Why Safe and Caring Schools and Communities Programming?
1) To be successful, violence-prevention and social-skills programs must be implemented throughout the formative years.
Daniel Goleman (1995) states that the goal of society should be raising the level of children’s social and emotional competence as a part of their regular education—not just something taught remedially to children who are faltering and identified as troubled, but as a set of skills and understandings essential for every child.
Like a good child rearing at home, lessons imparted are small but telling, delivered regularly and over a sustained period of years. That is how emotional learning becomes ingrained; as experiences are repeated over and over, the brain reflects them as strengthened pathways, neural habits to apply in times of duress, frustration and hurt.
Goleman, D. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam, 1995
The SACSC violence-prevention and character-education programs help produce these neural habits by developing attitudes and building knowledge and skills through curricular and extracurricular programs, staff development and a parent and community support program.
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2) Effective primary prevention is aimed at all students, not just those who are chronically disruptive.
Research demonstrates that shaping the prosocial behaviour of the “supporting cast”—those students who take no active role in disruption—is just as important as dealing with disruptive students and the victims of bullying.
Inclusion in and respect from the peer group are major factors in determining student success or failure on many levels. Lack of peer support significantly contributes to violent and other antisocial behaviour for students already experiencing other risk factors. Research has shown that the peer group has the greatest influence in stopping and preventing bullying and other forms of violence among students. Without the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes, students are far less likely to prevent and stop violence; that in intervening, reporting, including those students often left out in positive social interactions and treating all students with respect.
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3) The SACSC programs promote inclusive school environments, through comprehensive programming that addresses five areas:
- Building a Safe and Caring Classroom/Living Respectfully and Responsibility
- Building Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
- Respecting Diversity and Preventing Prejudice
- Managing Anger and Dealing with Bullying
- Working Together and Managing Conflict
SACSC programs focus on developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes that shape positive social behaviour and help students deal with the inappropriate behaviour of others. Furthermore, seriously disruptive students have greater success learning positive social behaviour when they are taught in a classroom alongside more socially responsible students than they have in classrooms dominated by other students with behaviour problems.
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4) A fundamental goal of education is to develop the moral character necessary to make positive contributions to a democratic society.
The ultimate goal of the SACSC programs is to foster moral motivation for positive social behaviour, which is the ultimate goal for all students. In the SACSC programs the role of the teacher and other adults is to guide, particularly through modelling, rather than to control student behaviour. The SACSC programs are designed to build character, values and attitudes that help all students learn to be good people and develop the knowledge and skills to build positive relationships and manage conflict. The SACSC programs take advantage of proven teaching and learning methodology across a broad spectrum.
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5) The SACSC programs include parents and other adults in the solution.
There are four SACSC program areas that address 1) school culture, 2) curriculum and instruction, 3) professional development and 4) adult role modelling by parents, teachers and other adults in the community who interact with students outside of school.
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6) The SACSC programs have demonstrated success in improving student behaviour and enhancing the learning environment in schools.
Anecdotal reports, as well as research conducted by the Muttart Foundation and the ATA, support this conclusion.
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7) The Society for SACSC is recognized as a leader in cultivating a comprehensive and collaborative approach to school violence prevention.
In addition to involving all partners and stakeholders, the Society for SACSC has developed the only program resources to integrate violence prevention into every subject in mandated curriculum. Please see Awards and Achievements.
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8) The SACSC programs have a strong research base in violence prevention, character education and in teaching and learning.
In addition to basing program development on research findings and program evaluation, the Society for SACSC is engaged in ongoing action research that leads to program revisions and adaptations.
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9) The Effective Behaviour Support (EBS) Program, Alberta Learning’s Safe and Caring Schools program, requires additional violence-prevention elements.
The EBS program requires that schools implement a comprehensive social skills and violence-prevention program along with staff development in order to improve student behaviour and prevent violence in schools. The SACSC programs and resources meet the additional program requirements of EBS and contribute to the development of a strong moral philosophy among students—a component that is inadequate in many other social-skills or violence-prevention programs.
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10) The SACSC school assessment instrument can help schools demonstrate accountability.
The Society for SACSC, in collaboration with the Calgary Learning Centre, Calgary’s Comprehensive Learning Through Health Initiative, Canada Health, Alberta Health and Alberta Learning’s Curriculum Branch, developed a SACSC assessment instrument—the product of three years of collaboration, research and development. This instrument draws survey data from a school’s student population and provides the school with valuable information about its successes and needs in relation to building a strong safe and caring school culture. This assessment instrument, in conjunction with the SACS prevention programs, provides school districts with the resources to demonstrate their accountability related to Section 28 (7) of the School Act.
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