Overview

The Ideas for a safe and supportive schoolcommunity lesson plans have been developed for the National Day ofAction against Bullying and Violence (NDA). They use a community ofinquiryapproach to support students to collaboratively discuss their ideasfora safe and supportive school, and to create their ownpositivesolutions tobullying.

Bullying is complex and multifaceted and manifests in differentways for each school and year level. Each instance is unique. Ratherthan focus on instances of bullying, the Ideas for a safe and supportive school community lessons focuson the importance of involving students in the school’s approachtocountering bullying and creating a safe and supportiveschool environment forall.

Aim

Lesson plans and accompanying materials have been developedforYears 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 and 9-10. Page 6 shows the scope and content ata glance.

The aim of the lesson plans is for studentsto:

  • generate and evaluate ideas for creating a safe andsupportiveenvironment and counter bullying in their school andcommunity
  • share their ideas for action with the widerschool.

Each Ideas for a safe and supportive school community lesson plan is approximately 60 minuteslong,but the duration will be determined by students’engagement.

Teachers are encouraged to consider the individual learning needsof their students and adapt and differentiate the activities to suitthecircumstances of each classroom and schoolsetting.

Community ofinquiry

A community of inquiry is a group of people who constructpersonal meaning by collaboratively engaging in purposeful discussionand reflection (Cam, 1995, 2006). Members of a community ofinquiryexplore big questions about life. Understanding the phenomenaof bullying requires deep thinking and questioning for all,and community of inquiry provides a foundation for schoolcommunities to approach thisexploration.

In a community of inquiry all members of the group work togetherto reach a rich, shared understanding of significant concepts andissues. Participants are required to think deeply, reason effectivelyand reflect on their own thinking and that of others. They areencouraged to take ownership of their learning and work collaboratively tocomeup with solutions to problems that are central to theirlives.

The community of inquiry has three keyelements:

  • concept under discussion(content)
  • process – ways of working (protocols)
  • use of inquiry tools (thinking, reasoning reflecting skills).

For deep inquiry to take place there needs to be a balance of allthreeelements during theinquiry.

The teacher’srole

The teacher’s role is to facilitate the process rather than providetheir own views or solutions. Teachers should model inquiryprocesses,ensure the discussion remains on track, and ask open,probingquestions that will assist the group to reach a deeperunderstandingof the concepts underdiscussion.

Community of inquiry discussionprotocols

At the beginning of each lesson revisit the followingdiscussion protocols:

  • Listen attentively: this means listening carefully to what isbeingsaid or suggested byothers.
  • Build on and connect to ideas: adding to the ideas of otherscan stretch everyone’s understandingfurther.
  • Respect others and their ideas: thinking carefully about theideas of others is one way of showing respect for that idea;listeningand building on ideas also demonstratesrespect.
  • Disagree reasonably and respectfully: we disagree with theidea not the person; sometimes we may even change our mindafterlistening to another person give good reasons for theirthinking.
  • There may be no single correct answer: when we exploreinquiryquestions there may be many correctanswers.

Guidelines for conducting a community of inquiry in yourclassroom During the community of inquiry, students and teacher sit in acircleso that all members of the community can see and respond toeach other withease.

  • Ask a question to the group and use a Talking Tool to ensurethatonly one person speaks at a time. Students share their ideasbyraising their hands when they wish to respond. Remind themto

listen carefully and consider the speaker’s ideas whenanymember of the group is speaking. (When ideas are beingshared,students should not have their hand up as this woulddemonstratethat they are not respecting or considering thespeaker’s thoughts. It can also distract thespeaker.)

  • Remind students to give reasons for their responses. Thiswill provide the listener with a deeper understanding of theideas presented and enable them to connect their own thoughtsandsuggestions.
  • If the students are finding it difficult to respond, it is theteacher’s role to ask further probing questions that would elicit adeeperlevel of thinking. Some example questions couldbe:
  • Why do you thinkthat?
  • Can anyone build on that idea?
  • In what ways are these ideasconnected?
  • Does anyone disagree with that idea?Why?
  • Can you clarify your idea for thegroup?
  • Does anyone have another idea/different suggestion?
  • Can we look at this in anotherway?
  • What more do we need tounderstand?
  • Are we moving forward with ourideas?
  • How could this help us to understand the issue at adeeperlevel?
  • Are there any key ideas that we may havedisregarded?

A range of inquiry and reflection questions has been included inthelessons. Teachers do not need to ask all of the questionsprovided.They have been included to support discussion. If the studentsareable to discuss a question at a deeper, sustained level oraskquestions of their own that build on the idea under discussion,then

teachers will need to reduce the number of questions shared inthetimeallocated.

Each lesson concludes with time for reflection. If students areto reach deeper levels of understanding of the process and contentandapply their learning in other contexts, it is important for them tobegiven the opportunity to think meta-cognitively, that is, to thinkaboutthe thinking and reasoning that has taken place during thediscussion.

Studentvoice

The lessons provide an opportunity to extend students ideas usingtheconcept of ‘student voice’. Student voice is the active opportunityforstudents to express their opinions and make decisions regardingtheirlearning experiences (Rogers, 2005). Through supporting studentsto voice their ideas about preventing bullying, teachers and schoolshearnew ideas and involve young people in the ownership ofsolutions.

Teachers need to be aware of their own perspective whenstudentsare coming up with ideas and be mindful of unintendedconstraintsthey may place onstudents.

Student voice requires genuine opportunities for students toputideas into place and effect change in the school. The StandTogetherlessons can be the first step in developing students’ ideasinto projects in the school. Long-term positive projects will requirea whole of school commitment. Positive, student-led solutions arean important part of strategies to counterbullying.

Personaldisclosure

Teachers need to be sensitive to the class mood. Recentinterpersonal incidents or problems may impact on class discussion. In somecases,it may be better to delay the lessons until problems areaddressed.

Acknowledge to students that bullying may be a sensitive topictodiscuss and therefore respectful listening is particularlyimportant. Teachers should emphasise that this activity is not the placeforstudents to share or resolve current personal issues relatedto bullying, and instead that students are encouraged to speak withtheteacher or a school support person after thelesson.

Protective interrupting is a useful tool for teachers inthesesituations. Protective interrupting aims to protect students fromtheconsequences of revealing inappropriate personal informationin front of other students. It is possible a student will begin todisclosepersonal information or a teacher might sense that a student isaboutto make such a disclosure. In such a situation, the teachershould acknowledge they have heard the student using words like‘Thatsounds important,’ but stop them divulging any further details.Theteacher should suggest the student talks privately with them afterthelesson or, if possible, ask the student if they would like to leavetheclassroom then to continue theconversation.

If a student should make a disclosure of bullying currentlyoccurring,your role is to listen calmly, show support for thestudent,acknowledge what they have told you and, once the studenthas finished, discuss with them what you could both do next. Ensureyou are aware of your school’s policy for dealing withbullying.

Links to keydocuments

AustralianCurriculum

These lessons relate to three of the Australian CurriculumGeneral capabilities:

  • Personal and socialcapability
  • Self-awareness
  • Self-management
  • Social-awareness
  • Social management
  • Ethicalunderstanding
  • Understanding ethical concepts andissues
  • Exploring values, rights andresponsibilities
  • Critical and creativethinking
  • Inquiring – identifying, exploring andorganisinginformation and ideas
  • Generating ideas, possibilities andactions
  • Reflecting on thinking andprocesses
  • Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoningand procedures

National Safe SchoolsFramework

The National Safe Schools Framework provides a vision and setof guiding principles for safe, supportive and respectfulschool communities that promote student wellbeing. The Ideas for a safe and supportive school community lessons link with the followingelements:

  • Element 2: A supportive and connected schoolenvironment
  • Element 6: Engagement, skill development and safeschool curriculum

  • Element 7: A focus on student wellbeing andstudentownership
  • Element 9: Partnerships with families and community(forsome ideas and projects of thestudents)

About the National Day of Action againstBullyingandViolence

The annual National Day of Action against Bullying andViolenceoccurs on the third Friday in March each year. The National Dayof Action is an opportunity for students, teachers, parents andthewhole community to take a stand together against bullyingandviolence and provides a focus for schools who want to say,‘Bullying. NoWay!’.

The annual National Day of Action is organised by allAustralian education authorities through the national Safe AndSupportiveSchool Communities WorkingGroup.

Feedback

A survey to evaluate the NDA campaign will be sent to allregistered schools from the Bullying. No Way! team. Teachers will be invitedto provide feedback on the Ideas for a safe and supportive school community lesson plans andprojectframework as part of thissurvey.

Alternatively, teachers can send feedback regarding how thelesson was implemented and the ideas generated by students to Bullying.No Way!

References

Australian Curriculum - Generalcapabilities

Bullying. No Way! National Safe SchoolsFramework

Community ofInquiry

Cam, P. (1995). Thinking together: Philosophical inquiry fortheclassroom. Alexandria, NSW: Hale and Iremonger PtyLimited.

Cam, P. (2006). Twenty thinking tools.Camberwell, Vic: ACERPress.

Cam, P. (2012). Teaching ethics in schools: A new approach tomoraleducation. Camberwell, Vic: ACERPress.

Cam, P., Fynes-Clinton, L., Harrison, K., Hinton, L., Scholl, R. &Vaseo,

S. (2007).Philosophy with young children: Aclassroom handbook. Deakin West, ACT: ACSAInc.

Davey Chesters, S., Fynes-Clinton, L., Hinton, L. & Scholl, R.(2013) Philosophical and ethical inquiry for students in themiddleyears and beyond. Deakin West, ACT: ACSAInc.

Lipman - P4C (Seven videos onYouTube)

Phil Cam on YouTube. Centre for Philosophy for Children, University ofWashington.

Wartenberg, T. Teaching children philosophy. Mount HolyokeCollege,Massachusetts.

StudentVoice

Fielding, M. (2004). Transformative approaches to studentvoice:Theoretical underpinnings, recalcitrant realities.British Educational Research Journal, 30, 2,295-311.

MindMattersempowering students module(login required – free)

Mitra, D., Serriere, S. & Stoicovy, D. (2012).The role of leadersin enabling student voice.Management in Education, 26, 3,104-

112.

Rogers, A. (2005). Student voice: Bridges to learning.Seattle:University ofWashington.depts.washington.edu/k12admin/l4l/capstone/docs/AndyExecSummry.DOC

SoundOut – a program promoting student voice andmeaningfulstudent involvement (USA)

Werder, C., & Otis, M. M., (Eds.) (2010). Engaging student voicesin the study of teaching and learning. Sterling, VA:Stylus.

At aglance

Activity / Duration / Activities / Focusquestions / Resources
Lesson / 60 minutes forprimaryschools
80 minutes forhigh schools / Exploring ‘What makesasafe and supportiveschool?’
  • Exploring theattributes of a safe andsupportiveschool community
  • Examining thedefinition ofbullying
Ideas for ourschool
  • Generatingideas
  • Evaluatingideas
Reflection
  • Thinking abouttheprocess
  • Planning forindividual actions(optional)
/
  • What does it mean to feelsafe?
  • What does it mean to feel safeat school?
  • What could make youfeel unsafe atschool?
  • What does it mean tobesupported?
  • What makes you feelsupported atschool?
  • What would a school look likeif it is safe and supportive?
  • What would a school look likeif it is not safe andsupportive?
/ The National Day of Action poster can be downloaded from School materials for download.
From the Ideas fora safe and supportive school community page:
  • What isbullying? handout for Yrs 3-4,5-6
  • What isbullying? handout for Yrs 7-8,9-10
  • Ideas for ourschool template
  • Ideas that will makea positiveimpacthandouts for Yrs 7-8;Yrs 9-10
Other itemsneeded:
  • Ball or beanbag
  • Cards
  • Studentwristbands (registered schoolscan order from Bullying.No Way!)

Presentingtheirideas / 30minutes / Students share their ideasfora safe and supportiveschool community with thebroaderschoolcommunity. / Depending onpresentation