School and community factors involved in Chilean students’ perception of school safety

Identifying and understanding predictors of school safety perceptions is important due to its consequences for students. However, it is not clear what school‐related factors most contribute to explaining students’ perception of school safety, and how they relate to community‐related factors such as neighborhood safety. The purpose of this study was to understand the factors associated with Chilean elementary and middle school students’ perceptions of school safety. We used a sample of 5,455 students from low socioeconomic status public schools, and analyzed the predictive value of peer physical and verbal victimization; teacher and school staff victimization; teacher's social support; and perception of safety in the students’ neighborhoods on perceptions of school safety. Findings showed that although different forms of school violence, particularly peer physical victimization and physical and sexual victimization from teachers and school staff, contribute to students’ perception of school safety, the highest contribution came from students perceiving their neighborhoods as unsafe. In contrast, teacher social support contributed to increased levels of perceived school safety. We discuss the need for school‐based interventions that address physical victimization and engage teachers in prosocial and less punitive approaches to foster a positive and safe school climate, and in fostering school–community partnerships.     

Predicting intraindividual changes in teacher burnout: The role of perceived school environment and motivational factors

Based on self-determination theory, this study proposes and tests a motivational model of intraindividual changes in teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment). Participants were 806 French-Canadian teachers in public elementary and high schools. Results show that changes in teachers’ perceptions of classroom overload and students’ disruptive behavior are negatively related to changes in autonomous motivation, which in turn negatively predict changes in emotional exhaustion. Results also indicate that changes in teachers’ perceptions of students’ disruptive behaviors and school principal’s leadership behaviors are related to changes in self-efficacy, which in turn negatively predict changes in three burnout components.     

Burnout and teacher self-efficacy among teachers working in special education institutions in Turkey

The aim of this paper was to investigate the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and burnout among special education school teachers in Turkey. One hundred and eighteen teachers completed the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Teachers belonged to the psychological counselling and guidance programme, primary education, special education programme, programme in education of students with mental impairment, programme in education of students with hearing impairment, programme in education of students with visual impairment, music education and art education. Findings showed that there were significant relationships between teacher self-efficacy and burnout. Also, significant differences were found between genders and branches in terms of burnout and teacher self-efficacy. Indices of structural equation modelling indicated that domains of burnout were strongly predicted by self-efficacy. Findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy beliefs in special education staff’s level of emotional involvement, sense of accomplishment and engagement.     

Linked to innovation: Shaping an innovative climate through network intentionality and educators’ social network position

This study investigates whether educators’ cognitive and structural social capital is associated with perceptions of innovative climate in charter schools. We explore a new concept to assess educators’ cognitive social capital, namely network intentionality, meaning the extent to which an educator is intentional in connecting and interacting with others. We hypothesize that network intentionality (cognitive social capital) is related to the extent to which educators perceive their school’s climate to be innovative, but that this relationship is dependent on the educator’s position in their school’s social network (structural social capital). Findings suggest that the relationship between cognitive social capital and perceptions of innovative climate is partly mediated by structural social capital. In other words, those educators with high network intentionality, as evidenced by an orientation towards connecting others, also perceive the school’s climate as being more innovative, partly because this strong network intentionality is associated with more out-going relational activity. This work provides unique insights into the factors that may be associated with teacher collaboration in successful charter schools serving traditionally underserved populations, and suggests ideas for schools wishing to support teacher collaboration and innovation.     

Teacher self-efficacy and self-reported cognitive activation and classroom management: A multilevel perspective on the role of school characteristics

In the present study, we consider teachers' self-efficacy as indicator for teacher motivation on the teacher level and at the school-level. We examine the interplay of teachers' individual self-efficacy (subscales classroom management and instruction) with school-level efficacy and more-external school characteristics (collaboration, instructional leadership, and participation) when predicting teachers' self-reported cognitive activation and classroom management. Austrian TALIS 2018 data from 4255 teachers at 246 schools were analyzed. Multilevel analyses revealed relationships between teachers' self-efficacy and self-reported cognitive activation and classroom management both, at the teacher and school levels. For self-reported cognitive activation, no significant context effect or cross-level interaction was found. Classroom management differed depending on whether a teacher was situated in a low- or a high-efficacy school (context effect). Also, teacher collaboration moderated the association of teachers’ self-efficacy and their self-reported classroom management (cross-level interaction). The findings indicate the importance of addressing the school context when investigating teacher self-efficacy.     

Do students notice stress in teachers? Associations between classroom teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence

The goal of the present study was to investigate the link between elementary school teacher burnout and students' perceptions of teacher social–emotional competence (SEC). A total of 676 Grades 4–7 students in 35 classrooms rated their classroom teachers' SEC. In addition, teachers self-reported their current level of experienced burnout at work (i.e., depersonalization and emotional exhaustion). Multilevel analyses revealed significant classroom-level variability (i.e., 34%) in student-ratings of teacher SEC. Teacher burnout significantly predicted student-rated teacher SEC, over and above significant student-level variables (school self-concept, sense of autonomy in the classroom) and contextual variables (teacher age, school neighborhood income). Specifically, higher levels of teacher burnout were related to receiving lower SEC ratings by students. Teacher burnout explained a significant portion of the classroom-level variability in student-rated teacher SEC. The present study emphasizes the link between teacher burnout and the SEC. Furthermore, given that teacher reports (burnout) were linked to student reports (teacher SEC), these findings also suggest that students notice stress in their classroom teacher.     

Stress Among Teachers: Exploring the Role of Cultural Diversity in Schools

We investigated the effects of stereotypical expectations regarding cultural diversity on teachers’ feelings of burnout, stress, and self-efficacy beliefs. With an experimental design, we confronted teachers with fictitious schools that were either high or low in cultural diversity and assessed the teachers’ feelings of burnout and self-efficacy beliefs (Study 1) and their stress with respect to culturally responsive teaching and locus of control (Study 2). Teachers who were confronted with a highly culturally diverse school showed higher feelings of burnout and stress and lower self-efficacy than teachers presented with a school low in cultural diversity. School composition affected teachers from primary and secondary schools differently. The consequences of holding stereotypical beliefs about highly culturally diverse schools are discussed.     

Teacher educators’ approaches to teaching and the nexus with self-efficacy and burnout: examples from two teachers’ universities in China

Teacher educators’ approaches to teaching, and their experience of burnout and self-efficacy beliefs, are related to how they are able to facilitate student teachers’ learning. In this study, 115 Chinese teacher educators responded to a questionnaire in 2015. Based on the previous study investigating the teacher educators’ approaches to teaching, the present study explored how these approaches were related to their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching and burnout. Burnout was measured through inadequacy in teacher-student interaction and exhaustion subscales. The analyses revealed that a student-focused approach to teaching among teacher educators was positively related to their self-efficacy beliefs in teaching. Both student- and teacher-focused approaches to teaching were positively related to the educators’ experience of inadequacy in teacher-student interaction. However, the study revealed no relationship between teacher educators’ approaches to teaching and the experience of exhaustion. To prevent feelings of inadequate interaction with their students, pedagogical training should provide these teacher educators with efficient guidance on how to interact with student teachers. The present study provides new insights in the teacher educators’ adoption of the student- and teacher-focused approaches to teaching.     

教师职业倦怠的有效管理对策探析

教育的质量取决于教师的素质。目前,教师职业倦怠正如一只蛀虫慢慢蚕食教师的积极主动性,使教师的内在潜能难以发挥,严重影响了我国教育质量的提高。学校管理目标的核心是促进教师的发展。为了积极应对教师职业倦怠问题,学校管理者要从树立"以人为本"的管理思想、增强教师主人翁意识、构建多元化评价机制和搭建专业发展平台等多方面入手,努力探索学校和教师共同发展的最佳途径。     

高中阶段教师职业枯竭的多层研究

通过对29所高中阶段学校763名教师的问卷调查,探讨了教师个体水平变量和集体水平变量对教师职业枯竭的预测作用.多层分析结果表明:(1)教师教学效能、应对效能和工作压力分别对职业枯竭具有显著预测作用,且存在学校间差异;(2)学校水平的集体效能变量能显著正向预期工作压力与情绪衰竭、工作压力与非人性化、应对效能和知识枯竭以及应对效能与个人成就感之间的关系.     

The psy-disciplines go to school: psychiatric,psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches to inclusion in one UK primary school

A growing body of research, largely from the global North, and particularly from North America, highlights the increasing psychiatrisation, medicalisation and psychologisation of children and childhood, and suggests that schools and educators play a key role in these processes. This increasing diffusion of psy-expertise within educational spaces signifies a cultural shift that has profound effects on teacher and student subjectivity, and on institutional and professional practices. Educators in many countries are said to be on the ‘front-line’ in identifying mental health issues, recommending treatment pathways, and sometimes helping to administer psychopharmaceuticals. The alacrity with which educators engage in these practices varies internationally, with reported occurrence being much higher in the United States and Canada, compared to the United Kingdom, where there is a lack of research. Drawing upon a case study in a UK primary school, this paper makes an original and timely contribution to research into UK teacher’s perceptions of inclusion in relation to social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and, in particular, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, as they navigate the interface of psychology and education. Contrary to some previous research, the educators in this study viewed the distribution of psychopharmaceuticals negatively, and showed a preference for psychotherapeutic approaches to inclusion. This research provides much needed empirical findings to a growing but largely theoretically informed body of research exploring whether, and if so then how, educators are implicated in the mobilisation of psy-expertise within children’s lives.     

Teacher collaboration in the context of the Responsive Classroom approach

This mixed‐method study examined characteristics and predictors of teacher collaboration. Limited research exists that describes the characteristics of teacher collaboration, and surprisingly little work explains the ways in which teaching experience and teachers’ perceptions of the school environment influence teacher collaboration. Questionnaire data were collected from a sample of 118 elementary school teachers in six schools in a northeast urban school district, and interviews were conducted with administrators in each school. Three schools were in their second year implementing the Responsive Classroom ^® (RC) approach, and three schools were comparison schools. Teachers reported collaborating approximately once or twice per month, generally with fellow grade‐level teachers about student‐centered topics. Teachers in RC schools reported more frequent formal collaboration than comparison school teachers. In regards to predicting teacher collaboration, teachers who used more RC practices and/or resources reported collaborating more, valuing collaboration to a higher degree, and perceiving greater involvement in school decision‐making, controlling for whether they taught at a RC school. Also, teachers’ perceptions of the school environment related positively to teacher collaboration. The current study adds to the understanding of teacher collaboration and its antecedents, contributing uniquely to the literature on how a school‐wide educational initiative is associated with teachers’ perceptions of their school environment as well as their collaborative behaviors and beliefs.     

Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement

This study applies a model of school organisation developed by one of the authors to investigate school improvement processes leading to a whole school approach in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) literature. The model is operationalized to a survey instrument and distributed to Swedish upper secondary teachers. The instrument provides empirical indications of teachers’ perceptions of their schools in terms of four major dimensions of an ESD whole school approach, the importance assigned to a holistic vision, routines and structures, professional knowledge creation, and practical pedagogical work. The aims of the study are to compare the teachers’ perception of their school organisation. We compare perceptions of teachers working in schools actively implementing ESD and teachers in comparable reference schools. Comparisons are also made between teachers from schools applying different strategies and quality approaches in implementing ESD. The results indicate that, relative to teachers in ordinary schools, those in ESD schools perceive their school organisations to have higher quality and coherence, with greater potential to support teaching and pedagogical work in practice. However, there is substantial variation in perceptions of teachers from different ESD schools. The model’s robustness is validated by coherence of earlier results in the same schools.     

A climate for self-efficacy: the relationship between school climate and teacher efficacy for inclusion

Teacher efficacy represents a key construct in exploring successful implementation of inclusive policy. Teachers’ impression of school climate is shown to relate to teacher efficacy; however, few studies pay due deference to its context/specific conceptualisation, with a particular lacuna in research noted in an Irish mainstream primary school context. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between school climate and efficacy for inclusion and whether this relationship impacts on perceptions of challenging behaviours, further identifying barriers to and supports for efficacious inclusive practice. Fifty-seven probated primary mainstream teachers in the Republic of Ireland responded to online questionnaires exploring perceptions of school climate, teacher efficacy for inclusion and challenging behaviours. Teachers’ perceptions of a supportive school climate related positively to their teaching efficacy for inclusion, in turn influencing their ratings of the severity of and their confidence in managing commonly experienced challenging behaviours in inclusive classrooms. Teachers looked within their school for support, few noting Educational Psychologists (EPs) as sources for support. These findings add weight to the importance of understanding the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of their school climate and their efficacy for inclusion, addressing the dearth of research in an Irish context. In particular, these findings underline the potential offered by an understanding of teachers’ beliefs to inform and enhance the role of EPs in supporting efficacious inclusive practice.     

Associations between different forms of peer victimization and school absences: The moderating role of teacher attachment and perceived school safety

Given the significant negative impacts of peer victimization on youth development, studies have sought to understand what buffers against these consequences. To that end, the present study examined whether teacher attachment and perceptions of school safety moderated the associations between different forms of victimization and school absences over the course of an academic year among a sample of 272 high school students. Findings indicated that teacher attachment moderated the associations between relational and cyber victimization and absences, while perceived school safety moderated associations between relational victimization and absences. However, findings pertaining to cyber victimization were not as anticipated. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts in high schools are discussed.     

Global citizenship education in context: teacher perceptions at an international school and a local Israeli school

We apply semi-structured interviews to conceptualise perceptions of global citizenship among teachers at an international school and teachers at a local public school in Israel, revealing discrepancies between theory and practice in global citizenship education (GCE). We find that teachers perceive global citizenship differently along three major axes: boundaries of global citizenship, practical aspects of GCE, and through the effect of Israel’s context. This study offers a comparative perspective that discerns the differing impacts of school context and student background on teacher perceptions at different kinds of schools and highlights the importance of teacher agency in GCE.     

The role of the school climate in high school students’ mental health and identity formation: A South Australian study

The well‐documented increase in student mental health issues in Australia and growing recognition of the need for education to play a part in students’ identity formation prompted this study. The research reported in this article sought to identify specific elements of the school climate that were likely to influence the interplay of adolescent health and development and students’ identity formation. The aim was two‐fold. First, the study examined the relationships between students’ perceptions of the school climate and self‐reports of wellbeing, resilience and moral identity; and, second, the interrelationships between the three outcome variables were explored. Two surveys, one to assess students’ perceptions of features of the school climate, and another to assess students’ wellbeing, resilience and moral identity, were administered to 618 Year 11 students from 15 independent schools in South Australia. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate hypothesised relationships between students’ perceptions of their school climate and self‐reports of wellbeing, resilience and moral identity. Our results indicated statistically significant and positive relationships between school‐climate factors and each of the three outcome variables. Further, indirect relationships (mediated largely by resilience) were found between school‐climate factors and students’ wellbeing. Our findings could be used to guide schools in building tangible, purposeful environments that engender well‐balanced, positive, resilient citizens with strong moral identities.     

The effect of school inspections on school improvement

This study uses a school-level longitudinal control-group design to examine how teachers and principals of inspected versus uninspected schools perceive school improvement at their schools. During the phasing in of school inspections in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (Germany), both inspected and uninspected schools were surveyed with respect to school improvement activities over a 1-year period. The main finding is that principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of school quality were highly stable, irrespective of the introduction of school inspections. The results show school inspections had a comparatively low impact on the aspects of school quality measured here.     

Role stress and perceived intensity of burnout among school psychologists

This study investigated the relationship between role stress and perceived intensity of burnout for 209 school psychologists. It also investigated differences in role stress and burnout for school psychologists and four other educator groups (i.e., classroom teachers, school social workers, guidance counselors, and reading specialists). Concerning the three measures of burnout, school psychologists reported midrange perceptions of burnout along the Emotional Exhaustion and Personal Accomplishment dimensions and the second lowest level of burnout for Depersonalization, the second aspect of burnout. School psychologists also reported the second highest level of Role Conflict and the highest level of Role Ambiguity compared to other teacher groups. Findings also indicated that the components of role stress are significant predictors of the three aspects of burnout. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are offered.     

Every school a school of choice: school choice in Ireland as viewed through American eyes

‘Choice’ and ‘freedom’ as measured by the ability of parents to select their children's schools are deeply embedded in the national ethos of the United States of America. Wealthy American parents have always exercised school choice but minority and lowincome students are often trapped in failing schools. This paper is based on research conducted in a purposive sample of Irish primary schools into the nature of school choice. The authors examine five aspects of the Irish national primary school system that could provide models for American educators, whose vision often stops at the boundaries of the United States: education law, school choice for all, a national curriculum framework, the role of assessment, and the role of parents and educators in the creation of new schools. While arguably the five relate directly to school choice of different degrees, they collectively weave a web whereby school systems in the Republic of Ireland and the USA may productively be compared to the benefit of both.