About the Webinar: Unconscious bias is the result, in part, of the human brain’s need to categorize and store vast amounts of information. While everyone has unconscious biases, it can create problems when they surface in our evaluations and decisions. In Special Education, our implicit biases can alter our decisions regarding who we assess, who we believe, and how we evaluate cases. Further, it is important to understand how microaggressions can affect our parties, clients, and colleagues, leaving them with negative encounters over our seemingly innocuous statements. This presentation will deepen knowledge and skills in the area of implicit bias, microaggressions and how to mitigate those factors when evaluating cases or working with families.
About the Presenter: Jason Harper is the founder of Harper Conflict Resolution, LLC. He specializes in Education and Employment mediation utilizing a collaborative approach. In addition, Jason is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) consultant, conflict management coach, adjunct professor, and trainer.
Most notably, Jason is the ADR Consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, providing mediation and conflict resolution services to over 50 school districts and charter schools. He is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law teaching on Cross-Cultural Dispute Resolution and an Adjunct Professor of Mediation at Pacific Coast University, School of Law. Jason has also provided mediation and conflict resolution training for organizations such as the Western Justice Center and the International Visitors Council, training adults from over twenty different countries. Jason has been recognized by the California State Senate and the United States Congress for his mediation trainings.
Jason served as the President of SCMA, one of the largest associations of mediators in the U.S. He is one of the founding directors of Kids Managing Conflict, a non-profit dedicated to promoting conflict resolution programs for K-12th grade students. Further, Jason serves as the Vice President of MC3, a mediator certification organization that is professionalizing the field of mediation. Jason received his Master’s Degree in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding from California State University, Dominguez Hills and his mediation training from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California.
CADRE: cadre@directionservice.org