The most effective way to change the behavior of a group of adolescents is to motivate them to take ownership of the culture in their community. First, they must learn how to view and treat themselves with respect and dignity, and then they are able to improve how they interact with other people.

The Heroic Journey curriculum is designed with several core beliefs in mind:

• When students exhibit unkind behaviors, it is because they haven’t developed core social competencies, such as empathy, compassion, and conflict resolution skills.
• When students act out or mistreat others, this misbehavior presents an opportunity to teach them those missing core social competencies, which will be more effective in changing their behavior than punishing them.
• Developing healthy social emotional skills and positive relationships takes practice over time, and communities thrive when every student is seen as having something valuable to offer to the group.
• Based on our core beliefs, we have developed a groundbreaking Heroic Journey curriculum that combines the research of multiple experts in areas of psychology, bullying prevention, education, pop culture, and restorative practices.

The entire curriculum consists of all seven units and is aimed primarily at a 7th and 8th grade audience. For more detailed descriptions of the lessons in each unit, please click on the title for individual units in the store.