| Course Number: | EDU 5710 S58 |
| Instructor: | Jessica Barewicz, M.Ed. |
| Location: | Online |
| Dates and Times: | April 03 - May 29, 2026. Scheduled course meeting times on the following days: April 7, April 21, May 5, and May 19. |
| Credits: | 3 Graduate Credits |
| Tuition: | $1,195 |
We are teaching and learning during a time of deep grief. Minimizing this fact only compounds the impacts. How do we focus on learning targets or faculty meetings when many in our schools are actively experiencing grief? Demographic shifts, ecological and environmental devastation, the ripples of a global pandemic, sweeping societal upheaval, and huge pedagogical shifts make grief a constant reality of contemporary human experience. Together, we will explore methods for creating learning environments that are hospitable for both learning and grief. We will integrate skills, dispositions, and practices to turn towards these realities in ways that deepen learning as well as our relational capacity for responding to change and ends.
Informed by the most current research on the neurobiology and physiology of grief, as well as diverse theories on the stages/tasks/gates of grief, educators will culminate the course by designing a living legacy project that meets a need within you or your community. Learn to recognize and respond to how grief may be taking shape within yourself, classrooms, and/or schools.
Audience: Educators with an earned bachelor’s degree in all grades and roles within schools and districts.
Course Goals: The goal of this course is to develop awareness of how grief influences our work in schools and practices to respond in ways beneficial to learning. From a personal to communal to a systemic perspective, students will learn how to identify and respond to grief as a significant factor in teaching and learning.
Course Objectives:
WEEK ONE: Introducing ourselves and grief
WEEK TWO: Neurobiology and theories of grief; Individual experiences and tendencies; Attachment theory and grief
WEEK THREE: School-based practices and experiences of death, grief, and change; Theories of and reactions to change
WEEK FOUR: Approaches to a systems perspective; Integration and intersectionality of change and grief theory
WEEK FIVE: Responding to grief personally and communally; affinity groups and choice topics
WEEK SIX: Responding to grief personally and communally; affinity groups and choice topics
WEEK SEVEN: Responding to grief personally and communally; affinity groups and choice topics
WEEK EIGHT: Closure and goodbyes
Costs for required readings, if any, are not included in the course tuition.
Arthur, A. (2024). Briefly perfectly human: making an authentic life by getting real about the end. HarperCollins.
Gonzalez, J. (2025, April 9). Nothing’s going to change my mind: How unconditional positive regard transforms classrooms. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/unconditional-positive-regard/
O'Connor, M. (2022). The grieving brain: the surprising science of how we learn from love and loss. (First edition). HarperOne.
O'Connor, M. (2025). The grieving body: how the stress of loss can be an opportunity for healing. (First edition). HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Rasmussen, C. (2024, May 8). The importance of being “seen” in grief. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/with-compassion-and-grace/202405/the-importance-of-being-seen-in-grief
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