Whole School Approach

We do not underestimate that even a single teacher can make a difference in students’ lives, but we do believe that change is more easy and effective when it is a whole-school approach, encouraged by the principal.

It should not be imposed on the teaching staff, but rather explored together. A whole-school approach includes teachers, educators, non-teaching staff, students, parents and even the non-educational workers of the school.

The SCHOOL’s perspective
  • Teachers need new tools and approach for classroom management and they need help to create a positive atmosphere during their lessons that is conducive to learning. Old methods of discipline such as shouting, sending students out of class or making humiliating remarks about them are banned in Europe. However, if teachers don’t get new tools, they become helpless and return to old, entrenched habits.
  • Principals live most in the tension between education policy and real life cases. They need to be familiar with Positive Discipline as a whole-school discipline approach, because if they are convinced of its efficiency, then they have the resources and skills to be the catalyst for a positive mindset shift of staff.
  • Teachers are witnesses to the fact that communication between students is often hurtful. We teach students conflict management skills, but what makes them apply these skills? We are planning to work with them to find the answer.
The STUDENTS’ perspective

Students, who are perceived by teachers as the school’s nightmare, need a lot of help. It helps if teachers look at them differently and approach them differently. It also helps if students look at themselves differently. It is vital that students – whether they are problematic at school or not – learn to understand the underlying reasons behind their own and others’ behaviour.

This can reduce segregation and increase the climate of inclusion in schools. It will be less likely that a principal removes a disruptive child just to provide a safe learning enviroment in the school. Every student needs to be taught PSLL skills. PSLL competence is teachable, but not an automatic process, picked up from home or from the media.

The STUDENTS’ perspective
Parents are in a similar situation to teachers: the old authoritarian family model has fallen apart, but the other extreme, the permissive, indulgent parent, is not attractive either. Parents and teachers often blame each other if a child underperforms. Parents and teachers both need a Positive Discipline approach, where they are looking for a solution instead of blaming each other.