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Creating Safer Schools: Lessons Learned; Strategies for Action SessionSession15A. Suppliers and creators: teachers,ministries of education, andteacher’s unionsHow can they be reached?1. Develop incentives and commitmentsfor ‘buying into’ safer schools. Link it tothe core business of teachers and theministry of education. For example, linkthe idea of safe schools to improvedretention and performance, and otherkey indicators. Clearly show how a saferschool achieves the specific objectivesthe ministries and unions use to measuresuccess.2. Conduct comparative assessment ofschools, so schools can understandwhere they are. Do comparisonsbetween schools performing well thatare safer schools and those that are not.Bring together key stakeholders to beginto develop standards required for a saferschool.3. Learn from each other as we moveahead. Learn by doing and documentingyour learning process. Make adocumentary that can travel beyondyour immediate vicinity. Involve themedia in documenting this process, andcreate space for key players such as theteacher’s unions or teacher’s traininginstitutions to get involved.B. Users/participants: the learnersHow can they be reached?1. Inspire children and teachers to imagineand dream greater things for themselvesin terms of education and school safety.Puncture the narrow and bleak visionthat has been offered to all of us andexpand possibilities. Integrate a moreexpansive vision of how the experienceof education can be an ongoing processthat happens throughout their lives.2. Provide institutionalized space forchildren to participate in schoolgovernance. Create opportunities forchildren and adults to learn how to sharedecision-making power. Demystify theprocess of participation through day-todayactivities as well as by creating newmechanisms through which power canbe shared.3. Encourage creation of other learningoptions and learning spaces especiallyby the children themselves. Help childrencreate options for themselves about whatthey want to do and how to increaseoptions for learning within the schoolingenvironment.C. Influencers: Funding agencies,teacher organizations, media,faith-based and traditionalleaders.How can they be reached?1. Teachers unions and traininginstitutions: Emphasize the importanceof professional standards and howsafer schools promote a public image(and therefore status) of a teacher. Linkexplicitly the connection between saferschools and the higher standards forteaching as a profession.2. Media: Articulate a clear and a briefargument about how a safer school is ofpublic value and interest. Disseminatefacts, analysis, and examples of safeschools to the media and identifychampions. Recognize the importance ofmedia in monitoring what is happeningon a day-to-day basis.3. Faith-based and traditional leaders:Emphasize the importance of valuebasedlearning and its contribution tocreating responsible and ethical citizens.Align the outcomes sought by saferschools with much of what is valuedby religious leaders and emphasizethe common goal. Identify advocateswithin these communities that will help28