Workshops for Educators

We have developed two educational offerings geared to educators. The first focuses on spotting the signs of disordered eating and eating disorders and supporting students who are affected. We'll be sharing standard best practices in health and educational policy to give you the tools you need to act in a responsible and compassionate manner. The second is geared towards school climate and curriculum, and is fully customizable. Choose any of the seven available topics topic(s) that addresses the needs of you and your colleagues.

Please note that there is no requirement to complete the workshops sequentially (e.g., if your group is only interested in booking the second workshop, there is no prerequisite knowledge required from the first).

Workshop: Spotting the signs and supporting students who are affected by an eating disorder

In this workshop, attendees will learn to:

• Recognize what an eating disorder (ED) is and why it’s important to take a whole-school approach to ED prevention
• Strategize about ways to navigate diet culture in the classroom, with considerations for conversations around food, body image, and physical activity
• Apply an approach to supporting a student (and their loved ones) when you notice a concern that's sensitive to the individual and environmental conditions that help make change possible
• Share up-to-date informational and community resources to support people affected by eating and body image concerns

Workshop: A whole-school approach to eating disorder prevention: discussing practical curriculum and school strategies to support our youth

This presentation includes five topics to choose from that reflect current evidence in eating disorder prevention, health equity, and school mental health. After selecting this workshop on our booking form, you will receive an email from a NEDIC team member asking you to indicate your selected topics. You can mix and match as many as you’d like.

Responding to body-based bullying by creating a body-inclusive school environment

60 minutes

• Body-based bullying is the most prevalent type of discrimination that students observe in schools (Puhl, Luedicke, & Heuer, 2013) and yet it is the least likely to be reported to teachers.
• Moreover, body-based comments often intersect with experiences of racism, homophobia, and transphobia, contributing to poor mental health and creating the conditions for disordered eating and eating disorders to develop.
• In this section, we'll explore three aspects of the school environment that present opportunities for action: educators' individual beliefs about bodies, weight, and health; peer talk with your colleagues; and school-wide considerations that help create more positive learning environments for all students. Through interactive reflection and scenario-based learning, you'll learn strategies for role-modelling with your students. We'll also provide you with some examples to consider whether your teaching practices around health foster acceptance and liberation, and share ideas as to how you can shift in that direction.

Body Image and Mental Well-being

15 minutes

• It’s tough for students to feel well and focus on their studies when they’re experiencing body image distress. This section will focus on the concept of embodiment, helping students unpack what it means to have a positive experience in and with your body.

Exercise and Movement

10 minutes

• Are you a Physical Education teacher? Do you coach a school team? Are you a homeroom teacher responsible for leading daily physical activity programming? In this section we’ll explore how diet culture co-opts movement and turns what should be pleasant - even joyful - activity into a dreaded, but necessary task. We’ll offer an alternative framing of exercise that you’ll be able to take away with you to enrich your students’ relationships with movement and their bodies.

Food and Nutrition at School

15 minutes

• Food is delicious, energy-giving, and connecting. But what happens when students receive messaging that the way they eat is wrong? For many students, food is a fraught topic as they have received conflicting messages from peers, adults, and media - many of which are steeped in diet culture. In this section, we’ll explore how you can encourage students to embrace a way of eating that makes them feel good, and share clear ideas about the role of schools and educators in food and nutrition.

Media Literacy

15 minutes

• In this section, we'll explore how the media can contribute to distorted body image and provide plenty of examples of how easy it is for social media posts to fool children and youth...and adults too! Perfect for English, Social Studies, and SEL teachers, we’ll introduce you to media decoding tools and walk through an example that you can do with your students.