Life Skills Education and Democratic Classroom Practices: Teachers’ Experiences of Implementing the Life Skills Training Programme in Primary Schools

This contribution presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted during the implementation of the Life Skills Training Programme (LSTP) in primary education with the local Health Protection Agency. The study explores how the programme is translated into everyday school practices and examines the meanings, perceived changes, and challenges emerging from the experiences of teachers and teacher-trainers involved in its implementation. LSTP is a preventive programme in the socio-health field aimed at reducing substance use and preventing violent behaviours by addressing the social and psychological factors associated with risk behaviours (Botvin et al., 1995; 2003). It focuses on three core components: personal self-regulation, social skills development, and resistance to substance use, integrating health education with the promotion of positive attitudes and responsible decision-making (Botvin et al., 2015). In school contexts, these dimensions foster relational competences, reflective dialogue, and participatory classroom practices that enable pupils to experience cooperation, responsibility, and shared decision-making, thus supporting the development of democratic competences. From this perspective, the programme can also be interpreted as a pedagogical device that contributes to constructing classrooms as spaces for democracy (Dewey, 1916). The study is situated within an ecological perspective (Mortari, 2007) and adopts a fourth-generation evaluation approach (Lincoln & Guba, 1989), inspired by the principles of participatory evaluation (Bezzi, 2010). The research develops along three main dimensions: analysing perceived effectiveness and critical issues among teachers and teacher-trainers; identifying changes observed in both students and teachers; and defining guiding principles to improve and consolidate the programme and its training processes. Four focus groups were conducted remotely with teachers (N = 39), and three with teacher-trainers (N = 22). All sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed through qualitative content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004), supported by a coding system inspired by Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2016; Tarozzi, 2008). Codes were grouped into categories representing shared units of meaning through intersubjective verification among researchers. A descriptive analysis was also conducted on teachers’ pedagogical documentation. Findings indicate that teachers perceive LSTP as strengthening students’ personal and social competences and fostering dialogic, participatory classroom practices that promote cooperation, responsibility, and shared decision-making, while also supporting students’ well-being and enhancing classroom cohesion. Active methodologies and structured activities foster teachers’ professional development by encouraging reflective and collaborative practice, especially when the programme is integrated into the curriculum and implemented continuously. However, challenges emerge, including the perceived rigidity of some components, difficulties in engaging families, and the need to update content to address evolving educational contexts. Teacher-trainers emphasise training as a space for dialogue among professionals across local contexts, while also highlighting the complexity of their dual role as teachers and trainers, challenges in collaboration with healthcare professionals, and difficulties in ensuring continuity across school levels, particularly in lower secondary education. The analysis of the pedagogical documentation produced by teachers also reveals different ways of integrating the programme into teaching practice. Finally, the University plays a strategic role between the education and health sectors and between initial and in-service teacher education, providing tools and training to support reflective and participatory practices.