Reclaiming Our Students
Why Children Are More Anxious, Aggressive, and Shut Down Than Ever—And What We Can Do About It
Faced with this epidemic of emotional health crises and behavioural problems, teachers are asking themselves what went wrong. Why have we lost our students? More importantly: how can we get them back?
Reclaiming Our Students is a thoughtful guide to restoring the student-teacher relationship and creating the conditions for change, written by Hannah Beach and Tamara Neufeld Strijack, with a foreword by Gordon Neufeld, PhD. Reclaiming Our Students empowers teachers with relationship-based strategies to restore their leadership role and build emotional safety in the classroom.
“With insight and warmth, this book addresses the roots of the growing crisis in children’s emotional functioning, maturation, and capacity to learn: their inability to be in touch with their true feelings. The solutions offered, based on a deep understanding of human development, are intuitive and have the elegance of simplicity. An essential read for educators and for all concerned with the mentoring of our young.”
- Gabor Maté, MD, CM
International best-selling author of Scattered Minds
Co-author, Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers
“Educators will find much inspiration and support in this book, one that offers insightful ways to connect with students. This compassionate work is all about respectful relationships, with students and ourselves, to shift negatives into positives. The authors’ developmental and relational knowledge is a boon for relieving anxiety, aggression, and other stressors in our digital era. A comprehensive resource for educators and the students they love.”
- Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC
Singer, author, founder of Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring
“This book will be your companion. It will give you insight to the roots of ‘misbehaviour’ and anchor you in the power of relationship and play as nature’s life preserver.”
- Deborah MacNamara, PhD
Author of Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one)
About the Authors
Hannah Beach is an award-winning educator, author, and keynote speaker. She was recognized by the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2017 as one of five featured changemakers in Canada. Her best-selling I Can Dance book series—which supports the emotional health of children through movement, play, and expression—won the 2017 GOLD International Moonbeam Children’s Book Award (Books with Music/Theatrical) and has been adopted by multiple English- and French-language school boards across Canada.
Hannah received the City of Ottawa’s annual Celebration of People Education Award, which recognized her expertise in developing innovative inclusive programs and resources. As the founder of celebrated experiential discovery programs at Dandelion Dance™ and Tournesol, Hannah has spent over 25 years developing and delivering programs for children and youth. She is a Neufeld course facilitator, delivers professional development services across the country, provides emotional health consulting to schools, and speaks at national and international conferences about the power of bringing more feeling and human connection into the classroom. Hannah is married and has three children. She lives on the West Coast of Canada.
Tamara Neufeld Strijack is the academic dean of the Neufeld Institute, where she develops and delivers courses and workshops supporting parents, teachers, and helping professionals around the world make sense of children through developmental science.
Tamara works as a registered clinical counsellor, parent consultant, and sessional instructor for several universities, where she lectures for both the faculties of education and counselling.
She provides emotional health consulting for schools and advises on the development of new programs that foster the social and emotional growth of all students.
As Dr. Gordon Neufeld’s daughter, Tamara offers a unique inside view, combining her own twenty five years of experience and insight with her father’s theoretical material. Connection, relationship, and play continue to be central themes in all her roles, both personally and professionally.
Tamara has two daughters and lives on the West Coast of Canada.