Pacifiquement vtre

1) Category:
General program

2) Issues Behind the Program:

In Qubec, the number of students who have behavioral problems is constantly rising. According to the Conseil suprieur de lducation (2001), the figure tripled from 1985 to 2000. Whether internalized or externalized, their difficulty in interacting is a factor that adversely affects the atmosphere in class and their academic performance, and that seriously compromises their future ability to adapt to school (Fortin & Strayer, 2000). Schools have developed multiple ways of helping these students improve the quality of their interpersonal relationships. Despite the avid interest of researchers and practitioners, the various intervention programs have very little long-term influence on these students. cole Saint-Franois is a special school for students with recognized behavioral problems. At the end of the 2002-2003 school year, the staff noted that there had been an increase in aggressive behavior in students. This perception was confirmed by an inhouse study showing that there had been a greater incidence of bullying, taxing and physical violence.

3) Objectives:
Foster the development of social skills in children with behavioral problems. Decrease the number of aggressive acts and the level of victimization at school. Make school staff aware of the phenomenon of bullying. Train school workers to teach social skills and conflict resolution.

4) Environment:
cole Saint-Franois (primary school)

5) Target Group:
Students from 9 to 12 years old

6) Key Words:
Pacifiquement vtre, curaction, school-family-community partnership, general program, behavioral disorders, development of social skills, conflict resolution, bullying, taxing, substance abuse, sexuality, mutual assistance among peers, mediation, Pacific Way, community police officer

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

Page 1 of 5

7) Description:
Pacifiquement vtre, a social mediation program in which students attending a special school help their peers who have behavioral problems, is an adaptation of the Pacific Path program by Claire Beaumont, a Universit Laval researcher. Its purpose is to better meet the specific needs of these students. One of the reasons for the programs originality is that the peer mediators have their own behavioral problems. In 2003-2004, further to identifying the needs of these young people by the school community, a comprehensive and unified action plan was established to address a range of factors that could influence students choices and personal problems. The Qubec Education Program was also taken into account in selecting the personal and social skills to develop. Pacifiquement vtre has five distinct but complementary components: o o o o o Development of social skills; Awareness of the phenomenon of bullying and taxing; Substance abuse education and intervention; Mutual assistance among peers; Health and well-being in dating.

8) Steps:
I. II. III. Identification of the school communitys needs through a questionnaire completed by school workers. Planning of joint action and design of the program. Mobilization and motivation of the school community (creation of the project monitoring committee, collaboration with the academic community, partner recruitment). Student questionnaires. Student briefing on the schools policy on bullying and violence. Teacher training. Beginning of classroom workshops. Talk given to parents on bullying and taxing. Selection, training and deployment of peer mediators. Program-evaluation questionnaires to students and school workers.

IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X.

9) Activities/Actions:
Development of social skills is the most important component of the program. The themes covered, previously identified by the teachers, were based on the difficulties displayed by the students in the school (i.e. difficulty controlling aggressiveness, identifying and expressing feelings, settling an argument, expressing disagreement, knowing how to communicate, avoiding problems and reacting to anger). The teachers, trained at the beginning of the year, led nine workshops on these themes. Each workshop included an activity that the students did individually recapping the content of the workshops. The activities were intended to enable development of workshop objectives when the atmosphere in class was not conductive to interactivity. The program offered some 50 classroom activities on the same problems and issues.

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

Page 2 of 5

For the other four components of the program, seven periods were added to the schedule and entrusted to program partners. The periods were as follows: o Awareness of the phenomenon of bullying and taxing: Two periods in class led by the education officer from the police force. The parents of the students were also invited to a meeting. Substance abuse education and intervention: This component, aimed at education and prevention alike, made it possible to organize an individual support system for young people, who received information about the causes and consequences of substance abuse (self-assessment of substance use, discussion, first-hand accounts) through two workshops. The activities were presented by the schools substance abuse worker. Mutual assistance among peers: Three five-member peer mediator teams were created to take turns helping fellow students resolve their conflicts peacefully at recess. Previously, the peer mediators were given training on the development of social skills through a helping relationship. The themes covered were confidentiality, obstacles to communication, perception of feelings, active listening, rumors, prejudices, taxing and bullying. The young people then began their work as peer mediators case by case and were supervised on an ongoing basis by the school psychologists. Health and well-being in dating: Community workers (VIRAJ) moderated two workshops on the prevention of date violence, followed by two supplementary activities led by a CLSC nurse on sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

10) Resources Required:

Human resources: o o o o o o Coordinator (A teacher from that school assigned for the full year to establish the the program) School staff Community partners (police officer, substance abuse worker, community workers, nurse) Parents Peer mediators The program was made possible through funding from the Comit national de la prvention du crime and support from universities and the community.

Financial resources:

11) Roles of the Participants:

Coordinator: o o o o o works with the various partners; coordinates overall joint implementation of the project. supports the coordinator; promotes the program. lead the skills development workshops and the theme activities;

Project committee:

School staff:

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

Page 3 of 5

o o o o o o o o o

attend program training sessions; support the peer mediators. lead certain activities; work with the school staff. attend the meeting on the prevention of bullying and taxing; use the suggested courses of action. are given training; help their peers solve interpersonal conflicts; fill out a follow-up sheet after every mediation.

Community partners:

Parents:

Peer mediators:

12) Scientific Basis or Validity:

An experimental evaluation was carried out in two schools to measure the effects of the program in the 2003-2004 school year. All the students in the experimental group and the control group (140) were evaluated on the behavioral, socioaffective and sociocognitive level before and after the school year. In addition, the students answered different questionnaires at the beginning and the end of the year. (See the report at: http://peersupport.ukobservatory.com/psia/PDF/Claire_Beaumont.pdf) [in French only] o To summarize, the data collected indicated that the program benefited the student (i.e. better self-assertion, higher incidence of prosocial behaviors, and more improvement in self-control in the peer mediators). Furthermore, there were fewer instances of violent behavior between the beginning and the end of the experiment. More specifically, verbal violence and pushing and shoving posted the biggest decrease. The high level of student satisfaction with peer mediation was proof of the great popularity of the mutual assistance component with the students at risk.

Three years later, staff observations, the impact on students, and the quality of program appropriation in the schools were assessed. o School staff noted marked improvement in the general atmosphere in school (mutual assistance among students and decrease in physical violence and bullying). School staff felt that student-student and teacher-student rapport was better. In addition, collaboration was more sustained among the program workers. Children with behavioral disorders exhibited stable improvement in their externalized behavioral problems. Furthermore, all students had better self-control. These improvements were more pronounced in the peer mediators, who felt they now had more social ability (empathy, motivation, ability to solve personal problems, etc.). As for program appropriation, there was ongoing introduction of classroom workshops, a high level of satisfaction with the program, and inventive adaptation of the program over the years (creation of workshops by the school team, adaptation of program components, extra workshops for parents, etc.).

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

Page 4 of 5

13) Program Material:

Adaptation of the Pacific Path program and its material Tools for the mediators: o o Descriptive factsheet of the mediations carried out Identification file

14) Additional Information:

The Pacific Path program was adapted in order to facilitate participation of ADHD students, several of whom also have learning delays or disorders. The purpose of the adaptations was to make the workshops more visual and interactive, to reduce penciland-pen activities, and to increase the frequency of the workshops (approximately two per week over six weeks). A workshop on misreading and an extra session on the expression of feelings were also added. Here are the conditions considered crucial to effective implementation of the program: o o o o o A collective approach and rallying of the school team in identifying needs and implementing the program; Regular promotion of the program to the students and program workers through special activities centered on the selected themes; Community and university partners to support school initiatives; Training enabling the teachers to lead activities on developing social skills and awareness of the phenomenon of bullying in school. Student involvement in the program (naming of the program, selection of volunteers, training for and establishment of the peer mutual assistance system, program promotion committee, etc.). http://www.viepedagogique.gouv.qc.ca/numeros/138/vp138_Action_concertee.pdf ; http://peersupport.ukobservatory.com/psia/PDF/Claire_Beaumont.pdf ; http://www.securitepublique.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/Documents/police/prevention/ colloque/2008/atelier6_effets_programme_intervention.pdf.

The information contained in this factsheet was taken, in whole or in part, from: o o o

15) Contacts:
Claire Beaumont, Research Scholar Universit Laval Dpartement d'tudes sur l'enseignement et l'apprentissage Pavillon des Sciences de l'ducation, extension 716 Qubec (Qubec) G1V 0A6 Tel.: 418 656-2131, extension 4178 Email: claire.beaumont@fse.ulaval.ca

This factsheet was taken from the following website: http://rire.ctreq.qc.ca/.

Page 5 of 5