Newswise — Dr. Nichol Howard is an assistant professor in the University of Redlands School of Education, focused on teaching future K-12 educators. She can speak with authority on how the upcoming planned walkouts (national school walkout events planned March 14 demanding action against gun violence) raise other important questions for educators. 

"The walkouts raise questions about how we prepare our future teachers to enter spaces where they potentially take on the responsibility for protecting the lives of their own students," she says. "We must arm our teachers with the tools necessary to not only think about how to physically protect their students, i.e. safety and security protocols, but also with the knowledge of what it means to view each of their students as deserving of what they come to school for—to learn and to build community."

Nicol Howard earned a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and an M.A. in educational technology at Azusa Pacific University. She received her Ph.D. in education, with an emphasis in cultural and curricular studies from Chapman University. She also holds a California Clear Teaching Credential.