Practicing Ethically Responsible Safe Schooling: Global Case Studies of Liberia, Nigeria, Syria and Uganda

Group Submission Type: Refereed Roundtable Session

Proposal

Around the world, millions of children, families, and communities are affected by school-related gender- based violence (SRGBV). UNESCO and UN Women (2016) define SRGBV as "acts or threats of sexual, physical, or psychological violence occurring in and around school, perpetrated as a result of gender norms and stereotypes and enforced by unequal power dynamics." All genders can be victims as well as perpetrators. While there is limited data about its exact incidence and prevalence, research from both formal and grey literature demonstrates that children and teachers experience physical, sexual, and emotional abuse within the school environment across different country contexts and settings. The potential short and longer-term deleterious consequences of SRGBV children's social, emotional, physical, health, and learning have been documented. For example, physical health consequences include exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, high risk and unwanted pregnancies, and unsafe abortions. The psychological effects may consist of interruption to social skill development, anxiety, depression, feelings of guilt, and suicide. While girls and boys can experience the synergistic effects of physical and psychological leading to diminished school completion, girls have a heightened risk of dropping. The underlying causes of SRGBV include broader structural issues, social norms, and entrenched beliefs and behaviors that shape violence against children and gender and power dynamics. With its root causes in the broader community and system, practitioners and researchers apply a social-ecological framework to address the whole system; that is, to illustrate how the individual, family, and school interact with each other and are influenced by community, social, and gender norms. Each of these latter perpetuates gender inequality and discrimination. As further stated by UNGEI, a "whole school" approach that involves the entire school and community's participation is critical for building response, resilience, and sustainable change.

In crisis and post-conflict development contexts, such as those affected by war, health outbreaks, climate, and other forms of disaster, school leadership, community organizations, teachers and school staff, and students themselves can all play a key role in keeping students safe and promoting their well-being. International and national organizations and local partners have designed and implemented innovative approaches for training teachers to prevent violence in classrooms, promote gender sensitivity and overall bolster well-being and resilience within the school community. There is also a growing recognition that teachers working in crisis-affected and post-development contexts, like their students, are vulnerable to the safety and health risks as their students while being confronted with shifting professional and personal workloads. A curriculum that includes health, social and emotional learning, child protection, and disaster risk and response are among the approaches shared that keep students and teachers safe. However, embedded in these approaches is a need for a coordinated effort that depends on functioning referral pathways to specialized protection responses.

In recognition of this year's theme, this panel explores ethical practices for teacher development and school practices for addressing SRGBV, primarily related to different contexts and lived community teachers' experiences. Drawing on project experiences in Uganda, Syria, Liberia, and Nigeria, we will examine the realities of keeping teachers and students safe in school environments—including in the face of new challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and in times of distance learning. We aim to provide concrete examples and promote sharing of best practices in strengthening the roles and responsibilities of educators in regards to school safety and reducing SRGBV and will use the round table format to facilitate a participatory and didactic exchange that brings expert implementors together with peers across the industry to focus on (a) teacher codes of conduct as practical tools for increasing teacher confidence in and accountability for initiating and following up referral processes for school safety or child protection, (b) empowering teachers by strengthening safeguarding systems with increased ownership by education directorates or relevant local authorities, such as child safeguarding officers, so that teachers themselves are safe to report and take actions, and (c) leadership practices that engage all key stakeholders—students, teachers, parents, administrators—to formulate sustainable, community-based solutions that reduce incidences of school-related gender-based violence.

Sub Unit

• Committee: Gender & Education

Chair

• Janet Shriberg, Creative Associates

Individual Presentations

• Preventing Violence against Children: A Whole School Approach - Yvonne Laruni, Raising Voices

• System strengthening approaches to establishing schools’ safeguarding systems with newly emerging government structures in north west Syria - Kouteba Alkhalil, Chemonics International; Alaa Zaza, Chemonics

• Creating Safer Learning Environments: Engaging Communities to Prevent and Respond to SRGBV - Mary Hooker, Education Development Center

• Teachers code of conduct and girls’ school safety: The case of northern Nigeria’s Bauchi and Sokoto states - Shu’aib Muhammad Dabo, Creative Associates International; NURUDEEN Adeshina LAWAL, CREATIVE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL; Lydia Ezihe Onuoha, Creative Associates International

Discussant

• Yolande Miller-Grandvaux, FHI 360