Although it is widely recognized that bullying in schools has long term negative consequences, many schools respond to incidents as they arise rather than taking a systematic approach. When this is the case, physical bullying may be addressed but indirect bullying may flourish. This article examines best practice examples of student welfare policies which address bullying and harassment through strategies to promote a positive school ethos. This article stresses the importance of teacher modelling of respectful relationships and promotion of effective conflict resolution procedures throughout the school community.
This article discusses a case study from an ongoing research project focusing on the effect of school ethos upon levels of bullying behaviour. Whereas it may be said that all schools have an ethos, in the case of this study the term refers to a particular educational philosophy which underpins the teaching of academic subjects. This article dis cusses the Steiner or Waldorf education system as an example of a system with a strong ethos. It looks at three classes of 30 pupils in one school in the South of England, and finds a very low level of bullying despite the fact that many pupils came to the school because they had been victimized elsewhere. In this study, it is suggested that bullying is a situational problem rather than one due to the fact that some young people are so-called 'natural' victims.
During 1994, the New South Wales Department of School Education, in collaboration with the Community Justice Centres, developed a dispute resolution project for students in secondary schools. The project was piloted in 15 schools selected on the basis that a teacher was willing to be trained as a community mediator. The establishment phase of the project was evaluated in 1995 by David Walsh whose findings were positive although the five-month time frame did not allow adequate time for definitive impact outcomes. A qualitative evaluation of the implementation stage was carried out in September 1996 followed by quantitative analysis at the beginning of 1997. This article discusses the results of the entire evaluation and the issues arising which have relevance for those setting up such programmes.
It is very difficult to know how to help children with moderate learning difficulties. Current educational thinking in Britain, as set out in the 1988 Education Reform Act, promotes inclusiveness. All children are seen as being entitled to have their intellectual, physical, emotional and behavioural needs met in schools. Wherever possible this should be in the mainstream classroom but in the case outlined below, of a boy called Jerome who understands very little of his lessons, most educationalists would favour special provision in a class which caters for his needs.It is very difficult to decide exactly which children need special classes. It can be argued that we disadvantage children when we emphasize the academic, rather than the social, aspect of education. This is confirmed by Wang and Birch's 1984 finding that the likelihood of children with learning difficulties developing poor self esteem is lessened when they are placed in mainstream classes with support. This support needs to be social as much as educational since Besag (1989) has shown that such children are greatly at risk of bullying. By following Jerome's progress from 9 to 18 years one can see that his best interests were served by keeping him with normal children in a school with a commitment to preventing bullying and dealing with it if it does occur.Jerome is the only son and elder child of a rather academic family. As a result of birth complications he has a n IQ of 50, poor eyesight and is rather uncoordinated. His parents have largely denied that there is a problem and have insisted that he spend his school life in the mainstream. To ensure this they kept him in private fee paying schools. His first school was very concerned with maintaining its reputation for high academic standards so it insisted that he leave when he was 9 years old because he was so far behind the rest of the class. He could read some simple words and add on his fingers but he could not read and understand the simplest sentence as he did not seem to have the concept of reading for meaning. Even in a picture book he did not seem to grasp the relationship between the words and the pictures, though he came from a home overflowing with books.Jerome's second school was accustomed to taking a few children with special needs. The head teacher said that the reason he accepted Jerome was because of his self confidence and his social skills even though his reading and writing were very poor and he drew like a preschool child. Jerome fitted into this school very well. The other children accepted him because in the playground he was their equal in many ways although he could not catch a ball or run very fast. He threw himself into the games and devised interesting variations which he could demonstrate if not explain. He was kind and he was always good humoured. Research shows that children give great importance to behavioural competence when rating their peers (Erikson 1963, Harter 1983.In the classroom Jerome made very little progress over the next 5 years. He learnt to add up long...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.