A Whole School Approach (WSA): Working with Teachers

Astrid Mona O’Moore and Stephen James Minton

“VISTA School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action” project

Bulgarian

English

training, module, teacher, school, approach

training module

Policy Makers, Teachers, Researchers, Young People, School Directors.

1 - 20 pages

The contents of this unit are as follows:
- Description of the objectives of the document, which are to: understand and appreciate the key role that teachers have in the
application of the WSA in addressing school violence; be familiar with the skills involved in planning and conducting work with teachers in school communities; be able to motivate and support teachers in developing an understanding of the central role that teachers themselves and young people play in countering and preventing violent and bullying behaviour in schools; consider strategies for engaging teachers in activities that will support them in taking their part in the promotion of non-violence and the reduction of violence; enable teachers to work productively in the classroom with young people in promoting anti-violence/pro-social attitudes.
- Presentation of the facilitation skills to be developed through this unit, which are (1) knowledge and understanding of: the range of underlying causes of challenging, aggressive and antisocial behavior; designing improvement plans for individual pupils, groups and the school as a whole; the range of provision for pupils whose behavior causes concern; the operation of school systems; the requirements of legislation and formal procedures relevant to aggressive and violent behavior; the importance of creating a supportive and caring school community; the importance of promoting non-violence to enhance learning; (2) personal qualities and attributes, which include: having an appropriate, pupil-centred set of beliefs and values which informs their decisions and actions; being able to influence the ethos in a place of work and effect and sustain change there; being an effective communicator; being an effective trainer of and adviser to staff, governors, parents, carers and pupils; being a strategic thinker; having a good understanding of and models effective behavior; management strategies; managing, motivating and supporting staff teams through empathy and understanding; managing time effectively and being well organized; being able to establish effective partnerships with other relevant organizations.
- Pre-unit reading.
- Summary of current thinking and knowledge about working with teachers
- A sequence of activities to be implemented: Activity 1 Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs around Intervening in Situations of Violence and Harassment; Activity 2 Elucidating Reflective Practice amongst Educators; Activity 3 Thinking about Preventative Policy; Activity 4 Planning Preventative Work in the Classroom;
- References for further reading materials.

Continuing with the investigation and deployment of the whole school approach, the authors claim that work with school staff is central to its practical implementation towards the prevention and reduction of violence in schools. Teachers are relied upon to deliver the content of anti-bullying programmes, and even to act as trainers within such programmes, but also on a day-to-day basis, school staff are and always have been the ones having to deal with incidents of violent behavior in their schools. In the assessed unit the authors focus on the key role that staff (senior management, teachers, classroom assistants, lunchtime supervisors, caretakers, administrators) play in the application of a whole school approach for addressing school violence. They also present guidance on how to work productively in the classroom with young people in promoting pro-social attitudes.
The listed examples of bullying and violence situations are extremely useful in putting the school staff into different scenarios and offering them a variety of ways of handling them and responding to them.
The module is considered very useful, since it addresses directly an important link in the whole school approach chain – school staff.
The material is also available in English language version, which can be downloaded from: http://www.vista-europe.org/downloads/English/B5f.pdf

http://www.vista-europe.org/downloads/Bulgarian/B5f.pdf

work with teachers.pdf

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