“One of the liveliest discussions in Duo Penotti’s app group was the one about Zwarte Piet. It started off heated, but before long I saw some wonderful developments taking place.” Esther Ocheng of Corderius College in Amersfoort, a music teacher, counsellor and identity coordinator, is very proud of the working group and its app group. Students and teachers discuss important themes related to safety here.

Fight

What began as a fight has grown into the broadly supported Duo Penotti platform, which contributes to a safer school climate. “For several years, fights had been breaking out in a place where students had sometimes indicated that they did not feel entirely at ease. It was a narrow corridor where groups of boys with a non-Dutch background often stood,” Esther explains. “These were the students involved in the fight. Instead of saying, ‘Hey, you can’t do this,’ I asked, ‘May I spend the break with you?’ I wanted to know what motivated the boys.”

White privilege

“During the break, I started talking about discrimination. My thought was: if they feel safe, they will also be more likely to project a sense of safety. Did they ever feel discriminated against, and if so, how did they deal with it? I suggested watching a documentary, White Is Also a Color, about white privilege with a number of interested white students, and then discussing it together. This became a wonderful encounter between students who normally would never have had any contact with one another. Where there had primarily been prejudice before, understanding now emerged. People who had previously avoided each other in that corridor suddenly started saying hello to one another.”

Enriching

This encounter increased safety at school, and Esther therefore thought: let’s organise more gatherings like this. About other issues that students with a non-Dutch background encounter. There was Elif, for example, who wears a headscarf and shared that she sometimes feels watched in shops. “Someone even said to me once, ‘I’m keeping an eye on you, okay?!’ I was simply shopping with my mother. It was so painful!” Esther continues: “The conversations also addressed exclusion in general, such as not belonging because of your sexual orientation. When a Muslim person talks with a gay boy about coming out, it is beautiful to see. Everyone is allowed to be themselves and have their own views. It is not about being right, but about listening to one another.”

New start

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this spontaneously created project came to a standstill, but it resumed when the 2020–2021 school year began. Esther: “Students with safety-related concerns could always turn to their mentor or to the two counsellors at school, one of whom is me. But I thought it would be wonderful if there could be more—something driven primarily by students.” That is why she made a call in the newsletter. Twenty-four students and twelve teachers responded; by now, the group has grown to around 80 people.

Pilgrimage

“With the people who signed up at the outset, we organised a pilgrimage. We walked part of the Walk of Wisdom, slept in a monastery and took part in workshops. One result was a student arena, where students shared certain things and teachers did nothing but listen. One student said she found it hurtful when others touched her headscarf. Another admitted that she sometimes laughed at certain jokes even though she actually found them very painful.”

Duo Penotti

“The question then was: how can we put all these insights into practice at school? An app group was created where students can report problems they notice at school. These might include cyberbullying, for example. We then look at how we can address those problems.” Three different student teams have now emerged. One of the teams in this group teaches first-year students about safety. Another team focuses on Mental Health and teaches lessons on the subject. The school’s GSA, the Gender & Sexuality Alliance, is the third team to be part of Duo Penotti.

More presence

Esther: “It is wonderful that, as a counsellor, I can have a supporting role in this. It makes me more visible; students can find me more easily now and also understand my role better. It gives me more presence.” But what Esther enjoys most is the involvement of her students. “How wonderful is it that there is a group of enthusiastic students who want to do something for others? Three words stand above the main entrance of our school: engaged, responsible and safe. Those are exactly the values that the members of Duo Penotti demonstrate. They are Corderians after our own heart!”

About Esther

  • · Who: Esther Ocheng
  • · What: Music teacher, counsellor, test-anxiety reduction trainer, identity coordinator and initiator of Duo Penotti
  • · Where: Corderius College in Amersfoort
  • · Mission: “Creating connectedness between students and teachers and among students themselves: together, we make up the school.”

Esther’s tips

  • · Organise gatherings where students from different (cultural) backgrounds can meet one another.
  • · Organise a well-prepared student arena where students share things and teachers only listen.
  • · Look for funding opportunities to go away for a day or a weekend with a group, so you can continue talking in peace and quiet.