Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago and UNICEF Chile have introduced the Methodological Manual: Dialogues for Learning and Transformation. This tool is designed to prevent and address school violence by involving students, teachers, school leaders, families, and educational communities across Latin America and the Caribbean. The manual draws on a 2025 pilot experience with 11 educational institutions in Chile's Valparaíso Region and is structured for broader regional application.
The initiative was led by the Local Public Education Service of Valparaíso with support from UNESCO, UNICEF, and the Research Centre for Inclusive Education at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, alongside the World Congress on School Coexistence organized by the International Observatory for School Climate and Violence Prevention. Participating communities engaged in intergenerational dialogues to identify forms of violence in their schools, analyze protective factors and vulnerabilities, and create tailored proposals to improve coexistence and well-being.
The manual encourages a shift from general diagnostics to participatory processes, enabling each educational community to recognize specific forms of violence, assess their impacts, and develop collective responses. It prioritizes the voices of children and adolescents to design sustainable solutions connected to institutional management. The process includes three stages: an intergenerational diagnostic workshop, a collaborative workshop to design actions, and a public session to present proposals and commitments.
The manual addresses five areas of violence: violence by teachers or other adults in schools, peer violence, digital environment violence, family environment violence, and community violence affecting educational communities. It also provides ethical and safeguarding guidelines to ensure safe participation of children and adolescents, including informed consent and assent, protocols for rights violation responses, appointment of safeguarding focal points, confidentiality measures, and guidance to prevent revictimization.