Report of the project : KiVa anti-bullying Programme
A KiVa anti-bullying training took place in the University of Turku, Finland for 5 days. The members of staff (Secondary Section – 2 Teachers, 1 BAC Coordinator, 1 Educational Advisor, 1Head Advisor) were trained in the University and also visited a local school to experience first-hand how KiVa lessons are implemented in a school situation.
KiVa is an innovative school-based antibullying program which has been developed using cutting-edge research on bullying and its mechanisms.
1)Prevention, 2)intervention, and 3)monitoring
KiVa is an evidence-based program to prevent bullying and to tackle the cases of bullying effectively. The former is crucial but also the latter is important, as no prevention efforts will make bullying disappear once and for all; there need to be tools to be utilised when a case of bullying comes to light. The third aspect of KiVa is constant monitoring of the situation in one’s school and the changes taking place over time; this is enabled by the online tools included in KiVa. These tools produce annual feedback for each school about their implementation of the program as well as the outcomes obtained.
Feedback from coordinator Lorna Ní Chearbhúil :
An excellent training whereby the members of staff who attended are now equipped to launch the KiVa program in the secondary section – to train other teachers and staff members and to educate the school community on the importance of treating others justly and with respect. Alongside this, there are now concrete tools in place that will hopefully minimise the bullying cases in the school and will also allow them to be dealt with more effectively and efficiently.
Feedback from participants :
1) ’Inspring, Useful and Energetic’
2) ’A great way to learn the programme’
3) ’Very fulfilling’
4) ’Interesting to interact with other schools/entities and countries.
5) ‘A good way to reform attitudes’
The aim of KiVA is to foster a school culture whereby everbody is treated fairly and with respect. The KiVa program aims to educate all about our behavious and actions, and how these effect others. Implementing the KiVA program, should, in theory, reduce the volume of bullying cases throughout the school. It will also give set procedures for staff members and the KiVA team to deal with bullying cases effectively.