In 2012 Eastdale, along with Listowel Central, were awarded the Premier's Safe School Award. This award is given to only 10 schools across the province annually. Eastdale and Central have worked together to develop common language and programs to help students to deal with conflict.
So how do we do what we do?
We start by teaching students the 3 steps to social responsibility:
Ignore -- ignore one time, or for one day if you can. If the problem continues..
Say Stop -- use strong words to say "Stop." Mean it, and be direct. If the problem continues..
Report -- tell an adult or the peacemakers. If you don't get the response or resolution that you need, report to someone else. I
These steps are taught in every grade from JK-Gr. 6. The language is reinforced on the yard by teachers and by the peacemakers (Gr. 5 & 6 students who are trained to help students work through problems,) and by other students.
The HOAP process
When a conflict is reported we walk the students through the HOAP process. This is:
Honesty -- I tell the students, "people (kids and grownups) often come to my office because they've made a mistake. I can help you deal with any mistake and fix it, unless you don't give me the whole truth. If you choose to lie about the issue, that's not a mistake, that is a choice to do something that you know isn't right. So give it to me straight up and then we can fix things."
I can honestly say that it is a rare occurance that the students don't tell the truth.
Ownership -- students take responsibility for their mistake.
Apology -- This is the tough one for most parents to get. We were always taught to "say sorry." An apology is the best way to begin to restore a relationship and to return dignity to both the victim and the aggressor. The difficulty is that when the apology is forced it doesn't mean anything to either party. Instead we ask kids if there is anything they would like to say. Sometimes they want to apologize right away, sometimes they will say they need more time (either to give the apology or to hear it.) The sincere apology is what we are striving for -- it is a sign of responsibility and empathy.
Plan -- This is where we take the most time...to get everyone involved to develop a workable to plan to ensure that things change for the better. I am always amazed by what students come up with. Helping them to develop their own plan means they are more likely to follow it. Of course, staff follow up to make sure that it is working.
We continue to work on helping students develop their own voice to solve conflicts. The social responsibility steps and HOAP process give them the language and structure to do so.
Mrs. B
