School safety: “averages are no comfort”

Veiligheid in het onderwijs staat hoog op de agenda. Volgens onderwijskundige Lotte Benard is onderzoek daarbij onmisbaar: “Als mensen zich niet veilig voelen, werkt dat door in je hele onderwijs.”

In het hele onderwijs speelt het thema veiligheid de laatste jaren een belangrijke rol. Benard legt uit hoe dat komt. “Dankzij het lerarentekort is er meer aandacht gekomen voor de werkomstandigheden van leraren”, vertelt ze. “Veiligheid is daar een belangrijk onderdeel van. Als je je medewerkers wilt behouden, moet je zorgen dat zij zich veilig, gezien en gehoord voelen.”

In addition, society has changed. “Through social media, information circulates at lightning speed. As a result, an incident becomes bigger faster than before. Also, parents are more articulate and socially adept towards schools.” But safety, according to Benard, is about much more than incidents alone. “We are asking more and more from schools, for instance in the field of citizenship. You can only teach those kinds of lessons in a safe environment. The basics have to be in order.”

De aandacht voor sociale veiligheid op school richt zich steeds nadrukkelijker op zowel leerlingen als personeel. “Veel scholen brengen de veiligheidsbeleving van leerlingen al in kaart, bijvoorbeeld door aandacht te besteden aan grensoverschrijdend gedrag, discriminatie en andere aspecten van sociale veiligheid,” legt Benard uit.

Ook de personeelskant verdient volgens haar structurele aandacht. “Het is belangrijk om informatie over de veiligheidsbeleving van medewerkers op te nemen in het veiligheidsbeleid en dit jaarlijks te evalueren. Het gaat erom dat je de sociale veiligheid structureel in beeld brengt en laat zien dat je actief werkt aan een veilige werkomgeving.” Volgens Benard draait het uiteindelijk niet alleen om monitoren, maar vooral om de opvolging van de uitkomsten.

An important distinction within integrated safety policy is that between actual and perceived safety. “Factual safety is about concrete incidents, such as a pupil with a knife or intimidation by parents,” says Benard. “Experienced safety is much more in the social aspects: can you voice your opinion, do you feel heard, how do colleagues treat each other., feel you feel safe?” According to Benard, it is precisely this perceived safety that is often underestimated. “Bullying, gossiping or exclusion occurs not only among pupils, but also among staff,” she stresses. In the long run, this can have major consequences. “If someone feels unsafe and unheard, they will call in sick or leave.”

That this is not a theoretical problem is also evident from the benchmark results in primary and secondary education from DUO-Onderwijs. “On average, schools seem to score well on social safety,” says Benard, “but especially with safety, averages and ‘majorities’ are no comfort: any significant minority indicates a structural risk. In an employee survey, you can still think in some areas: a six is enough. With safety, you can't. If five per cent feel unsafe, you have work to do. You have to aim for a ten.”

This is precisely why Benard is collaborating on the development of a new security research from DUO-Onderwijs. The study not only looks at incidents, but also at perceived safety, reporting safety and trust in policy. As such, it is in line with what schools will soon have to monitor by law, but also offers broader insights. “Schools gain insight into what is really going on and where they need to intervene. Employees do not always go to their managers, especially when it comes to (social) safety. An investigation, however, can make signals visible.”

Educationist Lotte Benard is Teamlead Data & Research Development at DUO-Onderwijs.