Groupo Maganda Case Summary:

Groupo Maganda

Briefing Paper

1

Case Summary: Abdul is a grade 9 student who has moderate to severe high frequency sensorineural hearing loss bilaterally. Because of his exceptionality, he wears hearing aids in both ears to improve his hearing. Lately at school, Abdul is refusing to wear his hearing aids because he is being teased and bullied about wearing them by one of the more aggressive grade 9 boys in his class. Without the hearing aids, Abdul has trouble following along with discussions and instructions in class. What are some strategies we can use to encourage Abdul to wear his hearing aids confidently and get the other kids to stop bullying him? Self-advocacy There are four main components of self-advocacy: knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication, and leadership. Teachers can build relationships with students to help them make accommodations for themselves, and they can teach students about the history of their disability. Teachers can also be intentionally inviting to students. Another strategy is for teachers to hang up posters with tips on how to deal with bullying, and they can also invite guest speakers to give presentations about bullying. In Abdul’s case, we decided on the best options for the teacher to use. The teacher should to be inviting and build a relationship with Abdul to help him realize the importance of wearing his hearing aids. The teacher should also hang up the Kids Help Phone Poster in the class and invite a well-respected member of the community to give the presentation on bullying from the Deal.org website to the class. This will help Abdul, his aggressor, and other classmates learn how to deal with bullying. Raising Awareness Raising awareness helps students to understand peoples’ differences and encourage acceptance. This can be accomplished through: class discussion, experiential techniques, and regular integration of special needs / exceptionalities awareness into the curriculum. Class discussions involving human diversity develops understanding and answers questions students may be too afraid to ask. Experiential techniques such as roleplaying and simulation, cooperative learning, and guest speakers, with debriefing periods are effective ways of developing empathy in students. Having students show their adaptive devices (such as Abdul with his hearing aids) to the class and explain its functions and answer questions may be effective in reducing ignorance of students who are bullying. Regular integration of special needs and exceptionalities into the curriculum encourages students to critically analyze if people with exceptionalities are being treated equally and respectfully in the media and literature, for example. Awareness strategies are useful, but are more of a long-term option as opposed to immediate. They are most effective if started with young children and when topics are discussed regularly and consistently. In Abdul’s case, raising awareness may not be the most effective strategy in putting an immediate stop to the bullying.

Groupo Maganda

Briefing Paper

2

In-Class Bullying Bullying in the classroom can take many forms. Spit balls, name calling, threats toward others, pulling the chair out from another student or even a tack on a chair. These threats can be harmless if it is done only once but if the acts continue the chances of long term damage increases. As teachers, what can we do to become aware of bullying in our classrooms? Bullying can be very inconspicuous and often the teacher will be unaware of it. There are many things that we can do to become aware of this. First of all, the teacher must constantly talk to the students. As much as possible you should ask students questions, sometimes you can probe the answer out of them. So what can be done to get these students to talk to you? At the start of the year you must establish rules that create a positive classroom because a positive classroom is a place where students will feel more open to share their problems. Enforce a zero tolerance rule for bullying. Educate the students about the effects of bullying, there are many different long term effects caused by bullying. If the students know the bullying will not be tolerated, perhaps the bullying will stop. Conflict Management Conflict management teaches individuals concepts and skills for preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts non-violently. Five conflict management techniques include: collaboration, compromise, accommodation, competition, and avoidance. There are advantages and disadvantages for using each technique. It is important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of the five conflict management techniques when deciding which one to use in different situations. Because conflicts are a natural part of life, conflict management is beneficial for everyone to learn. Teaching Abdul conflict management skills in dealing with his bullies will build his self-esteem and give him the courage to stand up for himself and address the issue, rather than avoid it. Conflict management skills are also important for life beyond the school setting, so teaching an entire class or school these skills could empower many students dealing with conflict. School-wide Bullying Prevention “The Guardians Initiative” is a discreet and secret program which involves no administration involvement or consequences. It consists of volunteer students (who demonstrate empathy, integrity, and courage) pairing up with an ally teacher for guidance. Guardians’ main purpose is to challenge bullying behaviour in schools and offer support to students to ensure they don’t feel alienated or alone. They are trained and offer social-emotional support to victims after incidents, follow-up with victims upon request, and facilitate interventions to confront offenders and challenge their behaviour. This scenario could have great benefits for Abdul. He would encounter support and debriefing after the incidents, and have an ally to facilitate an intervention and challenge the bully’s behaviour. Were this program to be implemented in Abdul’s school, it would most likely alleviate the situation – if not end it completely.