How French counsellors treat school violence: An adult-centered approach

This article explores characteristics of school violence inFrance and the privileged means by which school counsellors can address this increasinglywidespread problem. In the first section, the status of counsellors in theFrench schools is outlined, and it is shown that counselling activities are reallyonly undertaken for students in junior high or high school. Two importantcharacteristics of the French view of school violence are: The experts in psychology takelittle interest in problems of school violence; and adults, rather than students,are seen as the primary victims. In this context, counsellors try to reduceschool violence primarily through training and reflecting with school staff. Severalempirical arguments suggest, in effect, that the adults' perceptions of the students is adetermining factor in the social regulation of school violence. This violence consistsmostly of incivilities that are only slightly reprehensible but oftenunbearable for certain teachers. Depending on whether the school staff try to understandthe incivilities or can only see them as pure savagery, they either try to controlthem through education or they lose confidence in their professional mission.The goal of counsellors is both to help the personnel develop theircapacities and motivate them to analyze the students' behavior, and to engender a senseof team spirit.     

The influence of trained peer tutoring on tutors' motivation and performance in a French boxing setting

The aim of this study was to examine the potential motivational and behavioural benefits of two peer tutoring programmes for tutors in a sport setting. Differences between the sexes were also explored. Thirty two college-age males and females, all novices on a French boxing task, were assigned to a 2 x 2 [sex x training type: physical practice associated with trained peer tutoring (TPT) vs physical practice associated with untrained peer tutoring (UPT)] factorial design. All participants were given six French boxing lessons of 2 h each. The TPT programme included structured methods to prepare the participants to fulfil their role of tutors, whereas the UPT programme did not. The results demonstrated that the TPT programme resulted in higher scores for coaching skills. Furthermore, interaction effects revealed that the TPT programme yielded better offensive outcomes for males and better defensive outcomes for females. Although the UPT participants expressed higher self-efficacy, no differences emerged for intrinsic motivation and causal attributions. Finally, male tutors displayed higher self-efficacy and offensive outcomes than female tutors. The results are discussed in the light of previous findings in the educational and sport psychology literature.     

A methodological shortnote on measuring and assessing the effects of normative clearsightedness about internality

This shortnote deals with measuring normative clearsightedness about internality and assessing its effects. After raising the issue of how to measure normative clearsightedness, another operationalization of this concept is proposed based on a multilevel model. In an attempt to understand the relationship between pupils’ clearsightedness about internality and their teachers’ judgments of them, empirical data was collected from 404 third-grade pupils and their 19 teachers. The estimates obtained point out the heuristic value of the proposed model.     

A match between university professors and school inspectors? Innovation and stagnation in the physical education curriculum

During the 1960s and 1970s, “traditional” secondary educational systems in various Western European countries made way for comprehensive education curricula. In contrast to the reforms within the “intellectual” subjects, the field of physical education (PE) remained largely underexposed in research. This study focuses on PE reform in Belgium, the first country in the world (apart from Sweden itself) to introduce, in 1908, so-called “Swedish gymnastics” in all levels of state public education and, in 1968, the last country apart from Portugal to abandon it. The question arises as to who was responsible for Swedish gymnastics being applied for so long and, ultimately, how and by whom reform was implemented. The results show that the power of the past and the positions of “Swedists” in the Government Inspectorate, universities and professional associations, perpetuated the domination of Swedish gymnastics in Belgian education. The final “dynamisation” of the subject of PE around 1968 did not come about through “revolution” but a “natural” generational transition, whereby a new guard of young government inspectors with a drive for reform took over from their Swedish-minded predecessors. The educational climate prevailing in Belgium at the end of the 1960s facilitated this reform. The state university PE institutes lost their position as pedagogical profile keepers during this process of transformation, while the hidden curriculum of the (Catholic) university institute in Leuven implicitly shaped the educational climate. Further comparative international research into the (changed) profile, position and power of school inspectors in educational reform appears necessary.     

Representations of student performance data in local education policy

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - The use of data for governance purposes has been widely recognised as a way for national authorities to coordinate their activities across...     

Achievement of first-year students at the university: a multilevel analysis of the role of background diversity and student engagement

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The massification and diversification of the student population who enters university has become a challenge for Higher Education institutions. A...