A Whole School Approach (WSA): Dealing With Indiscipline and Disruption

Rosario Ortega, Rosario del Rey, Javier Ortega-Rivera and Claire Monks

“VISTA School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action” project

Bulgarian

English

training, discipline, destructive, teacher, conflict

training module

Policy Makers, Teachers, Young People, School Directors.

21 - 100 pages

The contents of this unit are as follows:
- Description of the objectives of the document, which are to: explore and understand the different problems relating to interpersonal relationships that can occur in schools and classrooms, and that entail a risk for school violence; distinguish between interpersonal conflict, lack of discipline and disruption; develop an awareness of the educational strategies available to
prevent these kinds of problems; acquire the self-confidence to solve these kinds of problems appropriately; reflect on the different ways of teaching in response to this diverse reality.
- Presentation of the facilitation skills to be developed through this unit, which are (1) knowledge and understanding of: the difference between school violence phenomena and other phenomena that increase the risk of violence and that are sometimes confused with it; educational interventions that are recommended in order that these problems do not lead to violence; strategies for coping with interpersonal conflict, disruption and indiscipline; (2) personal qualities and attributes, which include: keeping a reflective and critical attitude to the analysis of conflicts, lack of discipline, disruption and problems with poor levels of motivation; taking an active part in the task of working in the cooperative and plenary groups; adopting a constructive position when faced with other participants’ opinions; adapting the knowledge acquired during the Unit to specific contexts where participants’ professional activities are developed.
- Pre-unit reading.
- Summary of current thinking and knowledge about dealing with indiscipline and disruption. This part deals with such terms as conflict, indiscipline, the relation between discipline and indiscipline and disruption.
- A sequence of activities to be implemented: Activity 1 Speaking With Ourselves; Activity 2 Speaking and creating with others; Activity 3 Matching Behaviour Problems with Strategies for Prevention; Activity 4 Sharing and building our knowledge, ideas and values; Activity 5 Consolidating Meanings
- References for further reading materials.
- Resources - Resource 1 Behaviour problems, features and risks; Resource 2 Behaviour Problems and Strategies for Prevention; Resource 3 Presentation.

According to the authors of this material, one of the major challenges that teachers face in the 21st century is the issue of school violence, even in those locations/schools where the existence of violence and bullying is being persistently denied. Denial usually arises from the narrow understanding of what forms violence may take.
Three main problems that have been linked with school violence include interpersonal conflicts, low-level disruption and lack of discipline. When such problems as these affect teaching and learning, there is a feeling of unrest throughout the school system members. Daily life in school becomes more difficult and dealing with problematic behavior starts to take precedence over academic tasks. The first step to addressing such problems is to differentiate between conflicts, lack of discipline and disruptions, as causes, consequences, and lines of intervention are different depending on the behavior. The investigated material explores how to implement the whole school approach with all children, both with vulnerable children at risk of being either victims or perpetrators of violence, and with young people such as peer supporters or bystanders. In this material, the authors describe strategies that have been found to be effective, and critically reflect on the ways in which teachers can respond to the diverse reality of the problems they encounter in their daily life. They explore ways of breaking the cycle of lack of motivation that can lead to young people becoming disaffected and therefore more prone to engage in disruptive and aggressive behaviors.
The material, accompanied by the remaining modules and units, would be a very useful tool for understanding such important concepts as indiscipline and disruption and their influence on triggering conflicts.
The material is available also in English language. The EN version can be downloaded from here: http://www.vista-europe.org/downloads/English/B6f.pdf

http://www.vista-europe.org/downloads/Bulgarian/B6f.pdf

indiscipline and disruption.pdf

Zinev Art Technologies