STAND UP: Lucha contra el cyberbullying en la Formación Profesional

<< Background >>STAND UP aimed to put an end to cyberbullying in both BVET and iVET. Although there is a fight against cyberbullying in the European Union, there are still gaps; such as the list of national agencies to contact in case of being a victim of cyberbullying, available in the COE, which includes half of the countries present in this proposal (IE and EL). Being a practice focused on young people, most of the studies and materials that exist target children under 16. However, UNICEF (2017) shows that bullying increases with age, and thus, VET students aged 16 to 20 need tools to help them in this area. Also, teachers, trainers and staff in VET schools need to be able to manage cyberbullying crises. STAND UP aimed to fill the gap in training and tools for both VET teachers and students, whether they are victims or witness it, to know how to act. One of the tools to help students suffering from cyberbullying will be an app to quickly access the regional or national contact, and tools to raise awareness among students to fight cyberbullying. Due to COVID-19 and restrictions, students have used the Internet as a means of contact with their peers, leading to a higher percentage of students being cyberbullied (even 70% more than before COVID).<< Objectives >>The STAND UP project aimed to achieve the following objectives: To provide VET teachers, educators and professionals, especially in Basic VET and IVET, with tools that enable them to understand the process of cyberbullying, recognise the signs in the classroom and understand how they can collaborate in their fight against it.To equip VET educators with tools to share with their students the knowledge necessary to understand cyberbullying and its consequences.To equip VET educators with tools and skills to help their students in case of risk of cyberbullying or how to deal with cyberbullying.To create tools that support social inclusion inside and outside the classroom, a positive environment in VET classrooms, with teachers, trainers and VET professionals being a channel for change and improvement. Support the use of an innovative and digital approach to support pedagogical change in VET. Provide trainers and learners with tools to respond to cyberbullying, which has increased in the aftermath of COVID-19. Support the continuing education of VET educators.Promote the creation of VET classrooms that ensure tolerance and a positive working environment, both among students themselves and between students and teachers.<< Implementation >>In R1, comparative research on cyberbullying evolution, legislation, and policies was conducted. Partners developed 5 training modules: Understanding cyberbullying, detection, response, prevention, and initiating classroom discussions. Modules included objectives, descriptions, theory, practical info, 5 questions, sources, and resources. Piloted with 78 VET educators, then translated. Consortium adapted topics for VET students using infographics. Validated by 48 trainers and 71 students (aged 15-20+). Materials translated and shared on Instagram. R3 involved the STAND UP App with R1 and R2 content in partner languages, including a database of cyberbullying contacts and resources. Dissemination through local events, workshops, conferences, and social media campaigns, engaging various stakeholders to raise awareness and promote the app's use.<< Results >>The concrete results of the STAND UP project include:Provision of concrete training for 48 VET educators through Result 1 on:What is cyberbullying?How to detect cyberbullying in the VET classroomHow to behave before cyberbullyingHow to prevent cyberbullying in the VET classroomHow to start a conversation about cyberbullying in the classroomIn that way, we seek to reduce the cases of cyberbullying in the classroom by offering them tips on how to identify it and how to seek solutions. Provisioning of visual tools to 71 VET students through Result 2 on clear instructions and tips for them to identify such cases and seeking solutions to help the victim overcome the bullying. The use of Instagram to reach the target audience hoped to result in aware users who not only help end cyberbullying cases, but also promote an anti-cyberbullying policy in their groups of friends.Finally, we provided both VET educators and students an easy-to-find app where they can find external support, help-lines at regional, national and European agencies focused on helping victims of cyberbullying, additional resources as well as the visual tools developed under R2 for students and for educators to use in their classrooms, as well as R1.