School role in social reconstruction of the community in crisis

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School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• by Lina ?ostarova Unkovska

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Location, time, duration
Country region (s) Republic of Macedonia
- multiethnic post conflict community (city of
Tetovo) five other towns Time Project starts
in 2002 - a year after a severe interethnic
conflict between the Albanian rebels
and Macedonian armed forces - to end in
2006 Place Seven (all) Tetovo elementary
schools five schools from The Macedonian Health
Promoting Schools Network, with more schools
joining the project
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Research - intervention questions

• School role in social reconstruction of the
  community in crisis

• What is going on in a community of prolonged
  crisis? contextual /field conditions/ level
• Where to start to stop the deteriorating
  processes imposed by the crisis? Could it be the
  school?
• capacity /potentials/ level
• How can the school community activate development
  towards positive community change?
• resiliency competency for action level

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Immediate individual' versus community' response
to community crisis

• 1. What is going on in a community of prolonged
  crisis?

Individual in crisis Consolidate Physiological B
asic needs adjustment Behavioral Pro-active,
playful, alert, repetitive, regressive, avoiding,
isolative, passive, withdrawn etc Cognitive Sele
ctive, negating, idealizing, confabulating,
symbolizing Emotional numb, over-controlling,
impulsive aggressive

• Community in crisis
• Conflicting /disorganized
• Threatening life conditions
• Old patterns falling apart
• Lack of valid information
• Lack of guidance and relevant decision making
• New overwhelming events
• Lack of trust, collaboration and support
• Catastrophic prediction etc.

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Individual versus Community Capacityin Prolonged
Community Crisis

• 1. What is going on in a community of prolonged
  crisis?

Individual level Physiological (show endurance,
increased capacities for survival, arousal,
pro-active) Cognitive (search for structure,
order, logic, understanding meaning) Psycho-soc
ial (need for safe and stable environment,
support, belonging, recognition - identity)
Community level Physiological (tense, risky,
impulsive, unbalanced, disconnected
etc.) Cognitive (disorganized, disoriented,
confused, destructive ,meaningless) Psycho-social
(threatening and fearful mistrustful, lack of
recognition isolated, identity confusion)
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• 1. What is going on in a community of prolonged
  crisis?

Crisis as contradictory process of change

Individual Pro-active - constructive Adult -
Child Teacher - Pupil Parent - Child
Community in crisis Pro-active -destructive Commu
nity (Unsafe, discriminative, poor war zone,
collective centers, multiethnic) School
(Authoritarian, threatening, impoverished,
chaotic) Family (Separation, divorce, abuse,
neglect)
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Can it be the school?

• 2. Where to start to stop deteriorating processes
  ?

Individual Adult Child Parent Child
Community Unsafe, discriminatory, threatening,
chaotic
Why the school? It is a place of great potential
- for learning and growth It represents all
community members It offers a structure, sense of
belonging, recognition, comparisons It provides a
framework for regaining the lost control and
meaning
Family (separated divorced neglectful,
abusive, manipulative, depressed)
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Creating new processes of change

• 3. How can the school change the vicious circle
  for the better and activate development ?

Community New relationships, better
informedness, community participation, leadership
Individual Adult Child Parent Child
Teacher - Pupil - School restructuring the school
community leadership forming the crisis teams
with shared responsibilities inclusion of all
school members with new roles and
responsibilities, creating new school ethos -
pupil teacher participation in the HPS projects
continual support school linking and networking
Family (unified, renewing parental roles and
responsibility sense of belonging, meaning,
caring,)
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Deciding on conceptual framework Is it a health
promotion?

• 3. How can the school start stimulating
  development towards positive
• community change?

Need or Right based Programs Democratic instead
of Moralistic Development versus Intervention
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Need or Right Based Program ?

• Deciding on conceptual framework

• determination of needs vary according to the
  situation, individual and environment
• address symptoms
• welfare, charity short term provision /filling
  gaps/
• voluntary private initiative
• partial goals /as possible/
• providing services

• basic human /children/ rights are universal /the
  same everywhere/ - public, moral and legal
  responsibility, duty
• address root causes
• legal entitlements, claims, equality, freedom -
  long term goals
• mandatory political, moral
• all children (are entitled to )
• empowering

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Democratic versus Moralistic approach

• Deciding on conceptual framework

• Looking for potentials - not for deficits
• Conditions are subject to change - not the
  person, or behavior
• Promotion instead of correction
• Active (interactive) versus passive (one sided,
  directed)
• Social-cultural instead of individualistic
• Holistic (all inclusive) versus exclusive
  /marginalization, labeling/
• Empowering not threatening

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Development versus Intervention

• Deciding on conceptual framework

What makes the difference ?

Long - term processes of change Open ended
Participatory Playful and exciting Structured
and deliberated within limits Socially -
culturally embedded Interactive and supportive,
encouraging Life long learning resilience
building crisis anticipatory uncertainty open

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Health Promoting School in Crisis Community



School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis
Field conditions under continual change

• Community - daily incidents in the neighborhood
• Schools overcrowded, poor, neglected,
  powerless,
• Teaching methods (contents) traditional,
  didactic, moralistic, irrelevant
• Teachers afraid, overwhelmed, demotivated,
  threatened, underpaid, intolerant,
• Parents afraid, hurt, distrustful, angry
• Children traumatized, separated, isolated,
  marginalized

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Health Promoting School in Crisis Community -
Aims



School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis
Aim 1 Decrease the feeling of insecurity and
mistrust among the school community members of
different ethnic background, by encouraging
pupils and teachers for joint participation in
the school community health promoting projects
Aim 2 Empowere schools for linking and
networking with other school communities, and
getting out of closed circles of self-destruction
and isolation
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HP School Project Strategy
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• All schools active inclusion in the Project (new
  school inter-schools organization structure)
• Continual training, consultation support
  monitoring, interactive supervision evaluation
• Linking and networking of all kinds among
  teachers, pupils, children - adults, school
  community (team building, group work, interschool
  collaboration)

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Development Project Structure /interrelated/
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• Pre-phase screening understanding the field
• - preparation for change 6 months
• Research and vision phase - redefinition
• - new perceptions and images 12 months
• Action and change empowerment
• - experience of participation in change 12
  months
• Linking and networking creating meanings
• - getting out of isolation - 18 months

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Childrens involvement in the project
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• Preparation
• - Building safe and stimulating micro-
  environments
• - Creating conditions for democratic
  participation and decision making
• Five step /S-IVAC/ approach
• - towards increasing childrens self-confidence
  and competence for participation in change
• School linking and networking

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Examples of a safe micro-environment building
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• Project team work

• Class work

• Multiethnic summer schools

• Inter-schools activities

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What is a S/P- IVAC approach?
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• It is a developmental strategy
• of involving children as active
• participants in the changes,
• through the following phases
• S/P - Selection/Preparation
• I - Investigation
• V - Vision
• A Action
• C Change

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Four phases of childrens participation
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• Selection/Preparation

• Investigation

• Action

• Vision

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School Linking Networking - the way out
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• Linking and creating partnership between the
  schools of different regions /multiethnic with
  single-ethnic rural with urban local with
  distant domestic with foreign/
• Children and teachers interschool collaboration
  on joint health /community/ promoting projects
• Involvement of the new IT as a tool for inter
  school communication, performing, learning
  friendship building

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School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis
From the evaluation

• Positive changes in teachers new roles ready
  to listen, assist and support pupils initiatives
  and actions in pupils competences and
  commitment as well as in their new position in
  the schools increasing participation,
  tolerance, responsibility achievements in
  school atmosphere - dynamic, visionary, caring
• Weaknesses lack of linking with system
  institutions absence of mechanisms of support
  and recognition for the schools, teachers and
  pupils absence of monitoring and evaluation, and
  relevant policy decision making critical absence
  of interest, or/and understanding for the
  processes of the school active role in health,
  social educational change.

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Project realization and support
School role in social reconstruction of the
community in crisis

• The Project was carried out in 2002 - 2006
• by the Center for Psychosocial and Crisis Action
  
• Skopje, R. Macedonia
• In collaboration with
• The Macedonian Bureau for Development of
  Education
• With financial support from
• The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation