Interaction Competencies with Children – Entwicklung und Wirkmechanismen einer präventiven Intervention für Lehrkräfte im Kontext gesellschaftlich akzeptierter Gewalt
Abstract:Gewalt gegen Kinder ist ein globales Problem und hat massive negative individuelle und gesellschaftliche Folgen. In vielen Ländern ist Gewalt in der Erziehung gesellschaftlich akzeptiert und weit verbreitet. Gewalt gegen Kinder hat vielfältige gesellschaftliche und individuelle Ursachen sowie aufrechterhaltende Faktoren. Auch in Schulen sind Kinder andauernder Gewalt ausgesetzt, was für die Notwendigkeit präventiver schul-basierter Programme spricht. Die Zielgruppe präventiver Programme sollten vor allem die P… Show more
Violent discipline in schools infringes on children’s rights and is associated with harmful developmental consequences for students. This calls for effective intervention programs, particularly in countries with high prevalence of violent discipline in schools. This study tested the effectiveness of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children—for Teachers (ICC-T) in reducing violent discipline by teachers in a two-arm matched cluster-randomized controlled trial. The sample comprised teachers (n = 173, 53.7% female) and students (n = 914, 50.5% girls) from 12 public primary schools from six regions in Tanzania. Teacher physical and emotional violent discipline reported by teachers and students was assessed before and six to eight and a half months after the intervention. The schools were randomly allocated to either intervention (6; ICC-T) or control condition (6; no intervention). Teachers were not blinded. Students and research assistants conducting the follow-up assessment were blinded. A series of multivariate multilevel models revealed significant time*intervention effects on physical violent discipline reported by teachers and students and teachers’ favorable attitudes towards physical violent discipline, FDRs < .05. In addition, we found a spill-over effect on peer-to-peer violence and students’ externalizing, ps < .05. There were no significant time*intervention effects either on emotional violent discipline, FDRs > .05, teachers’ favorable attitudes towards emotional violent discipline or on student’s internalizing problems and academic performance, ps > .05. Our results provide further evidence that ICC-T may positively change teachers’ violent disciplining behavior and their attitudes towards violent discipline. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03893851.
Violent discipline in schools infringes on children’s rights and is associated with harmful developmental consequences for students. This calls for effective intervention programs, particularly in countries with high prevalence of violent discipline in schools. This study tested the effectiveness of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children—for Teachers (ICC-T) in reducing violent discipline by teachers in a two-arm matched cluster-randomized controlled trial. The sample comprised teachers (n = 173, 53.7% female) and students (n = 914, 50.5% girls) from 12 public primary schools from six regions in Tanzania. Teacher physical and emotional violent discipline reported by teachers and students was assessed before and six to eight and a half months after the intervention. The schools were randomly allocated to either intervention (6; ICC-T) or control condition (6; no intervention). Teachers were not blinded. Students and research assistants conducting the follow-up assessment were blinded. A series of multivariate multilevel models revealed significant time*intervention effects on physical violent discipline reported by teachers and students and teachers’ favorable attitudes towards physical violent discipline, FDRs < .05. In addition, we found a spill-over effect on peer-to-peer violence and students’ externalizing, ps < .05. There were no significant time*intervention effects either on emotional violent discipline, FDRs > .05, teachers’ favorable attitudes towards emotional violent discipline or on student’s internalizing problems and academic performance, ps > .05. Our results provide further evidence that ICC-T may positively change teachers’ violent disciplining behavior and their attitudes towards violent discipline. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03893851.
The links between different forms of teacher victimization and teachers’ life satisfaction are still under-researched. To highlight teacher victimization by various parties within the school environment and its associations with teachers’ life satisfaction, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Multidimensional Teacher Victimization Scale, and some additional measures were applied. The findings based on a Lithuanian sample (n = 1146) revealed that a significant portion of teachers have experienced victimization in various forms: 38.5% of teachers have been bullied by school staff, 33.9% have faced verbal victimization from students’ parents, and victimization by students affected 65.8% of teachers, with verbal and social victimization being the most common. An SEM analysis (χ2 = 355.787; Df = 33; CFI = 0.928; TLI = 0.902; NFI = 0.922; RMSEA = 0.092 [0.084–0.101]; SRMR = 0.0432) revealed that bullying by staff is not only detrimental in its own right but also relates positively to other forms of victimization, including verbal victimization by parents and multidimensional victimization by students, as teacher victimization by students and their parents mediated the relationship between teacher victimization by school staff and teacher life satisfaction. The findings suggest a complex problem within the school environment where different forms of victimization are interconnected and call for urgent attention and action from educational policymakers and school administrators to address and mitigate teacher victimization.
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