Martin Küpfer, Carsten Pohl
Overview
We work as violence prevention specialists in schools in the Swiss cantons of Solothurn and Bern. We offer various modules on violence prevention and intervention. Our work covers all levels, from kindergartens to high schools and also vocational colleges. We conduct a range of training programs for teachers and educators.
Usually we visit school classes once or twice a year to teach a double lesson with all of the students and their class teachers. We teach the double lesson “Civil Courage” to the 7th and 8th grades.
Topic
Typically, the term “civil courage” is often associated with “helping in public situations where violence is involved.” However, intervention quickly becomes overwhelming and people are glad if they never get into such situations. But what if they do? What happens when the students of one school class find themselves in an unfamiliar environment? Swift action, courage, helpful ideas, and a co-operative course of action are required.
We want to examine the topic of civil courage and make it (more) experiential. Our goal is to strengthen the students’ ability to listen to themselves and courageously intervene in a situation and on behalf of people who are subjected to violence. To achieve this, we use the Experience-Oriented Learning tool Complexity to trigger emotional responses in the participants.
The idea is to test the everyday situations we have already identified under time pressure and reflect on, expand, and consolidate the experiences we gain for our everyday lives. The students should see themselves in action, become more confident about their own abilities, and develop their ability to act.
Staging
To start off the activity, the school students are given picture cards depicting situations involving violence in everyday school life. These situations include someone being beaten up on the way to school, someone making racist remarks, the brakes on a bicycle being loosened, a WhatsApp group called “XY is a loser” being set up, vandalism being caused in the toilets, or a student’s notebooks being found torn up.
“What have I already experienced or witnessed?” and “What is just not acceptable?” Each participant can decide what he or she wants to say and, above all, how personal what he or she says should be. Next, we briefly look at and address the terminology and rationale behind the concept of civil courage. This inevitably leads to the topic:
• Why do 2 out of 3 people not help when it matters most?
• What does it take to listen to your gut feeling and remain capable of taking action, even in such challenging situations?
Drawing on a number of example situations, we share ideas with the students and ask: “How would you have acted? What things do you think you could do?”
The aim is to take action and try out the strategies and behaviors we learned: Approach the victim to see if he or she needs help; team up with bystanders and work together; call the police; inform an adult (e.g. bus driver). Mistakes are allowed and the aim is to find a constructive way of dealing with them. The focus is on connecting with others, developing strategies for taking action, and establishing a shared culture of tolerating mistakes. We develop the following points together with the school students:
1. Swift action is necessary to prevent the situation from escalating even further and to ensure that the victim receives help.
2. Coordination and mutual support help us cope with the situation safely and effectively. Example: Three people go to help the victim; a fourth person keeps an eye on the perpetrator, even if he or she walks away; a fifth person calls the police.
a. Preparation
Complexity is laid out in a separate room (in the gym, we use large mats and vaulting boxes as privacy screens). This increases the tension and the spatial separation of the area provides more clarity during the performance phase.
b. Performance
The class are introduced to the following scenario: “At the beginning of the lesson, we used the cards to establish that almost all of you have been in situations where you felt uncomfortable and maybe even scared. In the next activity, you can apply the possible courses of action you identified earlier, such as approaching the victim, teaming up with others and acting together, calling the police, or informing the bus driver. As we found out earlier, the key to success is acting swiftly, coordinating, and supporting each other.
Transfer to the real world
| Elements in the learning project | Elements in the real world |
|---|---|
| “Precarious situation” (rope circle) | The acute situation, such as an emergency, outbreak of violence |
| Numbers/order | Correct sequence of actions 1. Assess the situation 2. Involve bystanders 3. Act jointly |
| Time constraint | Urgency |
| Outside area | Getting help from outside, coordinating |
Behind this door/the mats you will find a ‘precarious situation’ that needs collective, swift, and perhaps even courageous action. The ‘precarious situation’ is symbolized by the rope circle. In order to defuse the situation, the numbers inside it from 1 to 30 must be touched in ascending order and in the shortest possible time. When doing so, you need to pay attention to the following points:
• Here, in the outdoor area, talking and planning is allowed.
• As soon as the first person enters the room (the ‘precarious situation’), no more talking is allowed.
• The ‘precarious situation’ may only be entered by one person at a time.
Any wrong action leads to the immediate termination of the ‘precarious situation,’ namely:
• Wrong order
• Talking
• Two people finding themselves in the ‘precarious situation’ at the same time
We will now visit the ‘precarious situation’ together for 30 seconds. We will do this in silence. Please do not step on anything that is on the ground. When we get to 0, we will all be back here in front of the door. So, let’s go.”
c. Progression
The school students now have an idea of what to expect during the activity. Many are first relieved that there is nothing really “bad” waiting for them.
No sooner is the class back outside the door in the meeting area than the ideas start flowing. Almost always, the fervent bargaining process includes the following phrases: “Look, let’s do it this way …”, “Let’s do it in this order …”, “What number do I have?”
Then the first attempt starts. The group is incredibly dynamic and, through continuously optimizing the process, they learn something new after each attempt. Of course, there are also lean periods and frustration, but these are always resolved by the group. Finally, the group achieves its goal and the concentrated mood turns into jubilation, cheerfulness, and joy.
Reflection
The key questions for the reflection phase are:
• What challenges did this activity present?
• How did you deal with the time pressure?
• How did you agree on what to do?
• What did each of you and/or the group do well?
• What went better than expected?
• Which parts of the activity and the theme can you use in your (daily school) life?
When asked this question, the school students often think of many possible ways they could use it:
• Having an argument on the way to school/during school breaks
• Older students bullying or beating up younger students
• Spreading rumors
• Racism
• Being filmed without permission
• Exclusion, physical bullying, cyberbullying
We are always surprised and touched by how personally and honestly the students express themselves and how committed and engaged in the process they are.
Conclusion
The students have dealt with the basic principles of civil courage and know that we have a duty (sometimes a legal one) to help others – but always under the proviso that we should not put ourselves at risk. That is why it is so important to be able to try out simple, useful strategies for taking action, to learn that they are not that difficult to apply, and that they really do work. This is often also the feedback that the teachers attending the lesson give.
Most classes love Complexity. Sometimes, they are at first a little reluctant, but then the momentum soon picks up and they are all gripped by a concentrated state of tension.
Complexity not only empowers the entire class to act as one and to look out for each other, but also addresses issues of failure, tolerance of frustration, perseverance, and shared success.