Dr. Kathleen VanTol, professor of education and director of the Master of Special Education program at Dordt, has created JONAH, a free, open educational resource designed to help educators create positive, proactive learning environments and respond effectively when students struggle with behavior.
Dr. Kathleen VanTol, professor of education and director of the Master of Special Education program at Dordt, has created a free, open educational resource (OER) designed to help educators create positive, proactive learning environments and respond effectively when students struggle with behavior. The framework is organized around three principles: Just Opportunities, New Actions, and Hope (JONAH).
Drawing from the biblical story of Jonah, VanTol says the resource challenges educators to adopt a framework centered around setting students up for success, accountability, and hope for change. “Rather than beginning with the question, ‘How do we make this student behave?’ JONAH encourages educators to ask, ‘Are we creating the conditions this student needs to meet expectations? What new skills or actions does the student need to learn? And how do we continue to respond with hope, even when change is difficult or slow?’” she explains.
For VanTol, the project stemmed from her existing work at Dordt. “JONAH brings together several areas of my work at Dordt: special education, Applied Behavior Analysis, teacher preparation, graduate education, and my work with practicing educators and schools. Across all of those settings, a key question has been how we can create environments in which learners with different strengths and needs have genuine opportunities to belong, participate, learn, and succeed,” she says.
“Our understanding of who children are and how we are called to serve them should shape the way we teach, support behavior, and respond when students struggle.”
Additionally, the resource is a tangible expression of Dordt’s commitment to equipping individuals for their work toward Christ-centered renewal. “It also reflects Dordt's commitment to integrating our Christian faith with our professional work. JONAH draws on evidence-based practices in education and behavior support while asking educators to think deeply about what justice, grace, accountability, restoration, and hope should look like in our interactions with students,” says VanTol. “Our understanding of who children are and how we are called to serve them should shape the way we teach, support behavior, and respond when students struggle.”
Recently, JONAH has been reviewed by the Council for Exceptional Children, ultimately leading to Dordt receiving funding to translate the resource into Spanish. “The translation will support my ongoing work with educators in Nicaragua, where I have partnered with schools for many years. Because the Spanish version will also be freely available through Manifold, these materials will be accessible to educators and schools in other Spanish-speaking contexts,” says VanTol.
Ultimately, VanTol hopes the resource can be one more tool to help equip educators to think proactively about student success and promote a sense of belonging among all students. “I want students to experience school as a place where they belong, where they are treated with dignity and respect, and where they are explicitly taught the skills they need to participate, learn, build relationships, and be successful in school,” she says.
The resource includes eight modules, along with videos, discussion questions, examples, and practical tools that can be used individually or for professional development with groups of educators. As an open educational resource, it is freely available for educators and schools to use: https://manifold.open.umn.edu/projects/jonah.
About Dordt University
As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.
Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt offers undergraduate and graduate programs that help students live their faith in every area of life. Through rigorous learning, meaningful relationships, and whole-person formation, students gain the practical wisdom to serve God and neighbor through their work and in their communities. Dordt has been named among the nation's leading Christian universities by U.S. News & World Report, Niche, and other national publications.
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