Impact of an evidence-based training for educators on bystander intervention for the prevention of violence against LGBTI+ youth

Abstract

Research shows that teachers and educators receive scarce scientific evidence-based training and tools to implement effective strategies to stop and prevent violence against LGBTI+ youth in educational institutions. Nonetheless, no data examines pedagogical contents and training initiatives that are providing these professionals with effective strategies and skills. This paper will cover this gap by gathering data on the impact of training workshops that were carried out in five European countries as part of a REC programme project. These workshops were designed to train educators in formal and non-formal contexts about scientific evidence-based content aimed at reaching social impact, such as bystander intervention and the dialogic model of violence prevention. As part of the training, they participated in the debate of a scientific article first hand, thus engaging with direct research. The content, organisation and instruments for data collection were co-created with relevant end-users and researchers who engaged at different meetings in an Advisory Committee. Aimed at collecting the impact of this training, 208 online pre- and post-questionnaires, and 12 semi-structured interviews were analysed. Results show that participants gain knowledge and confidence empowering themselves as active agents in the problem. Thanks to this co-creative and community science approach, participants affirmed they are thinking of applying upstander actions in their working contexts. The trust in the rigour of the content and the interest sparked towards science are also expressed.