International Day of Non-Violence
Moving towards the societal goal of significantly reducing all forms of violence, including those that take place in educational settings, is only possible if the educational interventions we carry out with that intention are based on scientific evidence of social impact (SESI). But, as education professionals, do we know how to distinguish those educational actions for the prevention of violence that are based on SESI from those that are not? Let’s see:
A 2023 in-depth literature review, led by the world’s most cited researcher on gender violence, looked for international educational interventions that have evidence of effectiveness in promoting student well-being and mitigating the negative consequences of violence against children. The report concluded that only 13 programmes and actions had sufficient scientific evidence to be considered effective in this regard, five of them being Successful Educational Actions carried (SEA) carried out in Learning Communities: Zero Violence Brave Club, Dialogic model of prevention and resolution of conflicts (DMPRC), Dialogic scientific gatherings and dialogic feminist gatherings, Open Doors Actions, and Elimination of isolating gender violence.
There are schools in Latin America that implement such successful educational actions, enabling them to improve the academic performance of their students while also decreasing school violence. In Mexico, for example, one learning community that implemented the DMPRC, in addition to other SEA, saw in just two years a 61% reduction in reports of misbehavior, which included carrying knives and drugs as well as violence at school exits. Another example is six Fe y Alegría schools in Nicaragua that implemented the DMPRC, and the Zero Violence Braves Club, also observing improvements in coexistence among their students.
This International Day of Non-Violence, we can contribute to achieving violence-free educational spaces for all if we explore and implement educational actions such as these, which are based on SESI.
Alfonso Rodríguez is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Research in Education at the Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico and coordinator of the Latin American Network of Learning Communities.