Three Key Insights From Adolescent Students On Improving PJL’s Program

Adolescent students in rural Madagascar know what they need to prevent violence in their lives.

There is still limited evidence on how comprehensive sexuality education programs like Projet Jeune Leader can prevent violence - especially in contexts like rural Madagascar.

As our program continues to expand, we wanted to better understand how to prevent and respond to violence in middle schools across the country. So we asked the people who know the issue best: middle school students themselves.

In partnership with the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, and with support from the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), we used human-centered design activities with young adolescents in Madagascar to learn how we can better prevent violence.

Here’s what they shared—and how we responded.

Having relatable role models as PJL Educators is important for students, but so are the safe and empowering classrooms they create.

Students repeatedly shared that they were able to avoid violence thanks to their genuine, relatable, and knowledgeable PJL Educators, whom they saw as “zoky” — a respected older brother or sister in Malagasy culture. 

"PJL Educators are approachable and humble; when they communicate well, we also learn to communicate better."

Students also recognized that PJL Educators are only effective when they create a classroom environment built on trust, open dialogue, and mutual support. 

“If a PJL Educator doesn’t communicate well with the children, then important things might not be understood properly. The children might also not connect much with that PJL Educator because the PJL Educator doesn’t interact well with them.”

Students’ feedback was clear: PJL Educators need stronger skills in classroom management and positive discipline, especially as they balance being teachers and “cool” older siblings. 

“If the PJL Educator is too easy-going, students tend to misbehave, and the lesson becomes unclear."

How we used students’ insights to improve: 

With our Safeguarding Focal Point – a Malagasy psychologist – we built out new pre-service training content on positive discipline and trauma-informed classroom management.

We also created in-service training modules on adolescent psychology – further supporting Educators on the basics of building trusting relationships with adolescents, as well as resolving conflicts and mediating effectively.

Finally, we reviewed and refined our curriculum for students to further support Educators in creating positive, safe spaces.

This included:

• adding introductory content on co-creating positive classroom rules and routines with students;

• embedding mindfulness activities throughout lessons;

• incorporating predictable routines including a review and introduction module to each lesson;

• adding clear reminders and prompts for Educators in sessions that were more likely to be triggering to students;

• editing language to promote more student choice and control;

• building out survivor-centered and non-judgmental content;

• removing unnecessarily graphic or triggering content;

• and bolstering reminders for continued and outside resources and support.

  
  

PJL Educators need additional training and support for their roles as mentors and counselors.

Students repeatedly described PJL Educators as important guidance counselors in their lives, and even as critical first-line responders who help them deal with violence. 

“If there is something scary or worrying me, I can approach the PJL Educator... They can help me if someone tries to harm me.”

Although this is not surprising given the lack of services, resources, and community support for violence response in rural Madagascar, it highlights how PJL Educators are vulnerable to vicarious trauma as they take on students’ problems where no one else can or will. 

How we used students’ insights to improve: 

First, our Safeguarding Focal Point and Malagasy psychologist created new trauma-informed educational content for PJL Educators.

This included pre-service training modules on understanding trauma, vicarious trauma and self-care, as well as providing psychological first aid. We also revamped our pre-service training content for counseling to be trauma-informed.

We next integrated new in-service educational content for PJL Educators on setting boundaries and mitigating "superhero syndrome", strengthening stress management and resilience, and reinforcing self-care. We also created a “self-care booklet” in the Malagasy language for Educators to use in their work and daily lives.

Finally, we continued reinforcing our Safeguarding and Protection Policy and Practices – ensuring Educators know that they, too, have a right to a safe, violent-free work environment, and that they can access psychosocial support whenever they need it.

We can and should engage students’ parents and guardians.

Many students highlighted that their classroom PJL lessons about seeking support from parents and guardians is not always relevant to their lives.

“There are parents who don’t know how to maintain assertive communication — they always scold you... The child wants to apply what they learned in PJL, but… the parents won’t listen.”

Students suggested that PJL directly engage parents to improve supportive, non-violent relationships at home.

We then took it a step further, asking students to design strategies for their parents and guardians using human-centered design tools like Creative Matrix, Importance versus Difficulty Matrix, and Concept Posters.

How we used students’ insights to improve:

Directly building off of students’ ideas, we began adaptation of an evidence-based parenting program! (Stay tuned for more!)

Using human-centered design, students not only shared their experiences with PJL, but also helped shape real program improvements—from trauma-informed educator training to safer classrooms and new ways to engage parents.

By putting adolescents’ ideas at the center of these changes, we are more confident than ever that our program is effective, relevant, and responsive to the realities of Madagascar’s middle school students.

Research reported in this blog post was funded by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative, a global research initiative. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the SVRI.