A holistic, long-term and systematic approach is necessary to ensure a safe and good kindergarten and school environment.
The purpose of the Kindergarten Act states that children should learn to take care of themselves, each other and nature. Kindergarten should contribute to well-being and joy in play and learning, and be a safe and challenging place for community and friendship.
The purpose statement of the Education Act emphasizes that students and apprentices shall develop knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to manage their own lives, work and participate in society.
The right to a safe and good environment in kindergarten and school is a key factor in realizing the objectives.
NB! All tools must be seen in context to ensure a holistic understanding. All video lectures can be freely used in the work of increasing knowledge and understanding.
Statutory rights to a safe and good kindergarten and school environment
The Education Act, Chapter 12, and the Kindergarten Act, Chapter 8, establish the right to a safe and good kindergarten and school environment. According to the Education Act, this is an individual right that can be appealed to the State Administrator, while there is no corresponding individual right in the Kindergarten Act.
The Kindergarten Act obliges kindergartens to ensure an environment that promotes health, well-being, play and learning, and it imposes a stricter responsibility for safeguarding children with particular vulnerability, cf. the Kindergarten Act Section 41. The Education Act obliges schools to promote health, inclusion, well-being and learning, see Section 12-2. The overall goal of this work is to prevent situations where students do not experience a safe and good school environment. This includes both the physical and psychosocial environment in the school, the after-school program and homework help.
Prevention at all levels
For preventive work in kindergartens and schools to have the desired effect, measures must be implemented at both the system, group and individual levels. The municipality has the overall responsibility for ensuring that schools and kindergartens work systematically with preventive measures to provide children with a safe and good kindergarten and school environment.
The Triangle Model: Holistic Approach
The model illustrated above shows the three basic pillars: promoting safe and good environments in kindergarten and school, preventing bullying and other offenses, and dealing with bullying and offenses.
The foundation of this work is to work long-term and systematically. We promote health, well-being, play, inclusion and learning in both school and kindergarten by actively facilitating and creating a safe and positive community.
What does it mean to promote?
To promote means to initiate or contribute to something happening. This means that adults must take an active role in the work of facilitating the creation of a safe and good community.
Prevention of bullying and harassment
Preventing bullying and harassment first and foremost requires a common understanding of what bullying and harassment entails, how this behavior occurs, what it looks like, and how it affects the social environment in kindergarten and school.
Handling bullying and harassment
Handling bullying and harassment means that employees in kindergartens and schools have a duty to intervene when they suspect that a child or student is experiencing harassment or bullying. The law obliges the kindergarten and school to take measures that ensure that the child or student again experiences a safe and good environment.
It is important to emphasize that the threshold for what is considered an offense is low, and the duty to stop offenses also applies to those situations that are not necessarily visible to everyone. Employees must be aware that offenses and bullying can occur, and it is their responsibility to closely monitor children and students to demonstrate a clear attitude and zero tolerance towards such behavior.
Summary
Working holistically, long-term and systematically to promote safe and good kindergarten and school environments must be an integrated part of pedagogical practice. This must characterize all planning and activities in both kindergarten and school.