The Scandinavian Days week in Kaunas, which has become an annual tradition, traditionally offers business activities for representatives of various fields alongside cultural and entertainment events. This year’s platform was launched by the International Forum “A School Without Bullying”, which brought together education professionals. Scandinavian experts, together with Kaunas educators and heads of educational institutions, shared their experiences and sought common solutions to solve the globally sensitive problem not only in educational institutions, but also outside them.
“The fight against bullying inside and outside school is ongoing, so it makes sense to keep talking about it and finding more and more effective ways to tackle it. International experience, knowledge and relevant insights from colleagues in other countries are of great importance here. All of this can lead to faster and more sustainable results, so that not only educators but also the wider society can contribute to stopping and reducing the problem. The aim is to change attitudes and to ensure that this is not a short-term phenomenon, but a long-term one,” said Rasa Bortkevičienė, one of the initiators of the event and head of the Kaunas Qualification Centre for Teachers (KQTK).
Anna Murgo (University of Turku, Finland), coordinator of the KiVa anti-bullying programme, presented her coordinated prevention initiative, its effectiveness, the 13 ways of combating bullying, and the anti-bullying strategies used in Finland at both national and municipal levels.
In Norway, officials play an important role in tackling bullying, representing the public interest in investigating cases and dealing with complaints of maladministration or infringement of rights. Kaja Vintervold Asmyhr and Heidi Helene Hobæk, Ombudswomen for Vestfold-Telemark County in Norway, presented the challenges of their work to the Forum participants.
Eglė Tamulionytė, coordinator of the “No Bullying” campaign and the “Friends” prevention programme of the public institution “Childline”, shared the Swedish good practice with the participants. The lecturer presented the principles of the Friends programme implemented in schools in our country, from the tools used to the target groups and the corresponding training methodology. The tangible and successful results of this programme can already be seen today.
At the same time, the Embassy of Denmark presented the family-friendly animated film “Loser Tarzan”, which is over an hour long, to Lithuanian educational institutions. It tells the story of a boy who is bullied. The main narrative leads to the conclusion that reducing bullying is not only about the school, but also about the family in which the child grows up. The film will be publicly available online for everyone from 11-30 May: n-tarzanas.zoomtv.lt (password: DanijosAmbasada).
“The Nordic countries pay special attention to children’s emotional well-being and have made significant efforts to tackle bullying. We all know that a child can only become a happy and decent citizen by growing up in a loving and harmonious environment. The role of the city in ensuring a safe and sustainable environment is clearly important here. I thank our city friends and partners for the opportunity to come together for a common, truly topical discussion, from which we can draw valuable knowledge and experience,” said Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis in his welcoming remarks to the participants of the Education Forum.
In the second part of the forum, Dr Dalia Lapėnienė, Director of Kaunas J. and P. Vileišiai School, Žilvinas Damijonaitis, Director of Veršvų Gymnasium, and Andrėja Adašiūnienė, methodical social pedagogue at Saulės Gymnasium, shared their effective strategies for reducing bullying and the preventive measures applied. They also looked at the possibilities for creating a safe environment in institutions, and reviewed methods for developing social and emotional skills.
At the International Forum “A School Without Bullying. The valuable experience of Scandinavian countries and Kaunas city schools” was attended by over half a hundred guests from all over Lithuania. Educators will be able to integrate the knowledge and valuable experience gained during the event into their professional practice, thus contributing to a stronger reduction of bullying in their institutions.
According to the participants, the meeting with colleagues from Scandinavian countries encouraged them to reflect and reassess the importance of comprehensive education of students in the Nordic countries, integrating emotional and social skills, as well as self-esteem development, into the traditional education programmes and alongside the usual subjects.
At the same time, there was a unanimous conclusion that solutions to the problem of bullying and its prevention need to go far beyond educational institutions. The speakers’ presentations were interlinked, suggesting that the culture of anti-bullying needs to spread from narrower communities to the wider society.
“We are grateful to the moderator of the event, journalist Ignas Krupavičius, and all the partners of the Education Forum – the Embassies of Finland, Sweden and Denmark in Lithuania, the Vestfold-Telemark County Municipality in Norway, the University of Turku, Finland, the public institution “Vaikų linija” (Children’s Line), the Kaunas Saulės and Versviai Gymnasiums, and the J.and P. Vileišiai School for their active participation in such a rich and fully useful discussion.
I have no doubt that this discussion has strengthened our communion with our partners in Scandinavian countries, and we are already starting to prepare for next year’s Scandinavian Days, hoping to meet again in a business forum to discuss the results of the event and share valuable ideas”, said R. Bortkevičienė, Director of KPKC.
Information from the Public Relations Unit
