Educator tips

• Support students in developing assertiveness skills through role-play (RLS 11) and practical experiences. Assertiveness empowers students to advocate for themselves when feeling threatened or unsafe, assist others, challenge bullying and peer pressure, recognise their feelings, establish boundaries, gain a sense of control, and engage in respectful negotiation and disagreement (Lovering 2022).
• Learning assertiveness may be challenging for some students, particularly those with disability, additional needs or English as a second language, due to differences in communication, social cues, or physical expression. Use strategies such as visual aids, assistive tools, role-playing scenarios and breaking tasks into smaller steps.
• Provide opportunities for students to practise persistence in challenging situations to build their ability to navigate difficulties, seek help and enhance their safety. When children develop these traits, they are better prepared to ask for help and protect themselves in difficult situations (Goodwin 2021).
• Assertiveness and persistence strengthen resilience in students, improving their ability to navigate challenges, regulate emotions, solve problems and develop protective strategies for safety.
• Build problem-solving skills through real-life scenarios that focus on finding safe solutions. Problem-solving skills enable students to assess potential dangers, make informed choices and respond effectively to safety concerns, thereby reducing their risk of harm and enhancing their ability to navigate complex situations.
• Knowing their full name, address and phone number in a developmentally appropriate way is important for students’ safety and when seeking help. Use inclusive language that recognises the diversity of families and represents all students’ circumstances when discussing their primary carers’ names and phone numbers.

Goodwin C (2021) 6 evidence-based ways to encourage persistence in children, Psychology Today, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/a/10891

Lovering N (2022) 10 tips to teach your child to be assertive, PsychCentral, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/a/10890