Treinamento de habilidades sociais como recurso para resolução e mediação de conflitos

Abstract

The growing incidence of conflictual situations in school environments has raised the urgent need to train teachers to mediate these conflicts effectively. This research evaluated the effects of Social Skills Training (SST) for teachers, aimed at improving their competences for Conflict Mediation (CM) among students. It sought to answer: what are the effects of a SST for teachers aimed at mediation and conflict resolution (CR)? It is understood that SST can contribute to the development of CR and mediation skills, which are essential for maintaining a healthy school environment conducive to learning. To answer this question and achieve the proposed objective, two studies were carried out. The first aimed, through the development, implementation and evaluation of a SST, to provide teachers with resources to deal with the challenges of CM in the classroom, investigating whether teachers with more elaborate repertoires of social skills (SS), educational social skills (ESS) and CM skills (CMS) are more effective at mediating conflicts than those who are not trained. The participants were 14 primary school teachers from the public (n=11) and private (n=3) schools, divided into experimental and control groups, who underwent a SST structured in five virtual sessions. The following questionnaires were used: SS (CHASO), ESS (IHSE-Prof) and Conflict Mediation Measure (CMM), the latter developed by the researcher. The data was analyzed using the JT Method and the results reveal that the trained teachers showed significant improvements in their ESS repertoire, especially in the organization of interactive activities, although the changes in ESS were not statistically reliable in all cases. The confirmed hypothesis is that SST can improve these skills in teachers, and that there are individual variations in their repertoire of skills before and after training. The second study aimed to identify teachers' conceptions of SST for CR and mediation, seeking to understand their perceptions of this type of training. Seven teachers from the experimental groups of the first study took part in the study, divided into two groups: GE1 (n=3) and GE2 (n=4). Their verbalizations during the training were recorded and the data was processed using IRaMuTeQ software for textual analysis using the Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC), which generated two dendograms. Categories and emerging classes were identified in each group. The results revealed a diversity of perceptions among the teachers, influenced by their professional background and educational context. It was clear that many recognize the importance of SS and CMS in their practice in order to act as mediators between their students, but face challenges due to an inadequate repertoire of these skills and a lack of preparation for dealing with conflicts in a constructive way.SST proved to be effective in helping teachers to reflect on their practices and broaden their skill set. The research thus contributes to an in-depth reflection on the importance and impact of interventions aimed at developing teachers' social skills for conflict mediation in the educational context.