Cultivating a Culture of Safety

Joa lives with his mother and elderly grandparents in a simple one room dwelling. They have no electricity or running water in the home and rely on the village well. Joa has one T shirt and a pair of shorts and often feels cold at night. His mother struggles with addiction and at times spends the family money on alcohol, so Joa sometimes relies on neighbours for food. His elderly grandparents show him love but are very frail and therefore unable to work and provide for Joa’s needs. Joa attends a Christian school and loves going there. His teachers are kind and teach him well, often praising him for his hard work. The school provides him with a healthy meal every lunchtime. His teacher listens carefully when Joa shares his problems, and he feels heard and valued. His teachers often tell him about Jesus and pray for the students. Joa is interested in this Jesus.

Meanwhile, Dee lives in a large city in Southeast Asia. Her parents are loving, kind, and supportive. She lives in a small but clean home and loves spending time with her parents every evening. However, Dee dreads going to her Christian school. There is constant bullying in the school corridors, bullying that is ignored by the teachers. One time she told the school nurse about an older student who was hurting a younger student, but the school nurse told her to stop telling tales. Her teachers are always complaining about the school and saying rude things about the leadership. Although some of the teachers can be nice, others shout at and shame students. There is no consistency. It is so confusing, as these same teachers sing praises to Jesus in assembly. Why would she want to believe in this Jesus?

As teachers in our educational contexts, are we creating a culture of safety for students within our school communities and pointing them towards Jesus? How do we know this? Have we ever asked our students if they feel safe? Can we say we are Christ centred if we are not creating safe environments where children have access to Jesus and are not hindered from Him?

Our students come from all sorts of different backgrounds and situations. As teachers, we cannot control all the risk factors our students encounter at home, in their communities, or online. Sometimes it can feel hopeless when we know that some of our students are not in good home environments and there are limited child protection resources. But we can always “do something.” We can increase the protective factors around our students by cultivating a culture of safety in our schools. The earlier stories show clearly how impactful a Christ like, safe culture can be in a school for children.

So how do we cultivate a culture of safety within a school? Well, for one thing, that is why we are here! Our safeguarding team can partner with you and support the development of excellent, holistic safeguarding programmes within your schools. We can assess what you already have and provide further resources to help make any needed improvements. Write to us at safeguarding@teachbeyond.org!

Here are some questions you can ask yourself. Does my school:

• have excellent safer recruitment and onboarding procedures to ensure all staff are passionate about valuing and safeguarding children?
• have a clear, easy to read and understandable safeguarding policy that all staff have signed to confirm compliance with?
• provide regular safeguarding training and conversations for students and all staff?
• have a “raising a concern” process that students and staff trust?
• have a trusted, compassionate, and professional process for responding to all safeguarding concerns?

Here are some further questions you can ask yourself. Do I:

• reflect Jesus in my conduct, manner, and attitude, and apologise, seek forgiveness, and demonstrate a growth mindset when I do not?
• fully understand that safeguarding my students is my responsibility and take all safeguarding training and compliance with the TeachBeyond policy and code of conduct seriously?
• promote the safety and wellbeing of all children, whether in TeachBeyond or outside the organisation?
• listen and respond compassionately and professionally to the views and concerns, verbal or non verbal, of children, particularly if they communicate that they do not feel safe or well?
• consider and respect the diverse backgrounds and needs of children and their families, and never discriminate against any child or family member or show favouritism?
• follow the safeguarding conduct principles of visibility, accountability, and power balance (VAP) in all my interactions with children, modelling healthy and safe adult child relationships?
• communicate and use media in ways that follow safeguarding conduct principles and legal requirements, representing children, their local culture, and environment with honesty, dignity, and respect?
• immediately raise any safeguarding concerns, including bullying, with the appropriate person?

Let me finish with a final story. There was a teenage student who, unknown to the school, was being seriously physically and emotionally abused at home. One of the reasons he finally disclosed this abuse was because of his teachers, and one teacher in particular. This teacher always greeted him by name and with a smile, made eye contact when speaking to him, showing him value and dignity, and cared about his academic growth. Another reason he disclosed the abuse was because he knew he would be listened to, believed, cared for, and supported throughout the response process. This boy was not a Christian, but his teachers and the school culture at large, reflected Jesus, and he was deeply impacted. The way you conduct yourself as a teacher can make life altering differences.

One of TeachBeyond’s values is love: embracing our identity as people who are loved by our Creator, we seek to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Similarly, we commit to loving each other and the world around us, learning to do good, seek justice, and correct oppression. May we as TeachBeyond members do everything we can to value, protect, and love our students, seeking to notice and respond well to anything that causes them harm and cultivating holistic cultures of safety within our classrooms and school communities where children grow, develop, thrive, and learn who Jesus is.