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Opening schools to all (women): efforts

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E. Oliver , M. Soler & R. Flecha
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Department of Sociological Theory, University of Barcelona,
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 British Journal of Sociology of Education
Vol. 30, No. 2, March 2009, 207–218

Opening schools to all (women): efforts to overcome gender violence

in Spain
E. Oliver, M. Soler* and R. Flecha

Department of Sociological Theory, University of Barcelona, Spain

(Received 12 February 2008; final version received 27 July 2008)
Taylor and Francis
CBSE_A_370201.sgm

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10.1080/01425690802700313
0142-5692
Original
Taylor
202009
30
Dr
marta.soler@ub.edu
00000March
MartaSoler
&
Journal
Article
Francis
(print)/1465-3346
2009
of Sociology of(online)
Education

This article shows how the dialogic approach adopted by some schools in Spain
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generates a shift in approaches to gender violence, an issue still not explored in the
literature. The shift is from an approach determined mainly by female experts to a
dialogic one in which all women, including teachers, mothers, students, sisters,
stepsisters, friends, and volunteers, are involved in designing and implementing
programmes to prevent gender violence. An analysis of data obtained from six
primary schools in Spain shows how the voices of all women are relevant to
identify situations of gender violence that girl pupils are experiencing, as well as
in the design of school-based processes to prevent violence that affects these girls.
Keywords: girl pupils; gender violence; dialogic; Spain

Introduction
The dialogic approach adopted by some schools in Spain is generating a shift in efforts
to deal with gender violence. The approach relies on an overall understanding of the
educational process based on dialogue and common action among the wide range of
people involved: teachers, relatives, pupils, citizens, social workers, volunteers, and
so forth. The dialogic approach has had an impact on programmes to prevent violence
in schools because it supports the view that while female experts are relevant in the
decision-making process within these programmes, all women can play decisive roles.
Through this dialogic approach, implemented in some schools, all these women find
that their voices are relevant in the design and implementation of programmes to
prevent gender violence.
In this article, gender violence is understood in line with the definition of the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (United Nations 1993),
which was established in UN General Assembly Resolution 48/104 on 20 December
1993 and is one of the most widely acknowledged definitions of this phenomenon
worldwide:

For the purposes of this Declaration, the term ‘violence against women’ means any act
of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. (United
Nations 1993, Article 1)

*Corresponding author. E-mail: marta.soler@ub.edu

ISSN 0142-5692 print/ISSN 1465-3346 online

© 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/01425690802700313
http://www.informaworld.com
 208 E. Oliver et al.

This definition includes physical, sexual and psychological violence that occurs within
the family, and in the general community, and which is perpetrated or condoned by
the State.
Gender violence is thus a complex phenomenon that includes not only physical
violence, but also sexist attitudes, insulting comments, various forms of scorn,
sexual coercion, harassment or sexual assault, touching, grabbing, unwanted sexual
attention, and so on (Fitzgerald et al. 1988; Kalof et al. 2001). For the purpose of
this article we focus on one group that suffers gender violence: girl pupils, in
primary schools in Spain.Reviewing the existing literature on violence prevention,
we find two contrasting perspectives: some studies focus on anti-bullying or conflict
resolution programmes, while others focus on programmes to prevent gender
violence. In the first group, a shift towards the community model is clearly seen
(Banks 1997; Farrington 1993; Olweus 1993; O’Moore and Minton 2005;
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Yoneyama and Naito 2003). Here, agents from the community play a key role in
resolving conflicts, but often the gender dimension of the violence is not recog-
nized. In the second group, the primary emphasis is on developing interventions to
combat gender violence, focusing on counselling schemes for school students and
training programmes for staff and relatives (Meraviglia et al. 2003). The dialogic
approach is providing fresh insights into both these perspectives. This approach,
connected to recent developments in gender studies through dialogic feminism
(Beck-Gernsheim, Butler, and Puigvert 2003), offers new ways to integrate the
gender dimension into efforts to prevent violence in schools. Those working with
dialogic feminism state that it is very important to unite the efforts of all women,
whatever their educational level, ethnicity, or social class, in order to overcome
gender-based inequalities.
In Spain, most school-based programmes for preventing gender violence are based
on the second of these two perspectives. Thus the key agents in designing the
programmes and conducting interventions are professionals – teachers, educators,
social workers, and so forth. In this paper we analyse the case of six primary schools
that have reworked their school organization to incorporate the voices of all women
(girls, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, teachers, etc.) in decision-making processes
that will have an impact on these prevention programmes. Men also participate in
those processes, but this article focuses on the participation of all women.

Overcoming violence in educational institutions

In the academic literature, we have found a clear distinction between those studies
focused on preventing conflict or bullying and those focused on preventing gender
violence in primary schools. The research focused on conflict and bullying adopts
various approaches, ranging from disciplinary models to initiatives focused on peer
interaction to those that stress the relevance of the whole community, described in the
literature as the whole-school approach. In these examples, however, little emphasis
is placed on the gender dimension of violence.
On the other hand, the literature focused on preventing gender violence mainly
stresses the role of peers, although some studies also identify the need to train staff
and relatives1 or to encourage them to participate in preventive procedures. However,
both bodies of literature overlook the importance of including all women’s voices in
designing and implementing prevention programmes in schools. In this context, the
dialogic approach provides elements that make it possible to integrate all women as
 British Journal of Sociology of Education 209

relevant agents in developing measures to prevent gender violence within a whole-

school approach.
It is important to mention that the literature highlights some difficulties in prevent-
ing gender violence, such as some teachers’ ignorance about sexuality-related
behaviour in schools (Chambers, van Loon, and Tincknell 2004) or the ways that atti-
tudes among adults within the school community may hinder efforts at prevention
(Francis 1999).
In our analysis of the literature, we identified the shift towards different
approaches within the anti-bullying and conflict-resolution literature, from models
focused on discipline to others focusing on the mediation of peers and, finally, to those
focusing on the role of the community. This shift began in the 1960s as Stenhouse
(1967) discussed the ways that teachers use their authority and power to guarantee that
social standards and rules will be upheld in the classroom. At that point, it was already
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clear that other means were needed to eliminate the use of punishment, but doing so
would mean finding other, more effective, teaching methods (Spiel 1962).
Even today, however, it is not always easy to phase out disciplinary procedures in
schools. For example, Eugene and Erevelles (2004) reflect on how school violence
results from the structural violence: oppressive social conditions help explain the
aggressive behaviour of some students in prison-like school environments. Although
these authors mention some factors that will facilitate transformation, they give few
clues about the form these factors can take. Meanwhile, other researchers have
challenged the effectiveness of certain disciplinary procedures and have provided
alternative ways of combating conflict. Lewis (2001), for example, shows how some
procedures developed by teachers based on aggressive or coercive discipline techniques
are related to misbehaviour in class, and keep students from developing a positive sense
of responsibility.
Cowie and Berdondini (2001) mention initiatives based on strengthening
children’s own ability to manage situations of conflict. These initiatives stress the
need to build up supportive environments by involving children in reflecting on their
attitudes and those of their peers. These authors, for example, explore how cooperative
group work in classrooms affects children aged 8–11 years in terms of their attitudes
towards other group members and the creation of a cooperative atmosphere.
Similarly, Johnson and Johnson (1996) analysed the impact of measures focused
on the roles children play in processes of conflict resolution and in peer mediation
programmes. They found that students can develop integrative negotiation procedures
to resolve conflicts, even in environments outside school, and can continue to use
these skills months after they participated in such programmes.
In addition to these contributions focusing on the relevance of peers as mediators
in conflicts, several authors identify a shift towards including the whole community
in programmes based on anti-bullying and conflict resolution perspectives (Banks
1997; Farrington 1993; Olweus 1993; O’Moore and Minton 2005; Yoneyama and
Naito 2003). Those working in the whole-school approach particularly stress that
teachers, relatives, and children should be involved in formulating anti-bullying
policies and determining what behaviour is or is not acceptable.
Farrington (1993), for example, shows how methods of preventing bullying can be
classified into three groups: those focusing primarily on the bullies, on the victims,
and on the environment. Further, the Olweus (1993) programme, implemented with
10-year-old to 15-year-old students to combat bullying, includes measures at the
individual, class, and school levels. Two conditions were considered important in this
 210 E. Oliver et al.

school-based intervention programme: adults at both school and home must be aware
of the extent of bully/victim problems, and they must engage in changing these
situations. Olweus believed programmes should establish classroom rules against
bullying, and should include meetings with parents, teachers and students and involve
relatives in developing action plans.
In addition, several researchers have focused on the role of the community –
especially school staff and relatives – in stopping bullying behaviour (Ma 2001;
Mellor 1995; Ortega and Lera 2000; Tattum and Herbert 1993). They stress that
family members can help reduce bullying by becoming involved in the children’s
schoolwork, by discussing school matters and by volunteering in the school (Ma
2001). Similarly, schools can engage teaching and non-teaching staff in discussing
and implementing anti-bullying measures, encouraging them to participate actively in
establishing effective responses (Tattum and Herbert 1993). Others stress the role of
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school boards or parents’ associations (Mellor 1995), and of negotiating procedures

relating to routines, norms and values with a democratic approach based on the partic-
ipation of all parties (Ortega and Lera 2000).
However, within the whole-school approach we found only one study that has
looked carefully at gender violence in schools. Meraviglia and colleagues (2003) anal-
ysed the impact of their Expect Respect Project. This project, which they developed
in elementary schools with fifth-grade students, had two objectives: to educate
students, parents and staff about bullying and sexual harassment; and to clarify expec-
tations for respectful and healthy attitudes in students’ relationships. The authors stress
the need to involve all members of the school community in effectively countering
sexual harassment, and to integrate community and school resources to create a safe
school environment.
Aside from this one study, academic research on gender violence in primary
schools has failed to address the involvement of diverse female actors – from the girls
themselves to their family members to professionals – in designing and implementing
measures to prevent gender violence, along the lines of dialogic feminism (Beck-
Gernsheim, Butler, and Puigvert 2003). This dialogic approach can contribute to both
of the approaches mentioned above, by emphasizing the participation of all women.

Research methodology
The findings we report here are based on qualitative data from our analysis of six
primary schools (five in the region of Catalonia and one in Castilla La Mancha), as
part of two studies2 conducted between 2005 and 2007. The two studies are
‘INCLUD-ED, Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Educa-
tion’, the only ongoing Integrated Project of the European Framework Programme of
Research dedicated to schooling; and ‘Prevention of Gender Violence in Educational
Contexts’, a study funded by the Catalan Women’s Institute.
Both studies used the communicative methodology, which is well suited for anal-
yses of efforts to overcome inequalities and increases the potential impact of the
research results. It places a priority on seeking out the voices of all women and other
social agents involved in schools, not just as a source of information but also as key
agents during the entire research process, from the research design to the interpretation
of the findings. This approach implies an intersubjective dialogue between the
researchers and the participants in the research (Gómez and Vargas 2003); in this case
these were all the women and other social actors in the school community, such as
 British Journal of Sociology of Education 211

students, relatives and professionals. To interpret the data, the researchers contrast the
academic knowledge accumulated by the scientific community with the insights and
understandings of the research subjects; this approach breaks down the usual interpre-
tive hierarchy between researchers and those being studied.
The six schools were located in six different cities: Reus, Barcelona, Mataró,
Girona, Terrassa and Albacete. They were selected because they were active in
community involvement, not only in terms of participation in school activities but
particularly in decision-making. The six schools had bodies for participation apart
from the school council in which relatives and other community members were
involved. They referred to them as committees or working groups. In presenting our
results, we do not intend to generalize across the Spanish educational system but
rather to present evidence about the dialogic practices occurring in some Spanish
schools that contributes new elements to the discussion about gender violence preven-
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tion in education.
The data were collected through various techniques. Students and their relatives
provided 28 communicative daily-life stories. Our research staff conducted 25 inter-
views with professionals (educators, staff working in public administration or in the
community) and seven discussion groups, three with students, and two each with
relatives and teachers. All of these conversations were recorded and transcribed. Both
men and women participated in the research.
In both studies we aimed to analyse the impact that various forms of community
involvement could have on overcoming various conflicts within the school context. In
particular, we analysed data from these studies focusing on how different kinds of
women (not only experts but also mothers, sisters, volunteers, etc.) are involved in
gender violence initiatives through specific dialogic procedures.
In the communicative methodology approach, the data are analysed to identify
both exclusionary and transformative components in the situations being studied. In
this case, we identified elements of the school contexts that hinder attempts to over-
come violence against girls in schools as well as elements that promote changes in the
school to establish specific mechanisms that prevent violence. Through this analysis
we were able to learn how different schools are encouraging a range of women to
participate in thinking about, planning and deciding on measures to prevent gender
violence.

Findings
Several of our results show that some schools are supporting a change in their efforts
to prevent gender violence, moving from an approach that was developed and deter-
mined mainly by female experts, towards a more dialogic approach that involves a
wide range of women. The voices of males are not excluded from these processes, but
here we focus on the participation of women. Some characteristics of this approach
emerge from the research findings we explore here, as they are grounded in the
evidence of the great importance all women’s voices acquire in designing initiatives
in some primary schools. This emphasis on all women’s voices does not mean a de-
emphasis on those of female experts, but instead means the creation of conditions
where dialogues can emerge between them and all other women. These conditions
make it possible to integrate the knowledge different women have accumulated in
dealing with this issue, and thus make it possible to improve ways of preventing
gender violence in schools.
 212 E. Oliver et al.

We discuss these results in two sections. First, we present evidence about the diffi-
culties that teachers and parents currently face when trying to deal with conflicts and
gender violence; we also present the participants’ suggestions about ways to overcome
them. Second, we describe different forms of dialogic school organization that are
encouraging all women to play decisive roles in the overall process of preventing
gender violence in primary schools.

Beyond difficulties
Difficulties arise when teachers, or parents, fail to identify instances of gender
violence in the school context. Some of the study participants explained that the
people around them did not label hostile attitudes as gender violence. For example,
some mentioned that boys would lift girls’ skirts as one form of aggression against
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girls. Such behaviour can become normalized in patriarchal societies, and is then not
understood as gender violence. Often it is not condemned. In a discussion with family
members, for example, it emerged that situations which disturb girls are sometimes
not dealt with properly within the school context:

[The boys] pulled up their skirts, touched their bottoms and well … several things. The
girls were fed up, until they explained to their mothers and these mothers decided to act,
but the teachers said they were being hysterical. (G5F)

Students can easily identify times when their teachers do not want to talk about
explicit cases of harassment, as many adults ignore behaviour related to gender
violence or prefer to avoid it or play it down, even when it happens outside the school.
In a discussion including several pupils, the following story emerged:

There was a fight between a boy about 18 or 20 and a girl the same age. We heard them
shouting and hitting each other […] We told the teachers and they said, don’t worry, they
are probably just playing. But we heard dishes break and later the girl was crying and
shouting. And the boy said, ‘Be quiet!’, and so on … (G2A)

In many schools, adults do not yet take an active role in resolving conflicts. Often chil-
dren do not see their schools as places where their concerns about harassing attitudes
can be tackled appropriately. For example, in a discussion group, two students said
that they felt their teachers do not listen to them enough:

F: Regarding some of these problems, they usually say: ‘You are already old enough
to solve them yourself …’
C: They do not pay attention to us. (G1A)

The fear of dealing with such issues incorrectly may influence the way adults face
these issues in school. Some teachers expressed their doubts about which procedures
to follow to address sexual harassment, and such doubts can hinder prevention
programmes in schools (Chambers, van Loon, and Tincknell 2004). When no one
facilitates such dialogues about harassment, students can easily learn not to discuss
their experiences. In fact, early research showed that students fail to report gender
violence and often cannot find ways to break the silence around it (Dziech and Weiner
1984).
One way to overcome these barriers is to establish mechanisms of communication
in schools to support girls and women who are suffering from violence (Valls,
 British Journal of Sociology of Education 213

Puigvert, and Duque 2008).4 Some educators also highlight the need to more strongly
acknowledge some forms of aggression towards girls in schools, and mention the need
to talk with children about this. However, these reflections are rarely approached from
a gender perspective and, even when gender is considered, the reflections do not inte-
grate the voices of non-expert women. This represents a loss, since mothers and other
female relatives can sometimes help change the ways people see situations of gender
violence. Some of these women described the need to point out the gender dimension
of specific harassing behaviour:

This … should not happen, that someone lifts up a girl’s skirt. It should be dealt with in
school, and its importance should be stressed. I, as a person, have the right to be
respected: if I don’t want to be touched, nobody can touch me. (G1F)

In this sense, mothers and other female relatives may be crucial in understanding how
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girls experience violence against them.

New forms of prevention where all women decide

Some schools are encouraging the creation of new forms of organization where vari-
ous women from the school community participate in designing and implementing
measures to prevent gender violence. We found some changes in the relationships and
in the forms of communication among teachers and relatives in the primary schools
we analysed.

Parents were not born knowing everything … A dialogue is needed between the teacher
and the family member. For me it’s very important and I have often insisted … on speak-
ing with teachers, because sometimes you have the feeling that you are becoming an
annoyance to the teachers, but a good teacher does not think you are annoying. In fact,
they appreciate [your contribution]. (G5F)

Some schools in the study are using this approach, in which teachers and relatives are
together developing steps to establish new forms of interaction. For example, not only
do teachers ask mothers to talk about their children’s bad behaviour; they are also creat-
ing the conditions in which they can establish closer relationships with female relatives
in order to improve the learning processes. One mother expressed her enthusiasm for
these changes:

In the past they called me up when my child … hit another child … but they didn’t call
me to tell me that my child … had done something perfectly. […] It’s not only the behav-
iour of teachers in front of children but also in front of mothers, towards their mothers.
Do you understand? They are now paying attention, for example, offering to have a
coffee with you. I perceive them as part of me, like my friends. (FRMA3)

Female relatives, including mothers, sisters, and aunts, who are increasingly involved
in these interactions with teachers, show an interest in this kind of school environ-
ment. The ‘word of mouth’ communication within the community increases the posi-
tive comments about the advantages of these procedures that reach beyond the
school:

Very much, whatever is done in the school is mentioned, not only by the mothers of chil-
dren from this school, but also by mothers from other schools. (FRMA3)
 214 E. Oliver et al.

Members of the school staff also see the advantages of these changes; this
increases their enthusiasm about the possibilities of overcoming mutual mistrust and
of improving the climate of collaboration and solidarity. One school expert on conflict
resolution told us this:

I met mothers who… I had never imagined they would be willing to come to speak with
the school principal […] without giving them any help or anything […]. I think it is
impressive that people involve themselves in this way, so unselfishly. (CEHA1)

In some of these schools all of the women are invited to discuss relevant topics that
affect the daily life of the school community, in order to design more effective solu-
tions for the different problems that may emerge. Indeed, in some schools, relatives –
mainly women – are taking on roles in decision-making processes that others see as
crucial to the transformations occurring at different levels. Therefore, some relatives
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feel that the school is also ‘their’ responsibility, as one described it:

I: if there is a conflict in the school, do you know how they solve it, when there are
bad words … Do you know how they solve it?
A: A little. We talk with … first we talk with the children, first we ask them so and
so, … We ask everything, who was the first to do something bad […] and then we
talk with teachers, with the principal, with other mothers, with the fathers, … It is
a responsibility of all of us. (FRMT5)

The feeling of belonging to a school project is related to the creation of school condi-
tions that do not restrict the participation of relatives or other agents of the community.
In fact, one teacher explained how this dialogic approach opens up broader paths to
participation:

Everybody has his/her point of view, we try to put it into practice. […] We try to make
our students discuss their actions, and then listen to them. They know that in this school
they are always going to be listened to, things are explained to them, the reasons, …
Sometimes we don’t agree, but it is important to know why or why not, I think it’s
important. (PEMT4)

Among the involved members of the community, women are the ones who are
increasingly making their voices decisive in the transformations within schools, as
explained by the school conflict resolution expert we cited earlier:

There are mothers, grandmothers, a female tutor, a daughter, a girl who has a brother
here, she comes with their mother. So, well, we can’t complain […] In addition, this has
been a demand from them, and we really like it, and when they describe a need, we try
to respond to it […]. (CEHA1)

Thus, women teachers are recognizing how relevant other women are becoming in
the school dynamics, as they open up new possibilities for common work that aims to
reach shared objectives. These chances for different types of women to become
involved are associated with the dialogue that is the basis for these schools’ function-
ing. Meetings and assemblies are designed and organized according to this approach,
which facilitates a horizontal exchange between teachers, relatives and students, and
the recognition of all women’s contributions, as one teacher described it:

If there is community participation, that does not mean service. […] I am not using moth-
ers to provide services, but mothers become involved because it’s necessary to educate
 British Journal of Sociology of Education 215

their daughters and sons […] It’s very important because they can be used […] and we
try to ensure that this does not happen. […] We don’t want them to think they are doing
what the teachers want, but rather that they are doing what they think they can contribute
with and they try to find the place and the time to do it. (PEMT4)

In some schools, this work is made concrete through a committee composed of

various kinds of people (teachers, relatives, volunteers, etc.) who are working together
on the basis of equality, thus guaranteeing that all their contributions are considered
equally as procedures are developed to manage the school. Members of a discussion
group made up of relatives explained their participation.

A: We are sharing the tasks, we are distributing the tasks. And another thing is the
committee. Committees are open to everyone who wants. And the truth is that in
these committees we talk one to one, directly, …
B: This previous year there were the facilities committee, the volunteers committee,
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and the learning committee. On each one there was a teacher […]
C: Exactly. And mothers and fathers […]
A: And volunteers. (G5F)

Coexistence committees, which were created in some of these schools, have given
female relatives a leading position in the process of establishing and implementing the
school norms. These women are encouraged to offer new ideas to improve the
management of conflict in schools and to be active in decision-making processes, as
a teacher described:

Yes, of course, the coexistence committee was constituted as a ‘mixed committee’.

Mothers are coming […] They also […] say what they want. And now, […] everything
they say about things affecting their children, […] these contributions can be taken into
account, of course […]. (PEMA5)

In addition, suggestions from all women are incorporated into the design of proce-
dures to prevent gender violence in these schools, as emerged in a discussion group
made up of relatives:

A: What I would like … For example, if one day my daughter tells me: mum, some-
one is hitting me every day, they are … every day they pull my hair, every day
they insult me … Where can I go to complain if it is not the school? Where can I
go? To complain to the ombudsman of students or something like that.
B: This role does not exist … It’s what she was saying … something, a committee of
… that nobody can be identified, that people do not give their names. That would
guarantee that they can explain and they can be protected, … I don’t know …
something like that.
A: A committee against violence, yes. Because there are many cases, …
B: Because many people do not describe things because they think, look, they are
going to tell other people and everybody will know. (G5F)

These schools are functioning based on the dialogic model of conflict prevention
(Aubert et al. 2004), which encourages people from the whole community to partici-
pate in the procedures to develop and eventually implement the norms for preventing
and resolving conflicts within schools (Luna 2007). This approach is based on a
dialogue that makes it possible for the contributions of all social actors to be equally
valued in these processes of norm definition. Thus, in some of these schools, many
female relatives and volunteers are finding ways to have their voices recognized
 216 E. Oliver et al.

more deeply in the school, and particularly in the processes of preventing gender
violence.

Conclusion: the relevance of all women’s voices

We have shown how some schools are promoting a shift in dealing with gender
violence prevention, a shift that still has not been explored in the academic literature.
These schools are moving from an approach developed and determined mainly by
female experts to a dialogic approach determined by a wide range of women: teachers,
mothers, students, sisters, friends, volunteers. This approach is related to new devel-
opments in feminism by authors such as Beck-Gernsheim, Butler, and Puigvert (2003)
that stress the relevance of all women’s voices on gender issues. Indeed, our findings
provide evidence of the role that all women are playing in preventing gender violence
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in some schools that are adopting new forms of school organization within the
dialogic approach. Our analyses lead to several conclusions.
First, we see a clear distinction between research focusing on conflict prevention
or anti-bullying initiatives and those focusing on preventing gender violence. Within
both traditions, the dialogic approach is contributing to the field because it provides
elements to promote the inclusion of the gender dimension in preventing violence in
primary schools within a whole-school approach.
Second, our data show the need to challenge traditional mechanisms in these
schools that are not stopping violence and that hinder the identification and treatment
of gender violence. In this regard, our results indicate how female relatives are playing
an increasingly important role in identifying situations of gender violence and in
expanding the understanding of what is considered to be gender violence within the
school community.
Third, our findings also highlight how some schools are establishing new forms of
school organization that allow all women to find a relevant role for their voices within
the process of designing and implementing gender violence prevention programmes.
Assemblies, meetings or committees based on dialogues have emerged in order to
facilitate the equal recognition of all women’s contributions in taking key decisions in
this domain.
These achievements are highly relevant if we consider that greater transformations
will occur in the fight against gender violence in society when changes are also
happening within schools (Gómez 2004). However, at the same time, new challenges
emerge within this approach. More and different women must be given the opportu-
nities to make decisions during these dialogic procedures, especially those tradition-
ally excluded from these spheres. An additional open question is how to overcome all
of the possible obstacles that can emerge in any action based on a dialogic approach
in the field of gender violence prevention, and how to measure the effectiveness of
these actions. Still, as we have shown here, steps have already been taken to ensure
that more voices, from very different women, become essential in overcoming gender
violence in schools.

Notes
1. ‘Relatives’ are those people who are living with children at home. Today, the existence of
new family forms means that children may live with other people besides their parents or
grandparents (e.g. a parent’s partner or friend, or a step-brother or step-sister). This
 British Journal of Sociology of Education 217

situation extends and contradicts the concept of ‘parents’, and allows a more rigorous
analysis of children’s experiences.
2. The first study is INCLUD-ED: Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe
from Education – an integrated project within the Sixth Framework Programme of the
European Commission, composed of six subprojects. We obtained data from one of the
subprojects that focuses specifically on community involvement within learning projects
and its impact at different levels, such as the climate of coexistence within the schools. In
this subproject, several longitudinal study cases were conducted in different European
countries over four years. The data analysed in this article comes from the first year (2007)
of the longitudinal study conducted in Spain. The second research project analysed here is
Prevention of Gender Violence in Educational Contexts through New School Organiza-
tional Forms (2005), funded by the Catalan Women’s Institute.
3. See Appendix 1 for list of school identifiers.
4. Three research projects were conducted within the CREA research centre, at the University
of Barcelona. The projects focused on analysing this phenomenon in different educational
settings: Values Education for the Prevention of Gender Violence in High Schools (2005),
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funded by the Department of Universities; Research and Information Society of the Catalan
Government. Gender Violence in Spanish Universities (2005–2008), funded by the Minis-
ter of Labour and the Women’s Institute of Spain in the framework of the I+D+I National
Plan; and Gender-based Violence at Universities (2006–2008), funded by the Department
of Innovation, Universities and Business of the Catalan Government in the framework of
the programme Beatriu de Pinós.

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Appendix 1. Sources
G5F – Primary school, Girona. Discussion group with 4 female relatives participating in the
relatives assembly.
G1F – Primary school, Barcelona. Discussion group with 3 male and 3 female relatives of
pupils.
G2A – Primary school, Reus. Discussion group with 3 girls and 3 boys aged 9 to 11, in Grades
4 through 6.
G1A – Primary school, Barcelona. Discussion group with 3 girls and 3 boys aged 10 to 11, in
Grades 5 and 6.
FRMA3 – Primary school, Albacete. Communicative daily-life story told to a female relative.
FRMT5 – Primary school, Terrassa. Communicative daily-life story told to a female relative.
CEHA1 – Primary school, Albacete. Interview with a male expert on conflict resolution.
PEMA5 – Primary school, Albacete. Interview with a female teacher.
PEMT4 – Primary school, Terrassa. Interview with a female teacher.