Targeted to Intermediate English (B1+) speakers.Read more
This is the standard requirement for most courses. Participants at this level can participate actively in discussions and manage everyday and professional situations. If they are unsure about their English level, they can test it here or explore our courses facilitated in Basic English.
Cross-Curricular.Read more
The listed audiences are those for whom the course is especially recommended, but courses are not exclusive to them and are open to everyone. In fact, most of our workshops are built around the collective sharing of participants’ experiences and having a variety of profiles enriches the learning process and is highly encouraged!
Description
Teachers are often the first to sense that something is off with a student.
A small drop in grades, increased silence, or sudden restlessness can reveal deeper struggles beneath the surface.
Therefore, the most powerful question teachers should ask are: “Can I recognize these early warning signs?” and “Do I know how to respond?”.
The earlier these signs are understood, the more effective the intervention can be.
As being “at risk” does not mean a student is destined to fail or to drop out. It means that without timely support, certain conditions (personal, social, or academic) may increase the likelihood of negative outcomes, whether they mean changes in their behavior (e.g., social withdrawal, or disruptive behavior, etc.) or performance (e.g., absenteeism, declining grades, motivation problems, etc.).
Reinforcing protective factors (such as resilience, caring relationships, positive experiences, a growth mindset, and access to help) can make a decisive difference.
This course aims to offer educators, school staff, and youth professionals the knowledge and tools to recognize early warning signs and design interventions.
During the course, participants will understand how to use tailor-made tools according to their students’ needs to foster resilience, healthy boundaries against peer pressure, and positive development.
Also, they will learn to use mapping tools to identify risks and resources in their students’ environment, practicing how to design a tailored “youth risk map” based on their own observations, and how to create practical and sustainable intervention strategies that can be integrated effectively into the daily life of their schools or youth organizations.
By the end of the course, participants will be better equipped to identify early warning signs in students, analyze both risks and protective factors, plan effectively targeted interventions to strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability, and build supportive school environments where students can succeed.
What is included
Learning outcomes
The course will help participants to:
- Identify the early warning signs of at-risk behavior in students and respond in a timely and constructive way;
- Differentiate between risk and protective factors;
- Recognize risk factors not as fixed barriers, but as opportunities to introduce protective support;
- Shift from discipline-only approaches to positive interventions that strengthen self-regulation, empathy, and problem-solving skills;
- Adopt a systemic perspective, moving from viewing risk as an individual problem to understanding how the environments (school, peers, family, community) can contribute to resilience;
- Design and adapt school-based interventions tailored to learners’ diverse needs and contexts, using practical mapping tools.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Introduction to the course
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools.
Awareness and early identification
- Introduction to at-risk behaviors in youth;
- Common academic, behavioral, and emotional warning signs;
- Differentiating between temporary struggles and chronic concerns;
- Case studies: spotting early warning signs in real classroom scenarios.
Day 2 – Risk and protective factors
- Definitions and distinctions: risk factors vs protective factors;
- Types of risk factors: individual, family, school, community;
- Protective factors: resilience, strong relationships, supportive environments;
- Interactive mapping: how risk and protective factors interact;
- Workshop: develop your own “Interactive mapping”.
Day 3 -Strengthening protective skills and environments
- Core protective factors skills (individual focus);
- Self-regulation, problem-solving, empathy, and communication;Strategies to teach resilience and coping skills;
- Growth mindset and self-efficacy: fostering student confidence.
- Supportive environments (contextual focus);
- Role of school climate and teacher-student relationship;Creating safe spaces and peer support systems;
- Building engagement and collaboration.
- Integration activity: linking individual and environmental factors.
Day 4 – Design school-based interventions
- Principles of effective intervention design;
- Steps: needs assessment, goal setting, strategy design, motivation, and evaluation;
- Workshop: designing a tailored-made intervention for your school based on the intervention mapping technique.
Day 5 – From prevention to action plan
- Presenting designed interventions and receiving peer feedback;
- Using feedback constructively: growth mindset in practice;
- Consolidating key learning and preparing personal action plans;
- Final reflections and course wrap-up.
Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competences, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.
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