Building safe and respectful communities: child’s voices in discussing and changing bullying behaviours in their world Session One Kylie Smith

The Project 3 training & support sessions Session 1: Introducing the principles and practices of action learning, reflecting on bullying behaviours and planning the first steps Session 2: Reporting back and problem-solving. Getting the documentation organised. Planning the next steps. Session 3: What has been learnt? Documenting and organising the learning from children and the project. Where to next? In between sessions support - contact & telephone support as well as mentoring visits to your workplace. Kylie Smith - - me and I’ll phone you back or phone me Wednesday to Friday on Documenting the learning & the report CEIEC  2007

Session 1 overview Introduction (9.30 – 9.45) What does bullying mean and how does it look? (9.45 – 10.00) Reconnaissance of what is currently happening in your classroom (10.00 – 10.15) Using action learning : developing a plan for your specific project (10.15 – 11.00) Break ( ) Planning for your project (11.15 – 12.00) Choosing a project buddy, documentation & final questions (12.00 – 12.30) CEIEC  2007

Broad aim of the project: To strengthen the capacity of City of Melbourne’s early childhood staff and children to change bullying behaviours through the use of art, critical dialogue and documentation. CEIEC  2007

Specific aims of the project: use art and critical dialogue to engage staff and children in critical reflection on their current understandings and practices in relation to bullying and behaviour guidance support staff and children to use art and dialogue to identify what they need to change to build safe and respectful communities document and share what is learnt beyond the project in the wider City of Melbourne community. CEIEC  2007

Activities in the project: document what young children currently know and understand about bullying and its impact in their lives engage in critical reflection with young children on these understandings and their impacts critically evaluate this knowledge with other project participants to explore how to use it to build respectful communities that are culturally and socially relevant to them identify anti-bullying resources that are relevant to socially and culturally diverse contexts document and share what has been learnt from these processes with the community and beyond document the skills and knowledge that early childhood staff need in order to implement a socially and culturally relevant approach to challenging bullying and building respectful communities. CEIEC  2007

Action learning to transform practices praxis challenge collaboration transformation What is action learning? In learning, our practice - what we actively do - is informed by knowledge & vice versa. Learning can challenge & fundamentally transform how those who engage in it understand, experience & do things. The learning work the action learner undertakes goes beyond their own learning to encompass, & facilitate, learning or change in the practice of others. Learning occurs at several levels: from relatively superficial & easily acquired shifts in routine to ‘frame breaking’ changes in how we think, feel & do things. CEIEC  2007

Action learning - the broad strategies Plan Act Critically review Document …and start again… CEIEC  2007

 Pilot reflection point Name: What behaviours would you see as bullying? Who acts in bullying ways? CEIEC  2007

 Pilot reflection point Name: What do you currently do when a child is bullying another child? What do you currently do for a child who is being bullied? CEIEC  2007

 Pilot reflection point Name: What questions or challenges do you have about bullying? What policies or procedures are in place in your service that support you to work with children who bully or have challenging behaviours? CEIEC  2007

Uncritical truths, critical knowledge To seek the truth about something, we might ask: What is the right/true way to understand this? Whose knowledge of this is true? What is the right/true way to do this? Am I doing this in the right/true way? To seek critical knowledge about, say, early childhood curriculum, we might ask: How many ways can I understand children who bully in my work? Why do I understand bullying in the ways that I do? Who benefits from my understanding of the child and the way I work with her? How else might I understand the child and how I work with her? What prevents me from rethinking my understandings? CEIEC  2007

Bullying Bullying is the persistent use of negative behaviour and words towards another person that negatively affects the victim, the bullies and observers of bullying. There is growing evidence that the preschool years are a formative time in children’s capacity to recognise and resist bullying and its affects and in doing so to promote young children's emotional intelligence in positive and proactive ways (Eisenberg, Fabes & Losoya, 1997:). CEIEC  2007

What is bullying? ‘Bullying is the systematic abuse of power. Bullying is not about difference. It occurs because of people’s inability to accept and value difference. Bullying is the same as racist or sexual harassment or any other discriminatory behavour. Bullying is everyone’s business. Bullying is a form of violence’ (Rigby 2003:15) CEIEC  2007

Pilot preschool anti-bullying programs overseas Anti-bullying programs can increase children’s awareness of bullying behaviours and their affects on bullies, victims and observers. In these programs it has been found that young children can most effectively express their feelings about bullying through art, drama and story telling (see Schonert-Reichl & Hymael, 1995). CEIEC  2007

Shifting understandings Donald’s story CEIEC  2007

Including young children’s voices - gender policy in the early years Strategy and aims: to build on the capacities of learners and educators to inform gender policy, honours the three and four year old children, and it brings to the centre stage, young children as social actors. CEIEC  2007

The consultation questions What’s it like to be a girl/boy at kindy? (Children constructing gender) What would fun for girls and boys to learn about together? (Curriculum/teaching and learning) Do you think that girls and boys should learn the same things, for example, how to cook, look after a baby, to dance and sing, build robots, run and climb and jump? Is there anything girls or boys shouldn’t learn? (Curriculum/teaching and learning) How would you make kindy fair for girls and for boys? (Relationships/culture/ethos) Is it always safe/fair for you at kindy? (Relationships/culture/ethos) When does it feel like it’s been a great day at kindy? (Culture/ethos) CEIEC  2007

Relationships, ethos & culture What makes it unfair 25% of the girls cited physical harassment ‘ Sometimes it is unfair and on the swing the boys push too high and you can fall off the swing … you can make it fair if you can’t fall off there. ERK7 [Girl] When no boys tease … sometimes they tease me … when no-one follows me around … when J punches me and I ask him to stop it … if he listens to me that is good. If girls listen to boys and boys listen to girls then it would be a nice day. ERK7 [Girl] Not always fair. … Like people hurting me and it hurts me. It hurts my feelings. Like they try to chase and try to smack me and I don’t like it because it hurts my feelings very badly. SGK7 [Girl] ‘kill all the girls because I love that’ SGK11 [Boy] CEIEC  2007

Goodies and baddies - consulting children in curriculum CEIEC  2007

Beginning the journey Name: What questions do these stories raise for you? What might happen if you asked children about what is happening in the classroom for them? CEIEC  2007

Before we meet next time: Talk to one or two children individually: Ask them to draw a picture of their friends or the people they play with. Ask the children: - Who are your friends? - Who do you play with? What games do you play with them? - Who do you never play with and why? - Who would you love to play with but never get to? Why don’t you get to play with that person? CEIEC  2007

What next? Look out for an e-bulletin. Next session - Wednesday 4 April, Contact me if you need help at or Session 2 - Where to next?  Share the conversations you have had with children.  Reflect on your findings and questions.  Develop strategies to consult with children. CEIEC  2007

Web resources Anti Bullying Network sourced on 28 th February 2007 Don’t Suffer in Silence sourced on 28 th February 2007 Bullying research sourced on 28 th February 2007 Bullying.org sourced on 28 th February 2007 Act against bullying sourced on 28 th February 2007 Actionwork sourced on 28 th February 2007 CEIEC  2007