Caring Safe Schools Ontario

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At the centre of the framework is a “caring and safe school culture”. This documentuses the term “school culture” in a way that encompasses the definition of “schoolclimate” provided in the 2006 report of the Safe Schools Action Team – Safe SchoolsPolicy and Practice: An Agenda for Action – that is, “the sum total of all of the personalrelationships within a school”. The report goes on to say that “when theserelationships are founded in mutual acceptance and inclusion, and modelled byall, a culture of respect becomes the norm” (p. 6). A positive climate or, in the terminologyof the present document, a “caring and safe school culture”, exists whenall members of the school community demonstrate respect for others, kindness,fairness, and a sense of social responsibility in their behaviour and interactions –in other words, when all members feel safe, comfortable, and accepted.To establish, maintain, and enhance a caring and safe system and school culture,school leaders need detailed, specific information about how all aspects of schoollife are perceived by students, school staff, parents, and community members. Theyuse a variety of assessment instruments and strategies to identify strengths andareas where improvements are needed.The other components of the framework – “understanding of student behaviour”,“knowledge of strategies and resources”, and “implementation of a progressivediscipline approach” – represent means for addressing behavioural issues to ensurethe best possible educational outcome for all students.1. Understanding of student behaviour: To meet student needs, supportstudent success, and respond appropriately to the full range of studentbehaviour, system and school leaders need to acquire information abouta variety of factors that influence students’ achievement and behaviour.They need knowledge of the types of intellectual and emotional challengesstudents may face. They need to know what signs to look for in studentbehaviour and how to interpret what they observe. They also need knowledgeof circumstances in the student’s school, home, and communityenvironments that may have a bearing on the student’s behaviour.2. Knowledge of strategies, tools, and resources: System and school leadersneed to identify appropriate strategies, tools, and resources they can useto address specific challenges and meet identified needs.Caring and Safe Schools3. Implementation of a progressive discipline approach: System and schoolleaders need to identify a range of appropriate actions to be taken, as wellas who will plan and carry out the actions, and what the time frame will be.They also need to plan for ongoing monitoring, reflection, and adjustment,in order to identify further needed improvements and integrate them intotheir implementation processes.8
As recommended by Freire (1985, 1987) reflection and adjustment are embeddedin the framework so that lessons learned are incorporated into the implementationprocess on a continuing basis.Preview of the Rest of This Documentn In the material that follows, each chapter deals with one component of theframework described in Figure 1, beginning with the topic of school culture.In Chapter 2, “Promoting Positive Behaviour Through a Caring and Safe SchoolCulture”, the discussion focuses on the characteristics of a caring and safe culture,and on procedures and indicators that can be used by system and school leadersto assess the culture in their schools and plan for needed improvements.Chapter 3, “Understanding Student Behaviour”, discusses a variety of factors thatinfluence student behaviour and that may contribute to inappropriate and/orchallenging behaviour.Chapter 4, “Investigating Strategies, Tools, and Resources”, identifies a wide varietyof approaches and sources of information that school leaders can draw on inplanning how to meet identified needs.Chapter 5, “Addressing Behavioural Issues Through a Progressive DisciplineApproach”, focuses on how to organize and manage a response to the identifiedbehavioural issues and needs and offers some sample assessment and planningtools that system and school leaders can adapt to their own circumstances.The appendix provides a blank sample planning template that school boardsmay find useful. In addition, a glossary is included in the document to provideexplanations of a variety of terms used in the document that may not be familiarto all readers.Introduction9
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Ontario. Ministry of Education. (20
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10-016ISBN 978-1-4435-2290-8 (Print
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