Teacher perceptions of the value of the Jade Speaks Up programme Section report for Countering family harm and improving child well-being: 2017- 2019 Research report on a New Zealand programme delivered by classroom teachers

Abstract

Jade Speaks Up (JSU) is a teacher-led programme that gives Year 4 to 8 school children practical and relational strategies, emotional literacy and self-agency tools to develop trusting relationships, build resilience and keep themselves safe from bullying and family violence. JSU addresses a key component of the Ministry of Education’s Health Curriculum designed to improve future New Zealand’s very negative statistics on bullying, youth suicide and domestic violence.

From 2017 to 2019 a pilot program funded by ACC was run in 18 schools in Auckland, The Bay of Plenty, Dunedin & Christchurch covering levels 5-8 (primary, full-primary, intermediate and integrated), with a deciles ranging from 1-9 (average =3.3). 3277 children were engaged in the programme, aged from 8 to 14. 18% were Asian/ African, 27%, Māori, 31%, Pacific Island and 24%, Pākehā /European. These children completed 141 questionnaires covering emotional literacy, people connections, relational and safety skills, wellbeing and satisfaction with and benefits of the programme.

92 teachers took part in the Jade Speaks Up programme and 21 participated in two iterations of the programmes over that period, making a total of 123 classrooms involved – 47 in 2017, 38 in 2018 and 37 in 2019. Twenty percent of classes were taught by teachers of Māori descent; 15% by teachers of Pacific Island descent, but excluding Maori, 6% by teachers of Asian descent, but excluding Maori and Pacific Island; and 60% were Pakeha/New Zealander or of European descent only.

[...] Teacher values In the 2017 iteration of the JSU programme, we became aware that there were some teachers who almost from the outset of training did not warm to the programme, and that this flowed through into their judgement on the effectiveness of the programme. We wondered if these teachers were starting from a different values base than the one held by the programme and, presumably, most of the teachers who were part of the first iteration. In the second and third iterations of the programme we asked teachers to record four key values that inform their practice. Of the 67 teachers involved, 63 completed the values question. The analysis that follows gives the percentage of responses from this group of 63.