Reducing violent discipline by teachers using Interaction Competencies with Children for Teachers (ICC-T): Study protocol for a matched cluster randomized controlled trial in Tanzanian public primary schools

Abstract

Background Despite the existing national and international plans of action to end violent discipline strategies used by teachers in schools, it still prevails in Tanzanian schools. This underlines the need to implement school-based interventions that aim at reducing violent discipline by teachers. In this study, we will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children for Teachers in Tanzanian primary schools. Following its success in secondary schools, we hypothesize that the intervention will reduce teachers’ positive attitudes towards and their use of violent discipline at school. Methods The study will be conducted in six randomly selected regions in Tanzania. We have already randomly selected two schools in each region (12 in total) that fulfill our inclusion criteria. From each region, one school will be randomly assigned to the intervention and the other to the monitoring group (no intervention). Eighty students between the ages of nine to twelve years (N = 960) and 20 teachers from each school (N = 240) will be included in the trial. We will collect data directly before the intervention (t1) and six months after the intervention (t2) both at intervention and monitoring schools. Using guided questionnaire assessments, we will measure violence by teachers using students’ reports on their exposure to and teachers’ reports on their use of violence using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Furthermore, we will assess teachers’ positive attitudes towards violent discipline using a modified version of the Conflict Tactic Scale. The feasibility of the intervention will be evaluated using purpose-built measures assessing the demand, applicability, acceptability and integration of core elements into the daily work in the participating schools. Discussion The proposed study will allow us to test the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention aiming to reduce positive attitudes towards and the use of violent discipline by teachers in school settings. With the reduction of violent discipline by teachers, this study contributes to national and international efforts towards ending violence against children as well as the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that also aim for preventing children from all types of maltreatment.

Factors Contributing to Violent Discipline in the Classroom: Findings From a Representative Sample of Primary School Teachers in Tanzania

“…The largest city of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, was intentionally included. It was added because of its unique population composition and significant contribution to the total number of primary schools in Tanzania (Masath et al, 2020). From each region, two districts were selected at random.…”

Interaction Competencies with Children – Entwicklung und Wirkmechanismen einer präventiven Intervention für Lehrkräfte im Kontext gesellschaftlich akzeptierter Gewalt

“…der Zusammenhalt, Zusammenarbeit und Kollegialität gefördert, was sich positiv auf die Beziehung zwischen Lehrer/innen auswirken kann. Eine bessere Atmosphäre kann Stress reduzieren und sich somit präventiv auf Gewalt auswirken [Masath et al, 2020]. Zum anderen gehen wir davon aus, dass ein aufrechterhaltender Faktor von Gewalt die Normen und Erwartungshaltung einer Gesellschaft sind [Straus, 2010].…”

“…Ein Großteil der Lehrkräfte berichtet von einer Verbesserung in der Beziehung zu Schülern/innen und des Verhaltens von Schülern/innen [Kaltenbach et al, 2018]. In Cluster-randomisierten kontrollierten Studien in Tansania in acht Sekundarschulen mit insgesamt 158 Lehren/innen und 486 Schülern/innen und zwölf Grundschulen mit 173 Lehrern/innen und 914 Schülern/innen nahm die Gewalt gegen Kinder nach dem Selbstbericht von Lehrer/innen und Schüler/innen in der Interventionsgruppe signifikant ab [Nkuba et al, 2018;Masath et al, 2020]. Des Weiteren änderten sich die Einstellungen der Lehrer/innen zu Gewalt.…”

“…Außerdem nahm in den Grundschulen die Gewalt zwischen den Schülern/innen signifikant ab. Das spricht für einen Spill-Over-Effekt der Trainingsinhalte und unterstreicht die Funktion der Lehrer/innen als Rollenbilder für Schüler/innen [Masath et al, 2020]. Ähnliche Ergebnisse konnten in einer Cluster-randomisierten kontrollierten Studie in Uganda gezeigt werden: 548 Schüler/innen und 343 Lehrkräfte der Interventionsgruppe in zehn Schulen berichteten bei Follow-up von signifikant weniger emotionaler und physischer Gewalt [Ssenyonga et al, 2022].…”