What was the goal?
The goal of the project was to identify practical prevention and intervention techniques that can be applied in the classroom to de-escalate problematic situations and modify undesirable student behaviors. The project was prompted by challenges at the Gymnasium of Eleoussa, where approximately 240 students from various peripheral municipal districts and diverse educational, social, and economic backgrounds attend. The main concern was that during the current school year, the majority of first-year students displayed immaturity and significant difficulty adapting to the school environment, manifested through a constant playful disposition, disobedience, inability to follow rules, difficulty concentrating, lack of cooperation, and indifference toward learning. These behavioral issues were further compounded by learning difficulties in reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics carried over from primary school.
How did the project proceed?
The project was carried out through bibliographic research, drawing on books, scientific papers, and articles, primarily from psychologists as sources.
What were the results?
The project found that immature behavior is a common phenomenon in school classrooms that has intensified due to early exposure to the internet and social media, as well as the Covid-19 quarantine period. The age of current first-year Gymnasium students during the pandemic was a critical time for their social, cognitive, linguistic, and emotional development, and the isolation combined with frequently dysfunctional distance education due to technical problems resulted in developmental delays. To address the problem of immature behavior, the project proposed six key strategies: creating a supportive and collaborative school environment, promoting positive social behaviors, incorporating appropriate rules and boundaries within the classroom, motivating students in their lessons, strengthening communication between the school and the family, and incorporating methods applied in other countries. The project concluded that while immaturity has become a frequent phenomenon negatively affecting the educational process in recent years, it can be effectively addressed with appropriate approaches and strategies by teachers.