Classroom ethnic diversity, teacher support and peer victimization: Evidence from four European countries

Abstract

We investigated how classroom ethnic diversity is associated with peer victimization, effects of ethnic minority/majority status, and if individual teacher support can buffer potentially negative effects of ethnic diversity. Using two theoretical perspectives (balance of power, ethnic competition), we hypothesized that 1) peer victimization is more prevalent at intermediate ethnic diversity and less prevalent at lower and higher ethnic diversity, 2) this curvilinear link is stronger for ethnic majority than minority students, and 3) peer victimization at intermediate levels of ethnic diversity is lower when individual teacher support is high. We conducted multilevel analyses based on the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU). The sample included 18.716 students, nested in 958 classrooms. We found no support for our hypotheses and no overall effect of ethnic diversity on peer victimization. Instead, we observed a complex three-way interaction between diversity, ethnic minority/majority status and teacher support. Peer victimization was highest for ethnic minority students in classrooms with low diversity and for ethnic majority students in classrooms with intermediate diversity and when teacher support was low. We discuss our findings in light the theoretical approaches and underscore the role of teachers as a protective resource.

Registered Reports with secondary developmental data: Introduction to the special issue

“…Examining parenting from a different perspective, Wright and Jackson (2024) drew from the German Socioeconomic Panel study to test the independent predictive power of parent and child personality traits on a variety of adolescent outcomes (e.g., health, education, family and civic engagement). Several studies focused on the schooling context: Spiegler et al (2024) used the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries to examine how peer victimisation was related to classroom ethnic diversity and teacher interactions; Kim and Sidney (2024) used the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study to examine sources of influences for individual differences in students' academic self‐concept; and Zimmermann et al (2024) used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten class of 2011 to understand how pre‐Kindergarten enrollment was related to indicators of social development across the transition into and out of Kindergarten. Finally, two studies examined physiological aspects of development: Chaku and Barry (2024) used the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study to understand how hormonal profiles were associated with cognitive development, and Woods et al (2024) drew from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study to test whether indicators of sleep were longitudinally associated with cognitive and behavioural development.…”