Here's how you can cultivate assertiveness skills to advocate for your students.

Yes AND be sure EVERY adult sees assertiveness from every student the same way. Students of color tend to be judged differently and more harshly when they assert themselves as compared to their counterparts.

Teach students effective problem-solving techniques, such as identifying the issue, brainstorming solutions, and evaluating their effectiveness. We need to help our students build resilience to cope with setbacks and criticism, which can enhance their ability to assert themselves confidently. As educators and parents, model assertive behavior in your interactions with students and others. Show them how to express their needs respectfully. Empowering students with assertiveness skills is a transformative process that equips them with invaluable tools for personal and academic success.

It is also helpful to show students your expectations of how they will treat each other and interact with each other. Being a daily example for students and providing them an opportunity to practice the expectations will bring incremental change throughout the year.

Set priorities and rules before the lesson starts. For example, coming unprepared for a lesson without a clear reason is the end of the lesson. In order for students to take the lesson seriously, you need to set the tone with rules and support your students to adhere to the necessary rules.

There needs to be constant communication with students, especially if they are virtual lessons. Students especially need communication and support from the instructor during distance lessons. Communicate your priorities and rules from the beginning, and try to support students throughout their learning journey.

Practice expressing your thoughts, concerns, and recommendations clearly and confidently. Use assertive language that conveys your message effectively without being aggressive or passive.

Empathy is a non-negotiable in this job. Before we act, it is important to think about what the other person might be feeling. I have found that sometimes in a leadership position, whether it be an administrator working with teachers or teachers working with students, that a majority of negative interactions come from a lack of empathy. No matter how hard the job is, we can't afford to lose our connection to human emotions.

It is very important for the teacher to remember that students are a bundle of emotions and harmonies. Establishing an emotional connection can be done in a number of ways, here are a few of them: delving into the students' stories, finding out what they like and asking the student about it, even using it in the materials, finding out the problems or challenges they face in their daily lives and giving examples of solutions from your life experience.

To add, we often get intimidated from our peers and some students. We should identify under-cover bully behaviour. This may not be the case always but identifying and working towards it proactively is important. This will help to gain confidence.

Anyone can have the drive and knowledge to help others. However, if you don’t have confidence in yourself and your capabilities, some might begin to question how much you know. Even when you don’t have all the answers, being open and saying phrases like, “I’m not sure but I’ll look into it”, shows to people that you care to answer their questions as well as see that you’re not afraid to ask for help yourself. This also makes you look less intimidating.

Stay informed about educational policies, laws, and regulations that affect students' rights and access to resources. Knowing the relevant information will strengthen your advocacy efforts.

Knowledge and communication are key pillars of assertiveness. Self knowledge is essential for advocacy for students. Who are you? What do you stand for? Educational policies determine the boundaries of what student needs you can advocate for, so know the policies. Who are your audience? If, for example, your students seek to raise funds for charity, you need to persuade the school authorities and parents to support the venture. Knowledge supported by effective communication achieves intended outcomes. You must build trust with stakeholders to get results. Confident presentation, active listening and empathy are critical for successful advocacy. Keep records of meetings, follow up on outstanding issues, and give feedback.

Continuously reflect on your advocacy efforts, learn from your experiences, and seek feedback from others. This ongoing process of reflection and learning will help you refine your assertiveness skills as an advocate for students.

I think of Ross Greene’s “Collaborative Roblem Solving.” Empathy is already expressed here; however the last step in an educator accomplishing their learning objective will be adding a “we” statement. For example a teacher may state something like: “I struggled learning Algebra when I was your age.” (Empathy). “But you need to get through this before Algebra 2. How can WE work this out?” (We statement). Perhaps the student can come to your extra help session? Maybe extra time is needed? Just some thoughts…