Open your eyes and embrace the unexpected

In conversation with Manuel Peitzker, Head of Musikschule Nienberge e. V.

You have developed a comprehensive safeguarding policy. Why was it important to you to establish such a policy at the Nienberge Music School?

When it comes to sexualised violence, many people instinctively think “This doesn’t happen here.” Confronting such a difficult issue is not easy. However, we know that music lessons, whether for the violin, trombone or the piano, usually take place in one-to-one settings, in which there may also be power imbalances between teachers and students.

What is much more important, however, is that students open up emotionally in these trust-based settings and send out signals if things that should not be happening to them are happening at their sports club, at home or elsewhere. It is important not to look away in these situations but to take action.

Regardless of the organisational framework, opportunity structures can easily arise when people make music together. By addressing them we don’t mean to imply that anyone intends to abuse them. What we believe is that it’s our responsibility to ensure that closeness and distance are handled appropriately during lessons so that any form of boundary violation can be prevented in the first place. Child safeguarding is extremely important to us. This involves not only training our teaching staff to be more sensitive to these issues but also helping children and young people to develop awareness of their own boundaries. The safeguarding policy gives our teaching staff the confidence to act appropriately in these situations.

Your project schedule for developing a safeguarding policy contains over 70 detailed steps. Does it really need to be that comprehensive?

If you take the process seriously and want everyone to get behind the safeguarding policy, then yes. Everyone needs to be on board: the executive committee, the teachers, the students and the parents. Everyone needs information about what this is all about from the very beginning. Terminology needs to be clarified. What exactly is sexualised violence? What constitutes a boundary violation? What is abuse? Participation was important to us from the outset. That’s why we established a project group with volunteer representatives from all stakeholder groups at the music school.

What findings and specific measures have emerged from this process?

We quickly realised that it was not as easy as we thought without external professional support. So we relied on specialist guidance to work out the best way forward. First, we carried out a risk assessment using an anonymous survey with separate questionnaires for younger students, their parents, older students and staff members. The results formed the basis of our risk assessment: in which areas are we already doing well, and where are our weaknesses? This was followed by a comprehensive action plan. Some interesting findings emerged, things we might otherwise only have found out about by chance. For example, some students are afraid of certain teaching locations during winter months because the way there is poorly lit.

Not everyone understood at first what the point of a safeguarding policy was. Some even felt placed under general suspicion. It is and always will be a sensitive issue, which is why it is all the more important to engage with all stakeholders and take both open and covert resistance seriously.

Manuel Peitzker, Musikschule Nienberge e. V.

The action plan addressed not only spatial issues such as these but also introduced a full-day basic training course for all 37 members of staff and specialist training courses for teachers working with pre-school children, who often have a greater need for physical closeness than older students. Our colleagues also developed a binding code of conduct for teaching staff through an extensive collaborative feedback process that included everyone. Our students did exactly the same. There is now clear guidance on how to handle suspected cases and on how to rehabilitate those who have been falsely accused. Finally, all these measures had to be communicated to everyone at the music school. We asked each teacher to personally hand out our safeguarding policy brochure to students and parents. This led to important informal conversations that raised awareness of the issue.

What obstacles did you face?

Not everyone understood at first what the point of a safeguarding policy was. Some even felt placed under general suspicion. It is and always will be a sensitive issue, which is why it is all the more important to engage with all stakeholders and take both open and covert resistance seriously. Again, specialist support proved invaluable. The training sessions used various participatory methods to create a highly interactive atmosphere.

At the same time, this process is never truly complete. We do not release anyone from responsibility and have made relevant training compulsory for every member of staff. We have also scheduled further training and workshops on the issue in future.

What effects have you noticed?

The issue is now very much on our minds, even if we don’t talk about it all the time. For example, in one-to-one lessons, teachers no longer simply touch students to correct their posture. They guide them with words instead. We’ve become more aware of situations where we should pay attention rather than look away and we’ve also gained more confidence in how to handle difficult situations.

That is what ultimately makes the effort worthwhile. It raises awareness of the important and sensitive issue of sexualised violence because the process of jointly developing a safeguarding policy brings so many additional benefits to our relationships by helping to ensure that everyone identifies with the code of conduct and stands behind the safeguarding policy.

Manuel Peitzker, Musikschule Nienberge e. V.

My colleagues also tell me that they see a different kind of mindful interaction with each other, for example, when dealing with conflicts. These are all positive side effects that we hadn’t anticipated. Our communication culture has improved overall.

What advice would you give to other cultural education organisations that are just getting started?

The amount of work involved in developing an appropriate safeguarding policy is considerable, both in terms of time and staffing. Design, planning, implementation, evaluation and the associated communication take a lot of effort. Even if the 70 steps in the plan sound like a lot, it’s worth drawing up a detailed project schedule because it provides better guidance during the process. Finding the right external professional advice is invaluable. But above all, I would recommend that every organisation adopts a participatory approach to the process. That is what ultimately makes the effort worthwhile. It raises awareness of the important and sensitive issue of sexualised violence because the process of jointly developing a safeguarding policy brings so many additional benefits to our relationships by helping to ensure that everyone identifies with the code of conduct and stands behind the safeguarding policy.

Interview und Text: Christina Budde; Translation (english): Alex Emerson