Preventative and Integrative Practice: Children Helping Children

Helen Cowie and Dawn Jennifer

“VISTA School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action” project

Bulgarian

English

training, mediation, child, teacher, counseling

training module

Parents, Policy Makers, Teachers, Researchers, 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: consider strategies for engaging staff in activities which will support them in enabling children and young people to help one another in the promotion of non-violence and the reduction of violence; be able to motivate and support staff in developing an understanding of the central role that young people play in helping one another through peer support in the school community; be familiar with a range of approaches to dealing with common ‘blocks and barriers’ to this process; be familiar with the skills involved in training peer supporters in school.
- Presentation of the facilitation skills to be developed through this unit, which are (1) knowledge and understanding of: how pupils relate to one another; the personal and social relationships of pupils whose behaviour causes concern; the operation of school systems; the importance of creating a supportive and caring school community; how to include pupils’ opinions on any decision about their education; (2) personal qualities and attributes, which include: being an effective communicator; being an effective trainer of young people; having empathy for pupils whose behaviour causes concern; being a persuasive advocate for pupils – whether perpetrators, victims, assistants or witnesses of school violence; being able to facilitate and value pupils’ opinions about their own education.
- Pre-unit reading.
- Summary of current thinking and knowledge about peer support. This section deals with such topics as types of peer support, peer counseling, befriending, conflict resolution and mediation, peer mentoring, peer support and the Internet,.
- A sequence of activities to be implemented: Activity 1 Introduce yourself; Activity 2 Introduce your neighbor; Activity 3 Getting to know you; Activity 4 Think of a secret; Activity 5 Reflection; Activity 6 Roadblocks to communication; Activity 7 The conflict spiral; Activity 8 Conflict resolution; Activity 9 To advise or not to advise; Activity 10 The process of debriefing.
- References for further reading materials.
- Resources - Resource 1 Getting to Know You!; Resource 2 The Qualities of the Peer Supporter; Resource 3 Behavior cards; Resource 4: Suggestions for the role cards; Resource 5 Observer’s checklist; Resource 6 Five Steps to problem-solving.

The investigated material tackles the addressing the issue of violence in schools from the point of view of working towards the well-being of all members of the school community through, for example, the promotion of quality of life, citizenship, social competences, emotional literacy, restorative approaches, peer support, law and democracy. In this material the authors present examples of a range of interventions that have been shown to be effective in challenging school violence and in creating an ethos of non-violence and positive emotional health. The authors explore the following interventions: children helping children through peer support, co-operative group work, emotional literacy, restorative approaches and developing a school plan of action.
In the suggested material the authors promote the idea that young people play a central role in fostering and promoting peer support in their school community. Strategies are considered for engaging staff in activities that will support them in arriving at a clear rationale for the application of peer support in their school. The material offers a range of approaches for developing the necessary skills to set up a peer support system including planning, training peer supporters, and addressing common 'blocks and barriers' whilst addressing the concerns that may underlie them.
The material is also available in English language. The EN version can be found here: http://www.vista-europe.org/downloads/English/E1f.pdf

http://www.vista-europe.org/downloads/Bulgarian/E1f.pdf

children helping children.pdf

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