SAFETY COMPETENCE AND PEDAGOGICAL WELFARE (1 + 2 CR)
COMPETENCE GOALS:
9. You understand the
importance of pedagogical well-being in teaching and guidance. 12. You understand how to
create a safe study environment. |
Working safely and providing students a safe learning
environment is one of teacher's core competences.
Different aspects of safety
Safety can be psychological,
physical, social, and legal in nature - or all of them at the same time. It
is important to understand that, from an individual's point of view, security
is often formed through the emotional experience associated with it. Therefore,
a person can feel insecure even about things that do not pose an actual
threat to him. (Source: https://www.oamk.fi/emateriaalit/osaamisen-kehittaminen/turvallisuusosaaminen/käsitteet)
When we are discussing physical safety, we have
to consider a physically safe operating environment and work equipment. Key
themes in maintaining physical security are the management of various accident
and threat situations. It is very important that teaching staff know how to
observe, evaluate and prevent various physical safety risks in their own work. Various
safety plans and instructions guide teachers and in case of an accident and
threat situations, one must be proactive and minimize damage.
Psychological safety refers to a safe environment from
the perspective of emotional experience. In a psychologically safe environment,
the individual has the experience that he has the opportunity to influence his
own life and future. The operational models of preventing violence, bullying
and harassment, supporting resources and strengthening work peace are part of
psychological safety. The central task of the teaching staff in guaranteeing
psychological safety is the prevention of challenging behavior and threatening
situations. Also being prepared for crisis situations is important on an organizational
level. (Source: https://www.oamk.fi/emateriaalit/osaamisen-kehittaminen/turvallisuusosaaminen/käsitteet).
Social safety allows an individual to fulfill his
basic need to belong to a group and community safely. The experience of being
an influential member of the community increases the student's participation
and increases self-esteem. Managing situations of harassment and violence is
also part of maintaining social security. (Opetushallitus 2022b.). Also, a
socially safe operating environment is promoted by operating models created for
guidance and student care.
According to the Ministy of Education pedagogical
safety consists of a safe growth and learning environment. It also includes
documents and plans that guide teaching and develop a safety culture, such as
curriculum, safety-related research and safety education. Pedagogical safety
also includes decisions that are made in learning situations concerning the
student. (Opetushallitus 2022a.) Pedagogical safety therefore does not only
apply to only those situations when the teacher acts as a safety educator, but
to all learning situations.
Laws and documents teachers should be
familiar with in addition to Constitutional Law
Matters concerning physical, psychological and social
security are regulated by many other laws in addition to the Constitutional Law.
In terms of the teacher's work, the most central are:
·
The Rescue Act= Pelastuslaki 379/2011 http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2011/20110379
·
The Occupational Safety Act = Työturvallisuuslaki 738/2002 http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2002/20020738
·
Act on Vocational Education = Laki ammatillisesta koulutuksesta
531/2017 https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2017/20170531
·
Universities of Applied Sciences Act = Ammattikorkeakoululaki
932/2014 https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2014/20140932
·
Student Welfare Act = Oppilas- ja
opiskelijahuoltolaki 1287/2013 https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2013/20131287
It should be noted that in addition to the legislation,
teacher must also know the instructions and regulations for protecting the
student from violence, bullying and harassment, the student care plan,
instructions and regulations in crisis management, organizing aftercare after
crisis situations, information responsibilities and instructions related to
e.g. data protection.
Safety in teacher’s everyday work
Ideally, teacher
should plan, implement and evaluate her teaching and supervision by taking into
account the physical, psychological, social and legal safety of the student.
According OAMK guidance, a physically, psychologically and socially safe
environment is built through open interaction. Interaction plays a key role in
the prevention of, for example, sexual harassment, marginalization,
radicalization, online bullying and other threatening phenomena. Good
interaction and open discussion also contribute to the detection and prevention
of various accident risks.
So, how are well
are we prepared to do this in everyday teaching life? As part of student
activity, we discussed few possibly safety issues that could arise during
teaching and how prepared are we to deal with these and is there something we
could have done to prevent this from happening.
Topics under
discussion were: Bullying, sudden illness in the classroom, and information
security risk.
Bullying
situations could happen eg. in a group work situations. We were fairly
unanimous that educating the students is the key to preventing this from happening.
Making students understand important issues like group dynamics, different
personalities, different kind of learners eg. students with special needs etc might
help with the issue. Also, clear instructions on what to do in a case when a
student feels unsafe in a group, is advisable.
With regards to
sudden illness, it was noted that, while we are teachers are not expected to
diagnose the illness, we should be prepared to call for help, know where we are
in order to get the help to right place, and also be prepared to know how to
calm the other students in a difficult situation. One should also know where
the first aid boxes and defibrillators are situated.
We as teachers handle
information that could potentially become an information security risk: student
names, telephone numbers, social security numbers, addresses, grades. We
discussed that a teacher should think what one really needs in your grading
sheets and leave all irrelevant information out. In a case that you fear that
there could have been a potential risk, know who you should report this to and
get advice what to do. And never leave your computer unattended when it is
open, but always lock the screen at least.
These were just
three quick examples of potential safety risks that we as teachers could face
in our daily working life. It is impossible to be prepared to every possible
situation but making yourself familiar with your organisations safety manual
and instructions will take you a long way.
Pedagogic wellbeing
According to OAMK’S Erkkilä and Perunka, pedagogical well-being is built in
encounters and activities between teachers and students. Pedagogical well-being as a concept
can be viewed from both individual (teacher’s and
student’s) and from community perspective.
The community
level is formed, for example, by the work community and the teacher's own
networks, which he perceives as important factors
from the point of view of his own work and its development. Community’s support
for teacher’s wellbeing is always important but even more so when it is a
question of a new teacher. We discussed with the fellow students, that help and
guidance with organisation’s rules and guidelines, as well as issues surrounding
the curriculum, student activities and possible difficult situations (eg a cheating
or bullying incident) are likely to improve teacher’s pedagogical wellbeing.
According to
Erkkilä and Perunka, the individual level, from the teacher's point of view, focuses on the concepts
of work well-being, empowerment, self-regulation, motivation and renewal, which
are closely related to experiences of participation, self-sufficiency and
community. However, for teacher’s pedagogic wellbeing also basic elements like
good substance as well as pedagogical skills are important.
From the student's
point of view, pedagogical well-being includes issues similar to those of the
teacher. Erkkilä and Perunka suggest that particularly renewal and involvement
bring students wellbeing in the same way community offers wellbeing for
teachers. In pedagogical well-being it is thought that it is central to support
the student's growth and learning and removing the obstacles in their way so
that the student feels that she has been truly encountered.
A concept of Caring
approach to teaching is also mentioned by Erkkilä and Perunka as an important building
block in student’s wellbeing.
When we had our special pedagogy lecture by Iiris
Happo, something she mentioned really made me understand what is expected by us
teachers:
“It is safe to come to a course when
it is taught by a teacher who has a genuine desire to support everyone to
succeed and achieve their best.”
So, summa summarum, what can we as teachers do
pedagogically, to provide wellbeing for students? Erkkilä and Perunka’s pedagogical
recommendations are:
·
Caring: Noticing good and encouraging
·
Use teaching methods that involve active thinking, interaction, learning
by doing
References:
Erkkilä, R. Perunka, S. (2021). Pedagoginen
hyvinvointi voimaannuttaa ja osallistaa opettajan ja opiskelijan. OAMK Journal,
https://oamk.fi/oamkjournal/2021/pedagoginen-hyvinvointi-voimaannuttaa-ja-osallistaa-opettajan-ja-opiskelijan/
https://www.oamk.fi/emateriaalit/osaamisen-kehittaminen/pedagoginen-hyvinvointiosaaminen/
https://www.oamk.fi/emateriaalit/osaamisen-kehittaminen/turvallisuusosaaminen/
Opetushallitus. 2022a. Pedagoginen turvallisuus.
Viitattu 24.2.2022. https://www.oph.fi/fi/koulutus-ja-tutkinnot/pedagoginen-turvallisuus
Opetushallitus.
2022b. Sosiaalinen turvallisuus. Viitattu 24.2.2021. https://www.oph.fi/fi/koulutus-ja-tutkinnot/sosiaalinen-turvallisuus
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