Prevención eficaz de la violencia y el acoso escolar: Programa TEI, Tutoría Entre Iguales

Overview of the Program T

Introduction to the Program

• Andrés González Bellido introduces himself and his colleagues, Alba Maza and Javier Pérez, as part of a research team discussing the Program T.

• The presentation outlines three main areas: current status of school violence and bullying, future directions for effective prevention, and methods for implementation.

Understanding School Violence

• School violence is defined as repeated mistreatment among peers, characterized by two key variables: repetition and intensity.

• Actions often stem from an intention to harm; however, aggressors may not fully grasp the extent of damage inflicted on victims.

• Power abuse—whether physical, emotional, or psychological—leads to victim helplessness. Current statistics indicate around 20% in primary schools and 15% in secondary schools experience bullying.

Future Directions for Prevention

• Emphasis on intervention guidelines that include understanding roles: aggressors, victims, and bystanders are crucial elements in addressing bullying.

• A fourth element—an enabling environment—is necessary for systematic violence or bullying to occur; without it, such situations cannot manifest.

Effective Prevention Strategies

Key Elements of Effective Prevention

• The program identifies seven essential components plus one additional factor for effective prevention strategies.

Core Requirements:

1. Proactive Approach: Programs must be preventive rather than reactive; protocols should be established before incidents occur.

2. Institutional Support: Initiatives need institutional backing rather than being limited to specific departments or staff members. This ensures continuity beyond individual involvement.

3. Holistic Involvement: All stakeholders—including students, teachers, families—must be engaged in a comprehensive approach to prevent violence.

4. Curricular Integration: Programs should be embedded within educational curricula focusing on skills development across all educational levels (infant through secondary).

5. Inclusivity: Learning processes must involve active participation from all students rather than passive listening; action-oriented learning is emphasized.

Focus Areas for Intervention

• Addressing broader issues like climate and culture within schools is vital instead of only targeting specific violent incidents.

• Emotional intelligence training focusing on empathy, respect, and commitment is critical for fostering positive relationships among students.

Implementation Insights

Overview of Program T's Reach

• The Program T has been implemented extensively over 20 years across Spain with significant reach—training approximately 1,500 centers and impacting around 150 thousand educators along with over two million students globally.

Understanding the Educational Program Against School Violence

Overview of Research and Evidence

• The program is supported by research groups from various universities, including the University of Alicante and Rovira i Virgili University, indicating a collaborative effort in addressing school violence.

• Scientific evidence shows that the program achieves its intended outcomes, with studies published in high-impact educational journals.

Impact on Violence and Mental Health

• In its first year, the program reports a 28% reduction in verbal violence and a 52% reduction in physical violence among students.

• There is an 18% decrease in anxiety perception and a significant 40% drop in depression levels among students involved.

Educational Strategy and Community Involvement

• The program employs an emotional tutoring strategy that fosters coexistence within the educational community, involving students, teachers, administrative staff, families, and the surrounding environment.

• It integrates emotional education principles based on ecological systems theory and positive psychology to enhance student well-being.

Empathy Development and Behavioral Modification

• Emphasizes learning through modeling behavior rather than cognitive understanding alone; this highlights the importance of exemplary conduct among peers.

• Focuses on developing empathy among bystanders while empowering them to understand the impact of bullying behaviors.

Conflict Resolution Mechanism

• The program encourages victims to communicate directly with aggressors under supervision to reduce power imbalances during conflicts.

• If issues persist after initial interventions (about 10% of cases), further discussions are held with coordinators to address underlying symptoms before they escalate into bullying situations.

Implementation Structure and Community Engagement

• Activities are structured similarly across all age groups from ages 3 to 18, focusing on self-esteem, inclusion, empathy, LGBTQ+ awareness, cyberbullying prevention, evaluation methods, and family involvement.

• Currently implemented in 40 cities with ongoing training for educators and families since receiving recognition from various governmental bodies since 2016.

Conclusion: Pathway Towards Coexistence

• The implementation spans three years: initial courses followed by evaluations. The essence of the program emphasizes that suffering should not be part of education; instead, it promotes coexistence as key to preventing school violence.