The last blog post was about organisations, agencies and communities of practice that worked at a local or state level. This week is organisations, agencies, and communities of practice that are national or federal. The Netherlands is about the size of a small state in the US so last weeks groups were usually active nationally. This week to expand I am looking at groups and programs that operate throughout Europe.
The first community of practice that I would like to share is the European Anti-bullying Network (http://www.antibullying.eu). This is a project that attempts to coordinate anti-bullying programs and initiatives across the European Union. Members are encouraged to share best practices and raise awareness. One important goal of this group is to campaign and advocate for a European strategy to prevent bullying. "“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” Desmond Tutu stated and this is why it is of paramount importance for each and every one of us to take an action now against bullying" ("The Campaign", n.d.).
The next website I found is an anti-bullying program called KiVa (http://www.kivaprogram. net). The program was developed in Finland and has been subjected to intensive research to determine its effectiveness in several countries. The focus of the program is prevention but there is also a protocol included to deal with bullying events. Even with the best prevention bullying still occurs and needs to be addressed in a proactive manner (Welcome to KiVa school, 2014).
The first community of practice that I would like to share is the European Anti-bullying Network (http://www.antibullying.eu). This is a project that attempts to coordinate anti-bullying programs and initiatives across the European Union. Members are encouraged to share best practices and raise awareness. One important goal of this group is to campaign and advocate for a European strategy to prevent bullying. "“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” Desmond Tutu stated and this is why it is of paramount importance for each and every one of us to take an action now against bullying" ("The Campaign", n.d.).
The next website I found is an anti-bullying program called KiVa (http://www.kivaprogram. net). The program was developed in Finland and has been subjected to intensive research to determine its effectiveness in several countries. The focus of the program is prevention but there is also a protocol included to deal with bullying events. Even with the best prevention bullying still occurs and needs to be addressed in a proactive manner (Welcome to KiVa school, 2014).
Through the website for EAN mentioned above, I found the website for CESIE (http://cesie.org). This organisation is described as a European centre for studies and initiatives. Their mission is "[t]o promote growth through innovative and participative educational approaches" (CESIE, n.d.). One of the projects that they support is called BODI. The aim of this project is the development of diversity education and inclusion to ensure that families and their children would not face exclusion (BODI, n.d.).
Another organisation I found through EAN is the YES forum (http://www.yes-forum.eu). YES stands for Youth and European Social Work and has children at the centre of everything they do. It is a forum for NGOs working with young people with fewer opportunities because of socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity, education or region. While the forum is not specifically focussing on bullying, they do address some of the underlying problems that can lead to bullying behaviour or becoming a victim of bullying.
All of these groups require people who are committed to working for children and families. These organisations advocate for European policy that will address problems of bullying and exclusion. The people who work for them need to have experience with children and families as well as an awareness of the issues. You would need determination and perseverance to follow through without immediate results. I would be interested in working with KiVa as a trainer in their program. I think every school should have an anti-bullying program in place whether or not there is a perceived problem.
References
CESIE. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://cesie.org
European Anti-bullying Network. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.antibullying.eu
KiVa International. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.kivaprogram.net
YES Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.yes-forum.eu
Jennifer, I think you would make an excellent trainer! I love how committed you are to the anti-bullying effort, and I hope your capstone will lead you to many more opportunities. You have so much to offer! Thank you for sharing these resources.
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteSince reading your posts here and in the discussion form I have started to look closely at my clients and their interactions with their own children. I have noticed that many times the parents are almost supporting their children's bullying behavior by their own actions. I wanted to thank you for allowing me to look outside the box. I might not always comment on everyone's posts but I do read them.
Laura