janice davies
That strategy tackles one cause of the problem – boredom by pupils. However, in the workplace boredom is unlikely to be the issue and rather, the Massey report suggests, a lack of leadership skills within an organisational culture. So if there is a problem of bullying in the workplace (including between teachers), then a different approach needs to be taken.
• Teaching and boosting self esteem with genuine compliments (start a give a compliment day) • Rotate students’ seating and include group work to constantly create new teams • Start a new set of positive classroom rules with input by teachers and students • Including books, DVDs and posters for further education.
the awareness of self-esteem, hence the annual mid-year Selfday – International Self Esteem day. Free tips, downloads, Eposters are available for download on www. internationselfesteem.com. Visit the bully page for additional information. Another concept is a Friday afternoon or Monday morning session in the classroom designed to re-enforce self-esteem, achievements, goals and steps for present and future successes. It includes encouraging pupils to use phrases such as: I am great because …
“ A person who grew up in a school environment that allowed him or her to engage in bullying behaviour is more likely to carry that trait forward into adulthood and into the workplace. ” Start with the culture In any organisation, the starting point is to look at the culture to see whether it tacitly encourages or actively discourages bullying behaviour. Let’s not forget that our teachers of today were our pupils of yesterday. Similarly our current business leaders, managers and employers also were the pupils of yesterday. A person who grew up in a school environment that allowed him or her to engage in bullying behaviour is more likely to carry that trait forward into adulthood and into the workplace. Schools therefore must adopt a zerotolerance bullying culture that encourages pupils to work in teams, not cliques, creates respect amongst students and most important, builds confidence and self esteem within individuals. Some classroom strategies include: • Creating anti bullying zone in class and school • Art class – making anti-bullying posters, creating dream (goals) posters • Education about good, bad, happy, angry, scared, fearful, exciting, sad feelings and their appropriate actions • Educating about feeling good by positive actions (create rewards and certificates)
With that culture in place, the school then needs to have systems and processes in place for dealing with bullying complaints which allow victims to reach out for help without making the situation worse for them. Such processes shouldn’t focus solely on relationships between students but incorporate the relationships of student and teacher and teacher and teacher, anticipating that there may be situations where it is the teacher that is being bullied by the student. As this problem increases, a teacher needs to revert to use assertive phrases, such as “I can understand how you are feeling,” or similar ones, to let the student understand they are being listened to and valued and continue communicating with follow up discussions. However, keep step two in mind: If your “intuition” or “gut reaction” is that physical danger is imminent, remove yourself with phrases like “I will go and find someone else we can discuss this with.” If personal safety factors are a major concern, rearrange the room so your desk is close to an exit.
Next, fix the people The key strategy when dealing with the victim and the bully is raising their level of self-esteem. After its impact on myself and family, it’s my life mission to improve
Today I achieved … I felt good because … Next week I will try … I wish that … These have been compiled into a one page Success Journal you can download and copy weekly from http://www.attitudespecialist. co.nz/school-coaching.htm. For both bully and victim, lessons in leadership are vitally important. Study great leaders and encourage pupils to identify different leadership styles and whether each style is effective in bringing the best out of the team and the individual. It is a sad fact that many people entering industry today are ill equipped to take leadership roles and when promoted into those positions leave a trail of destruction behind them.
Education goes further than the curriculum Te a c h e r s h a v e l o n g k n o w n t h a t b y educating our children through the school curriculum, we create adults who have the intellectual minds to tackle the problems of the future. However, the Massey report identifies that where New Zealand is falling short amongst its global counterparts is in the area of emotional intelligence and effective leadership that are the antitheses to bullying. Development of those skills starts at school. After working in education systems from pre-school to tertiary and understanding some of its complexities, it’s vital that bullying is addressed. Students are failing because of its impact.
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