Training Teachers to Prevent Violence Against Children: The First Line Against Family Violence

Violence against minors is a complex theme that encompasses multiple phenomena (Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi & Lozano, 2002). Given that children spend a significant proportion of their time at school and in early childhood services, teachers and educators can play a key role in the early identification and prevention of this phenomenon. They can also promote positive relationships. Therefore, it is currently of key importance for teachers to develop new knowledge and skills relating to child protection. Based on the premise that violence against children concerns both the micro (the personal histories of parents and individual families) and macro (the vision of childhood upheld by adult society and educational institutions) levels, this chapter offers an in-depth analysis of how teachers may, in the first instance, be adequately informed – i.e., be made fully aware of children’s rights. Even more importantly, it suggests guidelines for training teachers in the personal and relational spheres, in keeping with psychoanalytical-educational perspectives (Miller, 1997; 2002). The aim of this dual approach is to provide teachers with the competences required both to recognize high-risk situations and to appropriately address the issue with their students’ families