Research analysis on social communicative skills as a tool to prevent violence in the educational context

Abstract

Introduction: In today's society there is a strong trend to communicate ideas in an aggressive way, leading to a communication of tension and exasperation, which entails the generalization of situations of psychological and physical violence. These actions may be due in many occasions to the lack of education in assertive communication, both in schools and universities, and have been extended by the massive use of social networks and the alleged freedom of expression of each person, resulting in messages of violence, leading in some cases to hatred in the networks. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rethink a positive culture of peace. Thus, it is necessary to educate in emotional intelligence, in order to teach emotional competencies that counteract violent communication and latent conflicts. What is important is how verbal and non-verbal communication is carried out in order to express oneself in an assertive and non-violent manner. Methodology: Therefore, this paper presents a review and critical analysis of the literature on assertive communication in education. The general objective is to deepen in the different approaches, tools and existing methodologies to generate a teaching of nonviolent and assertive communication. The reality of violence prevention education in schools and universities is analyzed through the teaching of assertive communication, the innovative didactic methodologies used to improve coexistence, and the most effective forms of communication and language that promote assertive communication. A systematic review of the scientific literature has been carried out following the PRISMA 2009, 2020 declaration. It deals with communication, prevention of discursive violence and efficient didactic methodologies for learning assertive communication at school as well as at university. The following databases were used: Web of Science, Scopus, Dialnet, Redalyc and Scielo. A set of 37 articles published between 2000 and 2023 were obtained, organized into four thematic axes according to the codes obtained. Results: As an outstanding result, the current need to educate in the prevention of violence in communication is proven, being necessary to include new tools and methodologies in the general curriculum and in the classrooms of Elementary School, Secondary School and University. Discussion and conclusions: Several authors highlight assertive communication as a behavior that improves school coexistence. Among the conclusions, it should be noted that assertive communication involves all the agents involved in the teaching-learning process, including the teacher. Its influence on self-directed learning from the point of view of bidirectional communication, as well as on autonomy, critical spirit and the development of students' social skills is also recognized.