Multiple perspectives on the targets and causes of school bullying

Clarification of how individuals in different roles perceive the victims and causes of bullying is of great importance to educational research and practice. The present study aimed to investigate the opinions of individuals in different roles (bullies, victims, bystanders, educators) regarding the targets and causes of bullying and to identify differences among various perspectives. A total of 1558 participants from 77 secondary schools in Taiwan responded to the questionnaire, including 537 bystanders, 217 bullies, 213 victims, and 591 educators. Grounded-theory method was employed to analyse the qualitative data. A theoretical model addressing commonalities among the perspectives held by individuals in different roles suggested that at-risk targets, including provocative, vulnerable, and atypical students, had poor interpersonal relationships. The bullies selected their targets based on different motivations, which included having fun, releasing emotions, and achieving status or benefits. The research found differences between the perspectives of educators and those of student participants regarding the causes of school bullying with respect to blaming victims, the intentions of bullies, intolerance of diversity in peer cultures, and the influence of contextual factors. Increasing awareness and minimizing these differences may help efforts to prevent and intervene in bullying.     

Schoolchildren's revision tactics

Two studies are described which presented children with computer-based writing tasks. One compared observations of pairs and singletons within a classroom setting, with P5 children as subjects. The other video-recorded S2 learning difficulty pupils working in partnership or with a teacher and compared task performance under both dyad conditions. Focussing specifically upon evidence relating to revision during and following composition, both studies support a general observation in the field of writing research that children lack diagnostic strategies. However, there is some evidence that this finding is affected by writing task so that the problem may be in transfer, rather than lack, of skills. Developing useful teaching software to remedy this depends on an understanding of writing processes as writing competence develops; a programme for further work in this field is outlined.     

Predicting bullying: maladjustment,social skills and popularity

In order to prevent bullying, research has characterised the adolescents involved in terms of their social skills, maladjustment and popularity. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the relationships between these variables and how these relationships predict bullying involvement. Moreover, the literature has focused on pure bullies and victims, despite the fact that bully-victims are known to be the most troubled. The aim of this work is to study the relationships between these variables and their predictive value, focusing on the bully-victim role. The sample (N?=?641) is made up of adolescents aged between 12 and 17?years. The results mainly indicate that the level of maladjustment and social skills predicts sociometric popularity, which is a significant predictor of bullying involvement. Differences in the social roles were observed, suggesting that social skills and maladjustment serve a different purpose for bully-victims than for the other roles involved.     

Conceptions of intelligence as social representations

The aim of the study was to investigate the theory put forward by Mugny and Carugati that social representations of intelligence are organised both by social identity and by experiences of unfamiliarity. Parents’, teachers’ and students’ conceptions of intelligence were examined in two separate questionnaire-based studies, the first one (N=196) dealing with views on the development of intelligence, and the second one (N=222) with views on the definitions of intelligence. It was found that social identity (“fostererhood” and teacherhood) tends to organise the conceptions in terms of the “theory of natural inequalities”, as suggested by Mugny and Carugati. However, the experienced unfamiliarity of intelligence had a clear effect only on the conceptions of development, and there were no general associations between social identity and experienced unfamiliarity. We suggest that the social representations of intelligence might be organised in terms of several basic themes, with one dealing with the puzzle of development, another with the definition of intelligence, and a third, more general one, treating the whole concept of intelligence with suspicion and apprehension.     

Identities, social representations and critical thinking

This comment on L. Simonneaux and J. Simonneaux paper focuses on the role of identities in dealing with socio-scientific issues. We argue that there are two types of identities (social representations) influencing the students’ positions: On the one hand their social representations of the bears’ and wolves’ identities as belonging to particular countries (Slovenia versus France for bears, France and Italy for wolves), in other words, as having national identities; on the other hand representations of their own identities as belonging to the field of agricultural practitioners, and so sharing this socio-professional identity with shepherds and breeders, as opposed to ecologists. We discuss how these representations of identities influenced students’ reasoning and argumentation, blocking in some cases the evaluation of evidence. Implications for developing critical thinking and for dealing with SSI in the classrooms are outlined.

The social causes for improving innovation

Innovation and ralated economic and social categories have been at the centre of policy discussions on the future of Chinese economy and society.The purpose of this paper is to illustrate three macro-causes on a extent cause of the term innovation.Many experts have discussed how to inprove the innovation of people,especially on specific fields.This paper is to discribe the macroscopical function of economy and the government of improving innovation.     

Discrepancies in judging social inclusion and bullying of pupils with behaviour problems

This study focuses on the social position and the degree of being bullied of pupils with behaviour problems fully included in regular education and on their teachers’ assessments on social integration and bullying. The study sample consisted of 25 9–12‐year‐old pupils with behaviour problems and their peers without special needs participating in full‐time regular education in the north of The Netherlands. Data gathering was performed using pupil and teacher questionnaires and a sociometric test. Results indicate that compared to their peers without special educational needs (SEN), the pupils with behaviour problems in this study were included less socially. The study further shows that about half the teachers participating in the study have a too positive view on the social position of these pupils. These teachers tend to seriously underestimate both the frequency with which pupils are being bullied and the frequency with which these pupils actively bully their peers.     

Classroom influences on bullying

The relationship between estimates of teachers' management of the class, the social structure of the class and bullying otherswas investigated by questionnaires answered by 2,002 pupils and 99 teachers in Norwegian primary schools. A path analysis demonstrated that the social structure of the class had a direct impact on bullying behaviour. Classroom management had a direct impact on the prevalence of bullying other children, and an indirect impact on this variable via the social structure. The joint impact of management and social structure on bullying others was substantial. Class-level estimates of family conditions of the pupils were included in the analyses. Implications for preventing bullying by general management of the class are discussed.     

Cartoons as visual representations of the development of primary school children’s understanding of bullying behaviours

ABSTRACT

This study adopts a creative methodology to investigate how cartoons can serve as visual representations of primary school children’s understanding of bullying and compares how their understanding develops over time. The study was carried out in Northern Ireland where the Addressing Bullying in Schools (Northern Ireland) Act 2016 will require schools to follow a new statutory definition of bullying. To investigate the behaviours that children associate with bullying, a set of 16 original stick figure cartoons was devised. The cartoons were shown to a sample of Year 3 and Year 7 pupils from two different primary schools in Northern Ireland (N = 90). Pupils were asked to record which scenarios they considered to be bullying or not bullying. They were then invited to write their own definitions of bullying and to creatively illustrate them using stick figures. A total of eight gender-specific pupil focus groups were conducted across the two schools to explore the key elements which the pupils considered significant to their understanding of bullying. The study highlights the value of this creative participatory approach and found a wide range of behaviours which children associate with bullying but also considerable variation among pupils in terms of their understanding. Levels of understanding in Year 7 were more nuanced than those in Year 3, but there were no discernible differences by pupil gender. Conclusions are drawn in terms of the new legislation in Northern Ireland, but also in relation to the benefits of adopting a creative research methodology using cartoons as visual representations with children to explore complex pastoral issues.     

Jordanian and British Primary Schoolchildren's Attitudes Towards the Environment

The paper explores the important but neglected field of primary schoolchildren's attitudes towards the environment using a specifically designed scale in Arabic and English. It reports attitude differences towards the environment and three domains -- pollution, waste and animals and plants -- according to nationality and gender. Overall the findings show that environmental education programmes produce only slightly positive attitudes. Consideration is given to the further research required to enhance such programmes.     

教育不公平现象社会成因新探

教育公平的核心问题是教育平等,但同时又必须考虑教育差别,二者之间的平衡点应该由教育自由来确定.教育不公平不仅是教育现象,更应该是社会现象,所以要想理解和减少教育不公平现象,必须探析它的社会成因.     

Classroom structuration and the development of social representations of the curriculum

The study drew on Bernstein's theory and Moscovici's theory of Social Representations to investigate how children in classrooms with different types of structuration developed social representation of the curriculum. Comparable case studies were carried out in schools chosen to reflect three types of pedagogy according to Bernstein's typology. Twelve classrooms took part and ethnographic investigations were employed to compile a typology of recognition and realisation rules to map the range and type of curriculum structuration in each. Children's representations of the curriculum were investigated through specially designed tasks. Findings showed that as children gained experience of schooling they constructed more elaborate social representations of the curriculum regardless of the pedagogic mode and that classroom structuration became a feature of the junior rather than the infant children's representations. Older children in classrooms with performance pedagogies had two classifications for recognising classroom culture, while those in classrooms with mixed and competence pedagogies did not.     

Friends,foes, and self-defence: students with EBD navigating social conflicts and bullying

Students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) are more likely to struggle than their peers, which can lead to disengagement and early dropout. Although there are alternate programmes for these students, they are rarely consulted about their struggles, or about their perceived needs. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of students with EBD from their entry in mainstream classrooms to their placement in an alternate programme. During a semi-structured interview and visual mapping activity, six participants described their schooling experiences and their depictions were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participants described the social process of school and emphasised the importance of relationships with peers and teachers, and the challenges they experienced in these relationships, which included relational, psychological, and physical aggression. Findings highlight the need to consider the reciprocal nature of bullying for students with EBD, and its influence on their schooling.     

从社会语言学角度解析委婉语的成因

随着社会经济的不断发展,人们已不再满足于追逐一定的物质文化,精神文化成了大家孜孜以求的方向和目标。语言作为人们日常交流的工具是精神交流的重要媒介。语言交流中有些需要避讳的地方,我们就必须巧妙地借助于委婉语去交流。本文首先简介委婉语的概况,其次举例常见委婉语实例,最后引出本文论点。从社会语言学的三个角度解析委婉语的成因:社会成因,文化成因和地区成因。目的是帮助人们更好地了解委婉语的来由,更好地使用委婉语以促进日常交流的顺畅和谐。     

Developmental and individual differences in children's on-line representations of dynamic social events

Developmental and clinical differences in children's on-line understanding of ongoing social events were examined. Boys with (n = 38) and without (n = 41) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were compared. Prior social schemes and integrative processes were hypothesized to influence children's representation of incoming social cues. Younger children and children with ADHD were expected to differ from older children and children without ADHD, respectively, in what they encoded and how they organized the encoded information. Differences in on-line representation were postulated to underlie differences in children's recall and social reasoning. Children's prior social schemes, looking time and on-line verbal protocols, recall, and social reasoning were assessed. Younger boys and ADHD boys showed less integrated on-line representations, accounting for poorer recall and reasoning.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of a social skills training (SST) programme for victims of bullying

Several programmes have been developed to help support victims of bullying, but few have been formally evaluated. On the basis of previous research and from a review of existing programmes, a Social Skills Training (SST) Programme was developed for victims of bullying, and the effectiveness of this intervention was evaluated. Twenty-eight children (aged nine to 11 years) took part in the SST Programme – 15 in the experimental group and 13 in the waiting-list control group. A Peer Nomination Inventory was used to assess social skills problems, peer victimization and friendship/peer acceptance. In addition, a number of psycho­social adjustment variables (i.e. depression, anxiety, self-esteem) were assessed, using self-report. The measures were completed at three time points over the course of an academic year. It was found that there was an increase in ‘global self-worth’ (i.e. self-esteem) for the experimental group (compared to the control group). However, there were no other significant improvements, e.g. in terms of social skills problems or victim status. These findings have important implications for interventions to tackle the negative effects associated with bullying in schools.     

关于儿童欺负行为研究的思考

儿童欺负行为主要发生在校园或者以校园为媒介的社交群体内,是一种常见的校园不良行为,并有可能发展为校园暴力。对欺负行为及其动机进行分析,培养儿童健康人格,采取科学教养方式,加强正面教育是对欺负行为进行有效干预的重要途径。