to take part. This training can provide the opportunity for students to further develop their skills as peer leaders. Peer leaders can deliver fifty-minute workshops to other students in their school.

Outcomes
* Identify the different types of bullying.
* Identify the different roles in bullying.
* Identify the feelings of all people involved.
* Identify the impact of bullying.
* Identify what can be done about bullying.

Testimonial: “I have learned a different way to deal with bullying.” - Student

FEAR AND FASHION

This four-hour course, run one hour per week for four weeks, explores how to tackle knife crime. It takes participants on a journey that starts by looking at the reasons why young people carry knives, the choices available to them when they are faced with a conflict, and the consequences of being involved with knife crime.

Outcomes
* Explore why young people make the choices they do.
* Explore issues of revenge and control.
* Explore the consequences and impact of knife crime.
* Explore strategies for challenging knife-carrying.

Testimonial: “This course changed my life.” - Student

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“We must be the change we want to see in the world.” - Gandhi

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

This is a one-day workshop where students explore multiculturalism, different types of prejudice and its impact.

Outcomes
* Define the different types of prejudice.
* Identify the causes of prejudice.
* Understand issues related to multiculturalism.
* Explore why people are prejudiced.

Testimonial: “All of you need to know is what it’s like having a whole class turn against you because of your race or body size.” - Student

PEER LEADERSHIP

This is a one-day course for those students who are in a leadership role, and those who have expressed an interest in being leaders.

Outcomes
* Identify the qualities that make a leader.
* Explore the benefits and costs of being a leader.
* Gain awareness of what is going on in your school.

Testimonial: “I will use these skills for the rest of my life and have an appreciation for what I have learned.” - Student

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“Reality is perfumed with compassion.” - Buddha

ADOLESCENCE AND-SELF ESTEEM

This is a two-day course exploring self-esteem and anger in adolescent culture. This course can also be delivered weekly, to fit in with lesson planning.

Outcomes

▪ Understand what self-esteem is.
▪ Learn ways of working with internalized anger.
▪ Learn ways of working with externalized anger.
▪ Understand habitual patterns of behaviour.

Testimonial: “I don't want any more scars on my arms. I just want to begin dealing with my anger differently.” - Student

Other Work

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If you're inspired, I'm inspired too.

In addition to teaching courses, I have also worked closely with school administration teams to prevent students from being suspended or expelled by providing mini conferencing and one-to-one sessions. I also deliver the following:

▪ workshops for young people who are identified as having challenging behaviour
▪ addiction and meditation courses, and addiction and depression courses for young people and adults
▪ peer mediation and mini conferencing training for young people, as well as coaching
▪ motivational school assemblies around the theme of bullying and conflict transformation

I work collaboratively with students and teachers to create performances, plays, and assemblies around the issues of culture, diversity, sexuality, and ableism. I am a cultural activist who applies mindfulness to everything I do.

I tailor courses to the needs of individual schools, educational institutions, and organizations. Prices for all courses are negotiable.

Please contact me at: bullydoctor@gmail.com

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