04 Sep 2019
A proactive strategy to resolve conflict
As part of our ongoing focus on the social and emotional wellbeing of our students, all classes have recently completed our Anti-Bullying lessons based on the Bounce Back program. As with all programs we teach at Berry, teachers were ask to reflect on the program with the view of continual improvement.
Overall the feedback was very positive and teachers felt the Anti-Bullying program was very effective. Already teachers are seeing subtle changes in interactions between students.
Two strategies which we have implemented that have had a noticeable effect are:
Explicit teaching of the term bullying so that students understood the difference between disagreements with their peers and actual bullying incidences. Students now understand that bullying has three main features: it involves a misuse of power in a relationship; it is ongoing and repeated; and it involves behaviours that can cause harm.
Rebranding the Bullying steps to Bounce Back steps as a strategy for resolving conflict. This has changed students’ attitudes from being a victim to being empowered to have voice and stand up for their rights.
This positive change in terminology and an explicit focus on what is and is not bullying within this our Anti-Bullying program gave students a clearer understanding of bullying and the tools to empower students to address and cope with disagreements with their peers.
