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. 


Safety in education 

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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