ONE MODEL for teaching children social and emotional competence is the Peace and Love in Schools (PALS)
programme.
Janilee Abrikian, PALS general manager, said recently at the Junior Doctors' Association's annual symposium on "interpersonal violence: the health implication" that focusing concern and action on occurrences of physical violence is only treating a symptom and offers little for the future but focusing on educating students towards alternatives to violence in all their various forms offers hope that those alternatives will become the behaviour of choice.
This education is more than telling children to "just say no" but to
provide them with opportunities to learn and to practise self-awareness; self-control; empathy; co-operation and constructive conflict resolution. Such education may succeed in developing a national consciousness without violence, she said.
Components of PALS Programme as outlined by Mrs. Abrikian:
Building community educators pay attention to the relationship between staff members and students. A strong sense of community in schools benefits staff and student. It creates an environment of respect, inclusiveness, empowerment, open communication, participation, trust.
Understanding, managing and resolving conflict many of us respond to conflict with the 'fight' or 'flight' model. Learning problem-solving strategies provides a behavioural alternative to this model. In a peaceable school, children and adults manage and resolve conflicts by negotiating, mediating and participating in group problem solving.
The role of perception in understanding conflict and conflict resolution one of the most valuable skills that we can teach our students is the ability to see the problem from the other person's point of view. Children learn empathy when discipline for misbehaviour requires them to focus attention on the distress their behaviour has caused someone else.
Understanding and managing anger focus on understanding our emotions. The goal is appropriate feelings proportionate to circumstance. Managing emotions is about balance not emotional suppression.
Effective communication the basis of any relationship is communication. Effective communication skills include self-disclosure, assertiveness, listening, and facilitating.
School climate and culture/classroom management some schools have, over time, developed unproductive and toxic cultures. Schools need to be places with a shared sense of what is important, a shared sense of caring and concern and a shared commitment to
helping students learn.
