In this day and age, crises are a fact of everyday life, particularly in the working environment. School units are no exception to the rule, where crises are a common phenomenon. For example, a school’s building infrastructure may cause accidents for teaching staff and/or students on the premises in the wake of gale-force winds, fire, earthquake or storm. Furthermore, in the school yard, accidents or injuries can happen due to the poor condition of the school yard, the morphology of the ground or a fight between students. Any of these situations can bring about a crisis. In the case of a school unit, a given crisis may provoke feelings of frustration or even psychological distress among children (of any age) that in turn may negatively influence their learning ability. This chapter:
Analyses the terms “crisis”, “danger” and “accident” and examines what constitutes a healthy and secure working environment for a school
Investigates the roots of violence at school and suggests ways of confronting it
Presents a general framework for a healthy and secure environment for both students and teaching staff and refers to the reasons why it is absolutely necessary for schools to be ready to manage a crisis
Develops an action plan for the coordination of resources when a crisis occurs in a school environment
Finally, it presents case studies from real school scenarios
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