Let’s Grow Together is an educational program for promoting health and the personal development of children from 1st to 4th grade of elementary school. The program is based on an approach that enhances life competencies, focusing on strengthening social and personal skills in children.
In the 2022/2023 school year, the Association for Addiction Prevention NARKO-NE implemented the program in five elementary schools in the Sarajevo Canton: OŠ 6. mart Hadžići, Druga osnovna škola Hrasnica, OŠ Aneks, OŠ Saburina, and OŠ Vrhbosna, with the participation of 386 children. The program was adapted from Germany.
The program leaders, or facilitators of the workshops within the program, are teachers of 1st to 4th-grade classes who underwent a two-day training. The training took place in January 2023, and the workshops were held during the second semester.
Teachers conducted seven workshops throughout the school year, linking them with the teaching units of various subjects. In the 4th grade, workshops were held during class meetings. The workshops develop various competencies in children, depending on their age: problem-solving, decision-making, coping with stress and negative emotions, self-awareness and empathy, communication, interpersonal relationships, creative and critical thinking. During the educational process, it is possible to revisit previously conducted content and remind students by connecting it with teaching content and situations occurring in the classroom.
During the program’s implementation, monitoring visits to schools were conducted, during which the NARKO-NE expert team provided support in conducting the workshops. Teachers regularly filled out evaluation forms after each workshop, noting any difficulties encountered in implementation and providing suggestions for improving the work and materials used. After completing the program, an evaluation meeting with teachers was held.
Teachers believe that the program significantly contributed to the development of educational and social skills, empathy, and peer respect. They emphasized that all workshop content was interesting to the children and adapted to their age and abilities. The children enhanced their life skills, became more capable of recognizing their emotions and the emotions of others, learned to respect and accept differences, and adopted non-violent conflict resolution methods, which is essential in preventing peer violence.
Sanela Pekić, Expert Associate at NARKO-NE for school prevention programs, reflected on the program and its benefits for children:
This program provides teachers with material to continuously work with children on building life competencies, which form the foundation for dealing with numerous challenges during growing up. Confident children, who have a positive attitude toward themselves and their abilities, who have learned to resolve conflicts through negotiation, who can accurately assess and verbalize their feelings and needs, and who can resist negative peer pressure, are better equipped to face life’s challenges with strength and self-confidence, and consciously choose a healthy lifestyle.
Sanela notes that all participants expressed a desire to continue conducting workshops with their students:
In August, another group of teachers will be trained to start implementing the program in schools. It is also planned, as suggested by the teachers who carried out the program this school year, to work toward incorporating “Let’s Grow Together” into the official curriculum, as the program covers topics already planned in the curriculum. Existing teaching materials for teachers and worksheets for students will be adapted in line with the facilitators’ suggestions.
The schools where the program is implemented were selected upon the recommendation of the Institute for the Development of Pre-University Education of Sarajevo Canton, and similar practices will continue in the upcoming school year.
Azra Halilović