KiVa founder to open National KiVa Day celebrations
Professor Christina Salmivalli, the award-winning Finnish mastermind behind anti-bullying programme KiVa, will open the 2018 National KiVa Day celebrations at Victoria University of Wellington on 23 October.
Professor Salmivalli developed the KiVa programme following decades of research into the different mechanisms of bullying and the role of bystanders. Using tools based around prevention, intervention and monitoring, KiVa is a whole-school strategy, which aims to help children experiencing bullying by focusing on three distinct groups: the bully, the victim and the bystanders.
“Bullying greatly affects the wellbeing of children and young people, their risk of social exclusion and learning results,” says Professor Salmivalli. “The traditional view is that bullying is perpetrated by students against other students or by teachers against students. However, the increased use of videos and social media has created new and sometimes more difficult forms of bullying,” she says.
Professor Salmivalli visited New Zealand in 2014 to train Victoria University’s Accent Learning team on the delivery of KiVa in New Zealand schools. Accent Learning holds New Zealand’s KiVa licence and has so far introduced the programme into more than 30 schools nationwide.
A recent survey of 5,000 students at 14 New Zealand primary and secondary schools conducted by Professor Vanessa Green of Victoria University’s Faculty of Education, showed that after just one year of the KiVa programme, bullying and victimisation rates have reduced by 5-10 percent.
Professor Salmivalli will spend two days in Wellington, delivering the keynote address and speaking with teachers and principals during the planned celebrations.
Accent Learning Senior Project Manager Deidre Vercauteren says she is excited to be welcoming such a renowned and respected academic to the University. “It’s wonderful to be part of a programme that is working to reduce a particularly prevalent and difficult social issue.”
To find out more please contact Deidre Vercauteren