On 6 July, the Let's Care project team attended the Annual International School Psychology Conference in Riga (Latvia). During the event, the results of a study involving focus groups with teachers and interviews with parents of students on the facilitators and barriers to safe teaching were presented.
The results of the study showed the importance of teachers using relational strategies with their students to promote safe teaching. These strategies include getting to know students better, showing genuine concern for them and creating a safe and welcoming environment. In the same vein, teaching strategies were also discussed, such as tailoring teaching to the individual needs of each student or class.
Parents who took part in the research identified the effectiveness of positive encouragement and reinforcement from teachers, as well as their commitment to building a solid relationship with students, as crucial factors for safe teaching. In terms of barriers, they identified teachers' lack of time to build these relationships, as well as the high bureaucratic load of the profession and the low well-being of teaching staff.
The importance of the teacher-student bond for safe education
“One of the main conclusions of the study is that both teachers and parents recognise the importance of the teacher-student bond, but emphasise that it needs to be intentionally developed," say researchers from the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH) of the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FEP-UCP), who are part of the project team.
The Let's Care project - Building Safe and Caring Schools to Foster Educational Inclusion and School Achievement is funded by the Horizon Europe programme and involves several countries. Portugal is represented by the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, with researchers from the CEDH.
This project aims to combat failure and early school leaving by promoting the construction of a Safe School model: a caring educational environment in an effective relational and emotional context that promotes inclusion and student motivation.
