Teachers' views on violence prevention and reduction

We encounter violence on a daily basis and almost every person has either witnessed or been subjected to violence. Young people spend a great deal of time in school and the school environment has a major impact on various aspects of their psychosocial development. The school should represent a safe space that enables young people to grow and develop their potential. Even though the school is a safe institution with a detailed educational plan and predefined preventive and curative measures to be taken should violence occur, violence is still deeply rooted within it. Schools advocate a zero-tolerance policy towards violence and have prepared educational plans to realize that goal; these plans contain preventive and curative approaches to preventing and reducing violence. The master's thesis examines the views of teachers on the prevention and reduction of violence with regard to educational plans. The theoretical section of the master's thesis discusses violence, focusing mostly on school-related violence. It also describes the components of an educational plan, the legal acts and the protocol for when peer violence is detected. The empirical section of the master's thesis analyses six educational plans of different primary schools. It examines the contents of these plans and whether they match the elements the schools have defined in relation to violence. The aim was to determine whether the main factors of the educational plans are reflected in specific suggestions for preventive and curative activities with which the school prevents and reduces violence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six teachers from a selected school and the school's educational plan was analysed. The aim was to gain insight into their thoughts on responding to violence, on dealing with violence, and on using the educational plan in the process