Mi the aim of the programme?

We have implemented a model programme that gives teachers practical, immediately applicable tools to deal with conflict, aggression and bullying. We also help institutions create a peaceful and inclusive school climate that promotes prevention and has a positive impact on children's success at school.

According to a survey of children in grades 5-8, two-thirds of children experience violence at school, with one in ten children experiencing violence more than once a week.

Our partner in the project was Presley Ridge Hungary Foundation, an expert in aggression management.

What have we done during the programme?

We provided training and mentoring for teachers in nursery and primary schools, and involved parents in some workshops. We paid special attention to joint parent-teacher sessions as there are few forums for information exchange and networking outside the compulsory circles.

• Parents: gain aggression management and conflict resolution skills and learn to connect emotionally and safely with their own children
• Teachers in the institutions involved will be given new methods and tools to deal effectively with the problems they encounter and to use them preventively. Mediation, Relational Education, Crisis Intervention, Aggression Management, Persona Doll training - just some of the methodological elements used in the programme.
• The teachers' hands were not let go after the training: all six participating institutions were assigned a mentor who helped them to incorporate the lessons learned into their daily work.

What results have we achieved?

• We worked with 3 kindergartens and 3 schools that applied to participate in the programme:

1. Pestszentlőrinci Pitypang Kindergarten
2. Pósa Utca Kindergarten (Debrecen)
3. Vadvirág Day Nursery, Szivárvány Day Nursery and Baglyasi Day Nursery of Salgótarján Consolidated Kindergarten (3 institutional units)
4. Göcsej Kapuja Bak Primary School
5. Józsefvárosi Unified Methodological Institute for Special Education and Primary School
6. Salgótarján Primary School Dormitory

• In 3 kindergartens and 3 schools, the methodological toolkit has been expanded to help develop conflict and aggression management skills and integrate them into the daily life of the institution in the long term.
• Parents and teachers alike were able to participate in a series of thematic training sessions, where they learned aggression management and conflict resolution skills from professional experts.
• We also train 66 school mediators who can use their expertise to support effective cooperation between school stakeholders in the long term.
• 44 teachers gained new knowledge in the field of crisis intervention and aggression management. They have acquired a complex prevention and treatment method that can help them to develop and modify the crisis management practices and procedures of their educational and training institutions. They gained theoretical and practical experience in teaching children and young people coping strategies that can be successfully applied.
• 18 pre-school teachers have learned and are using the PersonaDoll method: they learn and pass on collaborative strategies to their students to help reduce educational inequalities, manage conflicts and deal with aggressive behaviour.

• A Children's Mediation Training has been developed, which aims to help teachers to deal with conflicts constructively from an early age and to pass on these models to children. Help them to express their emotions and develop their social and emotional intelligence.
• We have set up an institutional support system, where mentors help heads of institutions, teachers and parents to effectively use the knowledge they have acquired during the training and to integrate it into the life of their institutions.

Our programme closed at the end of 2017. Read the CARS Innovative Final Project Studywhere teachers and heads of institutions who have participated in the training and mentoring sessions give their honest testimonies about what the programme has given them.

Other important information:

• Project/Support Programme name: A New Tool for Quality Teaching:Developing Conflict and Aggression Resolution Skills of Teachers, Students and Parents "C A R S" for more Peaceful and Democratic societies
• Supporting organisation: the Open Society Institute Foundation
• Project ID at the donor: Grant Number OR2015-24719
• Collaborating partner: Pressley Ridge Foundation http://www.pressleyridge.hu/
• Duration start/end: 1 January 2016 - 31 December 2017
• Budget amount, currency: 83 364 $

More information about the programme:

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