Information sheet
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Whole school community |
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Building a safe and supportive school and preventing bullying |
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Involve staff, parents and students in collaboratively developing and implementing an active whole school plan, involving staff, parents and students, to address bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence |
Development of open and agreed understandings of bullying, harassment, violence and discrimination is the beginning of any comprehensive strategy to prevent these problems in schools and increase the wellbeing of our communities.
School communities need to acknowledge that bullying exists in the school at any level, and that it is not OK. Talking about bullying issues with an open and trusting environment motivates school communities to take action.
Development of a working group with diverse representation from the school
community can facilitate a shared understanding of what bullying, harassment,
discrimination and violence are. The school, through the working group, can
make a commitment to understanding the types of social dynamics involved within
the local community, the role of power and the deeper social factors that
support such behaviours. This will form a basis for a clear vision for action
to create a safer and more supportive school environment.
To develop a clear understanding of the issues underlying bullying and harassment incidents, one primary school gathered data within the school and information from university members who had studied violence and harassment in schools. This was followed up by discussions with staff and other community members. As a result, the decision to encourage inclusiveness by examining gender, race, class and power within a curriculum based on the principles of Early Years education, middle schooling and inclusive curriculum has been widely supported.
Schools in action:
Examining gender, race, class
and power
Many school communities survey staff, students and carers for the following:
This process reinforces that it is everyone's responsibility to provide all students with a safe and supportive environment in which to learn.
A rural secondary school surveyed carers, students and the school environment to establish the extent of bullying, harassment and violence in the school. Although carer response level was low, the environment survey showed that graffiti was all sexually based, and the survey of Years 8, 9 and 10 students indicated that most bullying was done by boys. The staff team responded by providing professional development sessions and including gender and violence issues in decision making about middle schooling, timetabling and behaviour management. At a curriculum level, students have worked cooperatively in groups to develop understanding about gender and violence in their own lives and the effect of these behaviours on others, while parent forums have provided a vehicle for increasing awareness about gender and violence issues and the school's responses.
Violence and School Culture
http://www.education.tas.gov.au/school/educators/support/gender_education/support/construction/violence_and_school_culture Clark, M. and Page, Carolyn
Gender Education: Construction of Gender. Department of Education Tasmania
website
An online paper that looks at the ways that the organisational culture of schools can develop and promote constructions of gender that are constraining and limiting, or encouraging and fair for everyone. Prepared under the auspices of the Gender Equity Taskforce for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA).
