WITHDRAWN: The Impact of the Brazilian Prevention Program #Tamojunto on Classroom Climate and Teachers Self-Esteem

Introduction: The #Tamojunto is a Brazilian version of the EU-DAP Program Unplugged, adapted and disseminated by the Coordination on Mental Health, Alcohol and Drugs at the Ministry of Health (MoH) in partnership with UNODC and University College Ghent. In 2013, the translated Unplugged was pre-piloted in 3 Brazilian municipalities at 8 schools (benefitting 2.161pupils). The immediate effects of the program on teachers´ self-esteem and on the classroom climate were communicated by teachers in biweekly meetings to the MoH multipliers who registered these data in the field diaries. In 2014, the MoH piloted the Brazilian adapted version (#Tamojunto) in 130 schools in 12 municipalities, reaching 13.589 adolescents. In 2015, the MoH in partnership with the Ministry of Justice disseminated #Tamojunto in 22 municipalities, for more than 20.300 adolescents. The expansion required changes in monitoring process and development of the adequate monitoring instruments. Besides the assessment of fidelity and quality of implementation, the instruments verified the teachers´ perception of the changes in their self-esteem and classroom climate.

Methods: In 2014, the MoH #Tamojunto multipliers accompanied the teachers on a monthly basis (3-4 times during program implementation), collecting the monitoring data through forms filled in by teachers during the meeting. The instruments were developed by the MoH and tested in the 1^st semester of 2014. In the 2^nd semester, the reviewed version of the forms was filled in by teachers that started implementation in both 1^st and in 2^nd semester. The multipliers realized up to 4 monitoring meetings and digitated the forms in the MoH platform, totalizing 267 teachers´ records. In 2015, the forms were reviewed and by the end of October, 124 forms were recorded in the system.

Results: Data from 2014 indicate that a) some pupils were more receptive to socializing with teachers than before #Tamojunto application (82% of the teachers´ forms); b) teachers observed that pupils interacted more among each other, beyond the #Tamojunto classes (67%) and c) #Tamojunto improved teachers´ self-esteem as educators frequently (44%) and always (53%). The partial data from 2015 confirm these results.  

Conclusions: The program #Tamojunto produces immediate effects on the social environment in the class (relations among students and between teacher and students) contributing to improvement of relational well-being. Furthermore, it affects the subjective well-being of teachers regarding their self-perception and professional realization. These effects are of particular importance in the context of the Brazilian public schools, characterized by poor material conditions, low salaries, high overload and turnout of teachers and high rates of school evasion.