Upload
virvara-daniela
View
21
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
VISTA/VISTOP
School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action
Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21
www.vistop.org
Section 1: Definition, Context and
Knowledge of School Violence
Chapter 1.1: Understanding the Definition and Context of School Violence
Rosario Ortega1, Virginia Sanchez1, Luc Van Wassenhoven2, Gie Deboutte2 and
Johan Deklerck2,1Spain 2Belgium
Chapter 1.2: What We Know About School Violence: Findings From Research and Practice
Sigrun K. Ertesvåg and Anne Sofie Samuelsen, Norway
1
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Definition, Context and
Knowledge of School
Violence
The two Chapters in this Section raise
awareness of some of the key issues regarding
school violence, an understanding of which
forms the basis of the VISTA training approach.
Definitions of school violence are problematic
with no consensus reached, as violence is
socially constructed from a range of viewpoints
with meaning varying according to the
individuals, culture and environment
concerned. This means that finding a definition
of school violence requires an awareness of
perspectives from a range of disciplines,
including psychology, sociology, criminology,
education, political science and social policy.
This multiplicity of viewpoints also includes the
notion that children do not share an adult
conceptual understanding of bullying and
violence, therefore, basing educational
practices and policies for children solely on
adult definitions of violence is counter-
productive; we need to complement adult
perspectives with those of young people.
In Chapter 1.1, we offer the opportunity to
reflect critically on a multiplicity of definitions of
violence that take into account individual
factors, interpersonal relationships and the
social context of the school and its community;
and that include both adult and child definitions
of the phenomenon. In this Chapter
participants will be able to construct a definition
of school violence that takes into account the
different types of violent behaviour within their
school setting. We also consider the particular
contexts in which violence may flourish and
those where it is prevented or reduced. We
take account of the idea that in order to
understand the complex phenomenon of school
violence, a thorough understanding of the
economic, cultural, school and family factors
that contribute to the problem is necessary.
This Chapter makes appropriate links with
current debates and dialogues on emotional
literacy, resilience, moral panics, young people
and crime, school exclusions, disruptive
behaviour and gangs.
There is a widespread popular view, fuelled by
the media and by governments, and not
necessarily supported by empirical evidence,
that violence in schools has increased. This
sense of 'moral panic' is a counter-productive
form of social control that does not address the
underlying causes of the problem. Our view is
that there is a need to disseminate the
available information on violence including, for
example, incidence and causes. In Chapter
1.2, we take account of high-quality research
findings on the nature and origins of school
violence and the impact of best practice,
innovative interventions and whole-school
policies on reducing or preventing it. This
Chapter offers participants the opportunity to
increase their knowledge and understanding of
the concept of school bullying and violence; to
identify violent behaviour and differentiate it
2
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
from less serious behaviour; to increase their
understanding of the characteristics of
perpetrators and victims; and to familiarise
themselves with the role of new technology in
preventing school violence.
Understanding the
Definition and Context of
School Violence
Objectives of Chapter 1.1
• To be aware of a range of
interpretations of school violence
• To be able to consider the key factors
involved in a definition of school
violence from a variety of perspectives
• To understand the social and cultural
contexts where school violence takes
place
• To interpret violent behaviour within a
complex social system
• To evaluate and integrate different
theoretical perspectives of school
violence
Facilitation skills to be
developed through this
Chapter
Knowledge and understanding of:
• current thinking about definitions of
school violence
• the relationships between social context
and school violence
• the links between school climate and
school violence
• the importance of creating a supportive
and caring school community
Personal qualities and attributes include:
• being able to adopt a critical and
reflective stance in the analysis of
complex social phenomena
• being able to reflect on others’ ideas
through open debate
• being able to integrate different
theoretical perspectives on school
violence
Pre-Chapter reading
Council of Europe. (2002). Violence in schools –
A challenge for the local community.
Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publications.
http://www.coe.int/...community.pdf Smith, P. K. (2003). Violence in schools: An
overview. In P. K. Smith (Ed.), Violence in
schools. The response in Europe(pp. 1-14).
3
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
London: RoutledgeFalmer,
Vettenburg, N. (1999). Violence in schools:
Awareness-raising, prevention, penalties.
General Report. Luxembourg: Council of Europe
Publications.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2002).
Violence - a global public health problem.
Chapter 1, pp. 3-21, World Report on Violence
and Health. Geneva: Author.
www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violen
ce/world_report/en/index.html
Summary of current
thinking and knowledge
about the definition and
context of school violence
Definitions of school violence
What is school violence? In general, the
definition can cover the following categories:
verbal, physical, sexual and psychological
violence; social exclusion; violence relating to
property; violence relating to theft; threats;
insults; rumour-spreading (Smith, Morita,
Junger-Tas, Olweus, Catalano, & Slee, 1999;
Smith, 2003). Olweus (1999, p.12) defines it as
‘aggressive behaviour where the actor or
perpetrator uses his or her own body or an
object (including a weapon) to inflict (relatively
serious) injury or discomfort upon another
individual’. Definitions which go beyond
physical harm include the one given by the
World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) which
includes threats as well as actual violence,
while Debarbieux (2003) identifies ideological
and historical influences on the ways in which a
society chooses to define the phenomenon of
violence. As he writes:
‘What we call violence is ideologically and
historically determined. Our current
concern about violence in education also
reflects our changing relationship to violence.
From being accepted, if not actually
encouraged, it has become intolerable to us in
Europe. This is not a universal phenomenon but
it is an indication of a new shared vision of
childhood. This vision oscillates between the
continuing notion of totally uncivilised children
requiring a form of orthopaedic [sic] correction
and the consequences of what in 1900 the
Swedish educationalist Ellen Key called the
century of the child, with affection preferred to
restraint, and prevention to punishment’
(Debarbieux, 2003, pp. 43-44).
In her report to the Council of Europe,
Vettenburg (1999) concluded that there was no
clear definition of school violence, which made
it difficult, amongst other things, to ascertain
whether school violence was on the increase or
to make valid comparisons between different
countries’ rates of school violence. However,
as Debarbieux (2003) points out, there is now
greater awareness of the need to accept a
multiplicity of definitions of school violence
from a range of perspectives, including those of
children and young people. This enables
4
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
researchers and practitioners to build up a solid
base of knowledge and to accumulate
hypotheses which can be retained or discarded
in the light of research findings as they
emerge.
The context of school violence
In order to be able to understand the complex phenomenon of school violence, a comprehensive
analysis of the economic, cultural, school and individual context in which it is generated is necessary.
The VISTA analysis adopts a bio-ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner &
Morris, 1998). (See Figure 1).
Figure 1. Bio-ecological model for understanding the prevention of school violence (adapted from
World Health Organization, 2002)
Most researchers in the field now take account
of social-cultural factors, such as race, gender
and social class in their analysis of the problem.
Risk and protective factors relating to violence
are found at each level in the model, including
the individual, the interpersonal, the school and
the wider social context. Risk factors are those
factors that render an individual more likely to
develop problems in the face of adversity; they
do not in themselves necessarily cause
difficulties. Protective factors are those factors
that act to protect an individual from
developing a problem even in the face of
adversity. It is very hard to unravel specific
causative factors since the interacting variables
are multiple but longitudinal research studies
that follow children’s development from an
early age can identify those risk and protective
factors that appear in chains of causation, so
offering an evidence base for the design of
interventions.
In order to understand why school violence
occurs, VISTA recommends an open and
flexible approach rather than a simple cause-
and-effect analysis. In the next section,
following Bronfenbrenner’s model, we explore
5
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
ways in which different contexts – individual,
interpersonal, school and the wider society -
can either promote or reduce the phenomenon
of school violence (Farrington, 1998).
Individual context
Researchers have studied in depth the
individual characteristics of boys and girls who
become aggressors, as well as those who
become victims. Aggressive boys and girls are
impulsive, with low self control and low
resistance to frustration (Baldry & Farrington,
2000). In addition, several studies have shown
that aggressive children display important
cognitive deficits relating to the interpretation
of social events, giving hostile attributions to
ambiguous social situations (Dodge & Frame,
1982). Recent research has also found that
differences with regard to social and cognitive
skills between girls and boys, can help us
understand the gender differences found in
children involved in violent and criminal
behaviour. Key social and cognitive skills seem
to protect girls from getting involved in these
kinds of actions, compared to boys (Bennett,
Farrington, & Huesmann, 2004).
Theory of mind explains why some children
bully their classmates (Smorti, Ortega, &
Ortega, 2002; Sutton, Smith, & Swettenham,
1999). Bullies seem to be good cognitive
strategists, able to sense the details of their
actions and, in consequence, are able to notice
others’ pain, although with limited empathy
(Menesini, Sánchez, Fonzi, Ortega, Costabile, &
Lo Feudo, 2003). With regard to victims,
studies have shown that they tend to have low
self esteem, are shy, and have difficulty in
making friends.
Interpersonal contexts
At the same time, violence must be considered
in the context of interpersonal relationships.
For example, friends can be either a protective
or a risk factor for being victimized, depending
on the quality of the friendship (Adams,
Bukowski, & Bagwell, 2005). Fundamentally,
the nature of family relationships plays a
critical role in the development of peer
relationships at school (Smith, Bowers, Binney,
& Cowie,1993). Farrington (1998) indicates
three family factors linked to the risk of
engaging in school violence:
• Absence of affection and emotional
warmth between fathers and mothers
and in general in the family group
which is apparent in the first years of
school life.
• Existence and use of physical or
psychological violence in the family
group; living in a family setting where
domestic violence is common.
• Absence of rules, guidelines and
reasonable controls, coming from
adults, about conduct, attitudes,
childhood activities.
Regarding parenting styles, Baldry and
Farrington (1998) found that boys who bully
tended to have authoritarian and punitive
parents, whereas victims tended to have
authoritarian parents with low self-esteem.
Other studies found a relationship between
6
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
mothers´ over-protectiveness and male
victims; for female victims, there was a
significant relationship with perceived mother
rejection (Finnegan, Hodges, & Perry, 1998)
Attachment theory suggests that early on
children develop an internal working model of
relationships which explains, for example, the
victim’s psychological defencelessness and the
perpetrator’s unjustified aggression. Studies
aimed at exploring the relationships between
bullying problems and attachment have also
found that insecure children are more likely to
be involved in bully/victim problems (Smith &
Myron-Wilson, 1998), especially for being a
victim of bullying. Attachment theory can help
to explain, for example, the high probability
that children from families where abuse occurs
(between parents as well as from parents to
children) are likely to repeat the same insecure
patterns in the relationships they have with
peers.
School context
Interpersonal relationships, grounded in the
family, are further developed at school.
Violence flourishes in institutional
environments, such as schools, in which
frequent contact among the participants can
perpetuate stereotypical roles of dominance
and submission (Ortega, 1994). Stable contexts
like schools have the potential to create
conditions that encourage positive relationships
through the process of convivencia, the action
of living with others, with “…a spirit of
solidarity, fraternity, co-operation, harmony, a
desire for mutual understanding, the desire to
get on well with others, and the resolution of
conflict through dialogue or other non-violent
means” (Ortega, del Rey, & Mora-Merchán,
2004, p. 169). It is essential to know how the
social networks that support convivencia are
established, as well as the counteracting forces
that undermine convivencia.
No school is the same as another, just as no
pupil is the same as another. Some pupils lack
motivation, or are bored at school, or resent
rules and regulations; some have difficult
family backgrounds, or may be abused or
bullied at home. An important source of
conflict between teachers and pupils involves
the system of discipline that the school
adopts.In this sense, several programmes to
combat bullying and violence in schools
emphasise the importance of discipline systems
for the containment of school violence (e.g.,
Olweus, 1999; O´Moore & Minton, 2004;
Ortega, 2003; Ortega, del Rey, Sánchez,
Ortega-Rivera, Mora-Merchán, & Genebat,
2003; Ortega & Lera, 2000; Smith, 1997)
Additionally, it is the social networks formed by
pupils and teachers, and their particular ways
of behaving towards one another, that underpin
convivencia. Conflicts are an inevitable part of
social life and schools are no exception.
Relationships amongst peers, and between
teachers and pupils are a common source of
conflict in schools. Teachers often complain
about the behaviour of their pupils while not
considering the impact that their own behaviour
may have on the school climate. However,
there is no better way to create convivencia
7
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
and a non-violent culture than to face up to
conflicts in an honest and problem-solving way,
whether they occur amongst the pupils or
amongst the teaching staff. Those conflicts
must be resolved in a positive way since they
provide pupils and teachers with a source of
real learning and of a chance to change.
Unresolved conflicts and unchallenged bullying
behaviour can be self-perpetuating and so
contaminate the processes of convivencia in the
school. The concept of convivencia allows us to
explain the phenomenon of school violence
within the framework of interpersonal
relationships that take place at school. At the
same time, the idea of convivencia can help us
with the prevention and reduction of school
violence by harnessing those very interpersonal
processes that are embedded in the life of the
school. If we grasp this idea, we may not need
to employ outside agencies to resolve the
problem of violence since the solution lies
within the structures and networks of the
school itself.
The wider context
Sociologists and criminologists offer a wider
perspective by charting the influence that
culture, society and politics exert on school
violence. From this point of view, school
violence is regarded as a result of social
pathology and “social vulnerability”
(Vettenburg, 1999; Walgrave, 1992) since
there are certain sectors of the population that
are particularly at risk of engaging in violence.
These particular groups “benefit less from the
positive things institutions have to offer”
(Vettenburg, 1999, p. 38) since too often they
only confront the authority exerted by society
(as represented in this case by the school) but
rarely experience the benefits that society has
to offer. They frequently have negative
experiences within the educational system (for
example, learning difficulties, suspension and
exclusion, lack of respect from staff, under-
achievement, low morale) which can result in
poor motivation, disaffection and a general
sense of hostility towards the school as a
system.
Hargreaves (2003) underlines the impact of
globalization on the educational system and on
the origins of violence. In capitalist societies,
people tend to behave in an individualistic,
competitive way which perpetuates social class
differences and highlights the situation of
disadvantaged groups. Potentially, these
cultural differences can have an impact on
levels of violence in different countries (Ortega
et al., 2003). In fact, recent surveys have
shown how communities with a strong
commitment to equality of opportunity have
lower levels of direct aggression (Bergeron &
Schneider, 2005). It is all the more important
for the education system to promote the values
of collaboration, cooperation and creativity by
actively working to develop a positive school
culture in schools.
8
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Responsibilities of the
Chapter facilitators
Your tasks within this Chapter are to:
• send to all participants information
about when and where the session will
be held and details of preparatory
reading to be done
• familiarise yourself with the Chapter
text and the facilitators’ notes
• plan the session to meet the needs of
the participants
• ensure that all relevant
resources/materials are copied and/or
prepared
• lead the session and all the activities
Sequence of activities for
Chapter 1.1
This Chapter represents a one-day training of
five hours plus breaks.
Activity 1 Icebreaker: The
name game (15 minutes)
Purpose
• To get to know everyone’s names
• To begin to interact positively and
purposefully with other members of the
group
Materials
None
Procedure
One person begins by saying their name. The
person beside them then has to say the first
person’s name and their own. The third person
says the first and second person’s names and
then their own. This goes on until everyone
has said their own name and all the others
preceding them. The facilitator goes last in
order to show that taking the risk of not
remembering a name is valued and that it is all
right to make mistakes.
Debriefing
The activity does not need debriefing but the
facilitator can point out that some people found
it easier than others to remember names.
However, the memory process was also
enabled through the co-operation, helpfulness,
empathy and support of the group. An
additional benefit is often that people begin to
help others when they cannot remember the
person’s name and the process of valuing
individuals’ different strengths, so crucial to
group cohesion, begins.
9
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Activity 2 Introduce your
neighbour (30 minutes)
Purpose
• To begin to feel more comfortable in
the group by interacting purposefully
with one member
• To discover your own level of skill in
questioning someone else and in talking
about yourself and in listening
• To get everyone speaking in the large
group, even those who would normally
avoid it
Materials
None
Procedure
Ask the participants to get into pairs, preferably
with someone they do not know. Ask each
person to find out some interesting or amusing
things about their partner – for example, what
they like to do, where they live, unusual places
that they have visited, whether they own a pet,
etc. The information should not be too
personal or revealing. Each participant has a
short time (3-5 minutes) to do this. Then they
must come back to the large group and each
person must introduce their partner to the
group based on the information they have
gathered.
Debriefing
Without pointing out individuals, it is worth
noting that some people seem to have listened
well and remembered the information given
them whilst others did not. If you discuss it in
the group, you will probably find that some
people took up more than their share of time
talking. This can be pointed out without
judgement by saying that one of the things you
hope each person will learn is which skills they
need to work on.
Activity 3 Defining school
violence (70 minutes)
Purpose
• To be aware of a range of
interpretations of school violence
Materials
Resource 1 Individual examples of school
violence
Resource 2 The essential characteristics of
these examples of school violence
Resource 3 Our definition
Flipchart
Procedure
First, hand out Resource 1 Individual examples
of school violence which participants complete
individually. Allow 10 minutes for the individual
10
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
task. Then form groups of 4 or 5 and give each
group one copy of Resource 2 The essential
characteristics of these examples of school
violence. Ask the groups to complete as a
group a summary of the essential
characteristics and the distinctive elements of
these individual examples as shown in
Resource 2. Allow 30 minutes for this task.
Bring all the small groups into the plenary and
ask a representative of each group to present
their findings. These are summarised by the
facilitator on a flipchart. Finally, in plenary, the
large group tries to formulate a possible
definition of school violence, based on the
characteristics and elements identified by the
small groups. The definition is documented by
the facilitator on Resource 3 Our definition.
Allow 30 minutes for this part of the discussion,
including the debriefing.
Debriefing
Key discussion points are noted by the
facilitator and participants are invited to
comment on the process of arriving at the
group definition (or definitions if the plenary did
not reach consensus). Perhaps some people
took up more than their share of time talking.
Perhaps some opinions were discounted. The
process of attempting to reach consensus can
be discussed without judgement by saying that
the next activity will illustrate the difficulties
that experts experience when trying to arrive at
a common definition of school violence.
Activity 4 School violence as
defined by international
experts (70 minutes)
Purpose
• To understand the definition of violence
from a range of perspectives
Materials
Resource 4 Definitions by international experts
Procedure
Ask participants to return to their small groups
and hand each group a copy of Resource 4.
Ask the groups to compare ‘Our definition’ with
the definitions of the international experts.
Allow 30 minutes for the small group
discussion. Ask participants to return to the
plenary where the facilitator notes key points
on a flipchart. Allow 40 minutes for this part of
the activity, including the debriefing. Points for
discussion could include the following
questions, adapted from Smith (2003):
1. Is violence necessarily physical?
2. Is violence necessarily against a
person?
3. Does violence actually have to be
manifested as behaviour that damages
someone or something, or is just the
threat of this sufficient?
4. Is violence still violence if it is legal?
11
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
5. Does violence have to be done by
somebody, or can it be done more
impersonally by a social group or an
institution?
6. Has the definition of violence changed
over time?
Debriefing
The facilitator ends the activity by pointing out
that by thinking, discussing and working with
definitions we are enabled to understand how
different opinions and perspectives arise across
cultures and over time. Not only that: the way
people look at school violence determines their
attitudes and reactions to it.
Activity 5 The context of
school violence (115
minutes)
Purpose
• To get participants to identify what they
know about the context of school
violence and to listen to the
perspectives of others
Materials
Resource 5 Case study of a violent incident
Resource 6 Types of school violence
Resource 7 Summary of case studies
Resource 8 Model of the school system
Procedure
Individual task: The facilitator gives each
person a copy of Resource 5 Case study of a
violent incident. Each person is asked to think
about and write down a specific case of school
violence that they have experienced or
observed. They are asked to describe the
protagonists, events and contexts where this
violence took place and to complete as many of
the boxes as they can. Allow 30 minutes for
this part of the activity.
Group task: Participants form small groups of
4-5 people. Each member of the group shares
the example of school violence that they have
entered into Resource 5 Case study of a violent
incident. The facilitator then gives each group
a blank copy of Resource 6 Types of school
violence and Resource 7 Summary of case
studies. Once each example has been shared,
the group task is to reach consensus about how
to complete Resources 6 and 7 collectively,
taking into consideration their individual cases.
Allow 40 minutes for this part of the activity.
Plenary: Each small group reports back to the
plenary session on their process of reaching
agreement about the content of each of the
boxes in Resources 6 and 7. The facilitator
summarises the responses from each group on
a flipchart (Resource 7 Summary of case
studies). Allow 25 minutes for this part of the
activity.
Debriefing (20 minutes)
For this part of the activity the facilitator may
find it helpful to use the theoretical content
12
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
described in the summary of current thinking
(individual, interpersonal, social, school
contexts). It is important to conclude with
reference to the links and influences of different
related factors, not only the simple influence of
one of them on school violence. The analysis,
using Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model,
should be continued in the plenary session.
Finally, for the analysis of school context,
Resource 8 Model of the school system can be
used to synthesise the findings of the activity
with the theoretical points about convivencia as
described in the Summary. The facilitator can
indicate how convivencia is facilitated in schools
or how it may be inhibited.This is also an
opportunity to share commonalities and
differences in the ways in which the groups
have interpreted the task. Explore what are
the most common themes and those that are
least common. Discuss what each person will
take away with them to their own school
setting. Compare findings and discuss how
they confirm or disconfirm the VISTA model.
Key aspects of the debriefing should include the
following:
• School violence is a complex
phenomenon which requires complex
interventions.
• It is important to have a clear definition
of violence (Chapter 1.1)…
• … and an analysis of what is happening
in our schools (Section 4).
• We need to select the most relevant
and whole interventions for our schools
(see again Sections 4 and 5, for
different examples of preventative and
integrative practices)….
• … and share responsibilities inside and
outside schools (see Section 2).
• We need to provide interpersonal and
organisational support …
• … and to reflect about the schools we
want, and about the education we want
to give our students.
References
Adams, R. E., Bukowski, W. M., & Bagwell, C.
(2005). Stability of aggression during early
adolescence as moderated by reciprocated
friendship status and friend’s aggression.
International Journal of Behavioral
Development, 29, 139-145.
Baldry, A. C., & Farrington, D. P. (1998).
Parents’ influences on bullying and
victimisation. Legal and Criminological
Psychology, 3, 237-254.
Baldry, A. C., & Farrington, D. P. (2000).
Bullies and delinquents: Personal
characteristics and parental styles. Journal of
Community and Applied Social Psychology, 10,
17-31.
13
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Baldry, A. C., & Farrington, D. P. (2006).
Individual risk factors for school violence. In A.
Serrano (Ed.), Acoso y violencia en la escuela
(pp. 107-133). Ariel: Centro Reino Sofia.
Bennett, S., Farrington, D. P., & Huesmann, L.
R. (2004). Explaining gender differences in
crime and violence: The importance of social
cognitive skills. Aggression and Violent
Behavior, 10, 263-288.
Bergeron, N., & Schneider, B. H. (2005).
Explaining cross-national differences in peer-
directed aggression: A quantitative synthesis.
Aggressive Behavior, 31, 116-137.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of
human development. Experiments by nature
and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The
ecology of developmental processes. In W.
Damon (Series Ed.) & R. M. Lerner (Vol. Ed.),
Handbook of child psychology: Vol.
1.Theoretical models of human development
(5th ed., pp. 993-1028). New York: John Wiley
& Son.
Debarbieux, E. (2003). School violence in
Europe – Discussion, knowledge and
uncertainty. In Council of Europe Violence in
schools – A challenge for the local community.
Luxembourg: Council of Europe Publications.
http://www.coe.int/...community.pdf
Debarbieux, E., Blaya, C., Vidal, D. (2003).
Tackling violence in schools: A report from
France. In P. K. Smith (Ed.), Violence in
schools: The response in Europe (pp. 17-32).
London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Depuydt, A., &. Deklerck, J., (1998). An ethical
and social interpretation of crime through the
concepts of “linkedness” and “integration-
disintegration”. Applications to restorative
justice. In L. Walgrave (Ed.), Restorative
justice for juveniles. Potentialities, risks and
problems (pp. 137-156). Leuven: Leuven
University Press.
Dodge, K., & Frame, C. (1982). Social cognitive
biases and deficits in aggressive boys. Child
Development, 53, 620-635.
Farrington, D. W. (1998). Individual differences
and offending. In M. Tonry & M. H. Moore
(Eds.), Youth violence (pp. 421-475). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Finnegan, R. A., Hodges, E. V. E., & Perry, D.
G. (1998). Victimization by peers: Associations
with children's reports of mother-child
interaction. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 75, 1076-1086.
Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teaching in the
knowledge society: Education in the age of
insecurity. New York: Teachers College Press.
Huybregts, I., Vettenburg, N., & D’Aes, M.
(2003). Tackling violence in schools: A report
14
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
from Belgium. In P. K. Smith (Ed.), Violence in
schools: The response in Europe(pp. 33-48).
London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Menesini, E., Sanchez, V., Fonzi, A., Ortega, R.,
Costabile, A., & Lo Feudo, G. (2003). Moral
emotions and bullying. A cross-national
comparison of differences between bullies,
victims and outsiders. Aggressive Behavior, 29,
515-530.
Olweus, D. (1999). Sweden. In P. K. Smith, Y.
Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano,
& P. Slee (Eds.), The nature of school bullying:
A cross-national perspective (pp. 2-
27).London:RoutledgeFalmer.
O'Moore, M. (n.d.). Defining violence: Towards
a pupil based definition. NoVAS RES CONNECT
Initiative. Retrieved June 14, 2006, from
http://www.comune.torino.it/novasres/newviol
encedefinition.htm
O´Moore, M., & Minton, S. (2004). Dealing with
bullying in schools: A training manual for
teachers, parents and other professionals.
London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Ortega, R. (1994). Violencia interpersonal en
los centros educativos de enseñanza
secundaria. Un estudio sobre maltrato e
intimidación entre compañeros. Revista de
Educación, 304, 253-280.
Ortega, R. (2003). Enseñanza de Prevención de
la Violencia en las Escuelas. Informe Sobre la
Violencia en las Escuelas de Centroamérica.
Washington: BID.
Ortega, R. (2006). Convivencia: A model to
prevent violence. In A. Moreno (Ed.), La
convivencia in the classroom: Problems and
solutions (pp. 29-44). Madrid: Ministry of
Science and Education.
Ortega, R., del Rey, R., & Mora-Merchán, J. A.
(2004). SAVE model: An anti-bullying
intervention in Spain. In P. K. Smith, D. Pepler,
& K. Rigby (Eds.), Bullying in schools: How
successful can interventions be? (pp. 167-
185).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ortega, R., del Rey, R., Sánchez, V., Ortega-
Rivera, J., Mora-Merchán, J., & Genebat, R.
(2003). Violencia escolar en Nicaragua.
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deportes de
Nicaragua.
Ortega, R., & Lera, M. J. (2000). The Seville
Anti-bullying in School Project. Aggressive
Behavior, 26, 113-123.
Smith, P. K. (Ed.). (2003). Violence in schools:
The response in Europe. London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Smith, P. K. (1997). Bullying in schools: The
UK experience and the Sheffield Anti-Bullying
project. Irish Journal of Psychology, 18, 191-
201.
15
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Smith P. K., Bowers, L., Binney, V., & Cowie, H.
(1993). Relationships of children involved in
bully/victim problems at school. In S. Duck
(Ed.), Understanding relationship processes.
Vol. 2: Learning about relationships (pp. 184-
212). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Smith, P. K., Morita, Y., Junger-Tas, J., Olweus,
D., Catalano, R., & Slee, P. (1999). The nature
of bullying. London and New York: Routledge.
Smith, P. K., & Myron-Wilson, R. (1998).
Parenting and school bullying. Clinical Child
Psychology and Psychiatry, 3, 405-417.
Smorti, A., Ortega, R., & Ortega, J. (2002). The
importance of culture for a theory of mind: A
narrative alternative. Cultura y Educación,
14(2), 147-159.
Sutton, J., Smith, P. K., & Swettenham, J.
(1999). Bullying and theory of mind: A critique
of the 'social skills deficit' view of anti-social
behaviour. Social Development, 8, 117-127.
Vettenburg, N. (1999). Violence in schools.
Awareness-raising, prevention, penalties.
General Report. Strasbourg: Council of Europe
Publications.
Walgrave, L. (1992). Délinquance systematisée
des jeunes et vulnérabilitité sociétale.
Paris/Génève: Méridiens/Médecine et Hygiène.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2002).
World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva:
Author.
Further reading and
additional materials
Books and articles
Gittins, C. (2006) (Ed.). Violence reduction in
schools – How to make a difference.
Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publications.
Websites
Council of Europe Violence in Schools – A
Challenge for the Local Community.
Luxembourg: Council of Europe Publications.
http://www.coe.int/...community.pdf
Council of Europe Responses to violence in
everyday life in a democratic society
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Integrated_Projects/vio
lence/
UK Observatory for the Promotion of Non-
Violence www.ukobservatory.com
16
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource packs
Resource 1 Individual examples of school violence
Note down, individually, one or two situations in your school in which violence occurred.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
17
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource 2 Group discussion of the essential characteristics
of these examples of school violence
Tell one another, in small groups, about your experiences noted in Resource 1
What are the essential characteristics? What are the distinctive elements?
ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS DISTINCTIVE ELEMENTS
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………
18
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource 3 Our definition
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Resource 4 Definitions by international experts
DEFINITIONS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE GROUP
COMMENTS
“Violence is defined as behaviour intended to cause injury, but it also includes threats”
(Baldry & Farrington, 2006, p. 107).
“Violence is not only an exceptional, brutal, unpredictable fact originating outside
school, but also the result of frequent banal irritating, small aggressions… Violence will
be viewed through three groups of variables: crime and offences, micro-violence and
the feeling of insecurity” (Debarbieux, Blaya, & Vidal, 2003, p. 18).
“De-linquency denotes the absence of an experienced link with the victim(ized
environment), which can be found in the etymological root of the word itself.
19
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Developing, reinforcing or repairing a link of an existential quality with the environment
is therefore a key issue. Persons who are developing a feeling of linkedness with their
environment will deal with it in a different, more respectful way” (Depuydt & Deklerck,
1998, p. 137).
“Antisocial behaviour in schools refers to the full spectrum of verbal or non verbal
interactions between persons active in or around the school and involving malicious or
allegedly malicious intentions causing mental, physical or material damage or injury to
persons in or around the school and violating informal rules of behaviour” (Huybregts,
Vettenburg, & D’Aes, 2003, p. 35).
“Violence or violent behavior is aggressive behaviour where the actor or perpetrator
uses his or her own body or an object (including a weapon) to inflict (relatively serious)
injury or discomfort upon another individual” (Olweus, 1999, p.12).
“Violence is aggressive behaviour that may be physically, sexually or emotionally
abusive. The aggressive behaviour is conducted by an individual or group against
another, or others. Physically abusive behaviour, is where a child, adolescent or group
directly or indirectly ill treats, injures, or kills another or others. The aggressive
behaviour can involve pushing, shoving, shaking, punching, kicking, squeezing, burning
or any other form of physical assault on a person(s) or on property. Emotionally
abusive behaviour, is where there is verbal attacks, threats, taunts, slagging, mocking,
yelling, exclusion, and malicious rumours. Sexually abusive behaviour is where here is
sexual assault or rape” (O’Moore, n.d.).
http://www.comune.torino.it/novasres/newviolencedefinition.htm
“Interpersonal violence and bullying are an illegal way of confronting motives and needs
where one person, group or institution has a dominant role and forces others to submit
to it, being physically, socially and morally harmed” (Ortega, 2006, p. 31).
“The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself,
another person, or against a group or a community, that either results in or has a high
likelihood of resulting in injury, death or psychological harm, maldevelopment or
deprivation” (WHO, 2002, p. 5).
20
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource 5 Case study of a violent incident
You can represent the case with a drawing or diagram if you want:
Resource 6 Types of school violence
* e.g. social exclusion
*
*
*
*
*
21
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource 7 Summary of case studies
22
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource 8 Model of the school system
23
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
What We Know About
School Violence: Findings
From Research and Practice
Objectives of Chapter 1.2
• To increase knowledge and
understanding of the concept of school
bullying and violence
• To increase knowledge of how to
identify violent behaviour and separate
it from less serious (e.g. disruptive)
behaviour
• To be familiar with knowledge about
the incidence of school bullying and
violence in Europe
• To increase knowledge of the
characteristics of perpetrators and
victims of school bullying and violence.
• To be familiar with the role of new
technology in school bullying
Facilitation skills to be
developed through this
Chapter
Knowledge and understanding of:
• up-to-date knowledge of main
characteristics of perpetrators of
school bullying and violence
• the complexity of school bullying and
violence
• the range and causes of aggressive
and challenging behaviour
• the importance of a research based
approach to intervention
Personal qualities and attributes include:
• being an effective communicator
• having a good understanding of the
complexity of school bullying and
violence
• having a good understanding of
implementation strategies
• being an effective trainer of all
members if the school community
Pre-chapter reading
“An introductory story” (see Appendix 1)
Read the introduction and your country’s or a
neighbouring country’s report in:
Smith, P. K. (Ed.). (2003). Violence in schools.
The response in Europe. London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Summary of what we know
about school violence
School bullying and violence is a problem in
many nations. Throughout Europe, violence
has become a major concern for educational
policymakers and professionals who work in
schools. The exposure of children to various
forms of violence at school has become a
24
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
frequent topic of discussion in the media in
recent years. It has also attracted increasing
interest among researchers studying forms
and prevalence of violence in various settings,
usually the school and community (e.g.,
Smith, 2003). Increasing evidence points to
the negative effects of exposure to violence on
children’s development and everyday
functioning (see different national reports in
Smith, 2003). There is no doubt that living
under conditions of insecurity and the threat of
extreme violence is detrimental to children’s
development.
Many schools have responded to the problem
by implementing strategies to prevent and
reduce school violence. Some of them report
positive results, however, too many are of
limited or unknown efficacy. Therefore, it is
imperative that schools be aware of effective
preventions and interventions. An important
first step is knowledge of school bullying and
violence.
As discussed in Chapter A1 the concept of
school bullying and violence is diverse and
covers a variety of incidents and situations.
Exposure to violence at school is a significant
problem for European pupils, although
seriousness might differ both in frequency and
in how damaging it is for pupils and/or staff
involved. Every day there will be fights, pupils
hitting and kicking each other, in schools all
over Europe. For some students this is a single
fight never happening again and with limited
damage. Others might be involved in repeated
incidents of harassment, terror and physical or
psychological abuse over longer periods of
time. From time to time we hear about
extremely serious incidents at school, such as
hostage taking, pupils that are stabbed or shot
with fatal results. Witnessing violence and
experiencing threats of violence is also related
to a high level of trauma symptoms (Flannery,
Wester, & Singer 2004). Therefore, school
bullying and violence affect more pupils and
teachers than those directly involved.
The purpose of this chapter it to provide some
background information and context related to
school violence. It should help professionals in
school to understand the complexities of the
issue when making a decision about what to
do about violent situations they may
encounter. A central point of this chapter is
that the phenomenon of school violence draws
upon a range of policies and actions used to
respond to school violence or threats of
violence. In other words, a fight between two
pupils is one aspect of school violence; but
other aspects include the policies that are in
place to deal with the fight and the responses
to the fight by adults in school. Knowing how
to handle bullying and violence in schools
takes knowledge of the phenomenon.
Violence in schools and communities is no
longer an urban school problem; it is every
school’s problem (Garbarino, 1999). What
factors cause children to interact with
increasingly violent and anti-social behaviours?
What strategies can teachers and schools use
in order to help these childhood bullies who
grow up to be violent youths?
25
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Many promising options are available to
schools to address violence and other
inappropriate pupil behaviour; some of them
are presented in Section 5. The very breadth
and diversity of these options may pose a
problem in attempting to develop a
comprehensive local policy on this topic.
Effective school bullying and violence
prevention requires comprehensive planning
involving documenting the effects of best
practice programs, preventive strategies, and
effective responses to any violence that may
occur. Since research documentation is
inconsistent, it is incumbent upon schools to
consider carefully which programs best meet
the needs of their local situation, and to
monitor the effectiveness of new programs in
improving school safety and reducing
disruption and incivility.
Responsibilities of the
Chapter facilitators
Your tasks within this Chapter are to:
• send to all participants information
about when and where the session will
be held and details of preparatory
reading to be done
• familiarise yourself with the Chapter
text and the facilitators’ notes
• plan the session to meet the needs of
the participants
• ensure that all relevant
resources/materials are copied and/or
prepared
• lead the session and all the activities
Sequence for activities for
Chapter 1.2
This Chapter represents a half-day training of
2.5 hours plus breaks. Please note that this
Chapter is accompanied by a power point
presentation. The slides are referred to in the
text. The text is not intended as a fixed
manuscript for the Chapter. However, it will
provide the facilitator with sufficient
background material to lead the session. This
offers flexibility together with the opportunity
to extend the introduction if necessary. The
Chapter consists of two parts. Part 1 is an
introduction providing knowledge about the
extent and nature of school bullying and
violence. Part 2 introduces a case study and
activities based on the case study.
Activity 1 Lecture: What do
we know? (20 minutes)
Procedure
It is intended that the text that follows will be
used as a reference to guide the presentation
of the PowerPoint slides.
26
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Slides 2 and 3
School bullying and violence ranges from
incidents of bullying (Ertesvåg & Vaaland,
2006; Roland, 1998) and threats (Flannery et
al., 2004) to weapon carrying, murder, spree
shooting and fatalities (Barta, 2000). Although
more violence perpetration and victimization
occurs away from school, schools have not
been immune to the severest forms of
violence. While the risk of being a murder
victim at school is extremely low, pupils and
teachers are not isolated from other types of
violence and threats of being a victim of
bullying or violence might be as harmful as
actually being affected by violence (Flannery
et al., 2004). This Chapter will mainly focus on
the types of violence all teachers might expect
to meet in their work more or less on a daily
basis and on the prevention of these types of
violence.
How we interpret school bullying and violence
is influenced by the ideas we have about
violence. Among the pre-reading texts there
is a story about school professionals discussing
a fight between two pupils and what to do
about the situation. Certainly, it is difficult to
discuss a situation without more information.
However, even if we got the so-called facts of
the incident, we would still face ambiguities
based on our own thoughts about the situation
and may disagree on how the problem should
be solved. This occurs partly because we all
have different ideas about violence and
different definitions of what is and is not
violence, we have different feelings about
young people and how they should be treated,
and we also have different levels of
understanding about the responsibilities of
schools (see Chapter 1.1). In Chapter 2.2 the
need for schools to develop a shared
philosophy of school bullying and violence to
succeed in implementing sustainable change
will be discussed. In Chapter 5.5 an example
of how this might be initiated in a school is
discussed. However, for the time being we
look into what we know about the topic from
research and theory.
Because of increasing reports of incidents of
bullying and violence in schools, by
professionals in school, by media and
politicians, in most countries throughout
Europe governments have stressed the
importance of safe, violence-free schools. A
number of programs have been implemented
in schools and some report positive results.
However, a lot of them have limited or
unknown efficacy. School bullying and violence
represents a real threat to the safety of pupils
and staff and the belief that it is proliferating,
as well as the perceived lack of knowledge of
what actions to take by professionals in school
might increase the interest in the topic in
schools throughout Europe.
Incidence
Slide 4
There is great variation in the extent of our
knowledge base about school violence.
Although a range of statistics is available,
27
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
many country reports deplore the lack of
systematic data gathered on a large scale over
time. As Smith (2003) outlines, this is partly
an issue of definition and partly a lack of data
on violence. Furthermore, statistics on school
violence are based on a variety of instruments,
mostly pupil questionnaire self-reports, but
also structured interviews, teacher reports or
observations. One of the most extensive
reviews of school violence in European
countries was reported through the EU-funded
Connect projects and presented by Smith
(2003). All countries in the European Union (at
the time), Norway and Iceland reported the
situation in their country. Participants in the
VISTA course are advised to read their
country’s (or a neighbouring country’s) report
as part of the Chapter. In the report Smith
points out that most countries provide some
data on violence among pupils; other dyads
(e.g. pupil to teacher violence or teacher to
pupil violence) however are less frequently
reported.
Slide 5
School violence is a major problem affecting
pupils’ learning environment around the world
and the gross inadequacy of official data on
school violence has stimulated an important
growth in empirical research on the
phenomenon, be it violence or bullying. One
extensive report on school violence was based
on survey data exploring the amount of school
violence in 37 nations worldwide (Akiba,
LeTendre, Baker, & Goesling, 2002). In this
study school violence was measured through
self-reference victimization reports by pupils.
Slide 6
When looking at pupils’ reports as victims of
school violence in European countries relative
to other nations, most countries reported
about or below average. However, there were
large differences among European countries.
Pupils in Denmark reported the lowest
percentage (ca. 7%) of pupils in all nations
who became victims of school violence at least
once during the previous month of the survey.
Countries like Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden
and Norway reported 15% or less, and Ireland
and Spain were among countries reporting
between 15% and 30%. At the other end of
the scale, in Romania and Hungary about 65%
and 75% of the pupils reported being victims
of school violence. Not all European countries
were part of the survey, for example, the
United Kingdom was not included.
An interesting result from the TIMMS survey
data was that school violence rates were not
related to general crime rated in these 37
nations. Furthermore, school violence rates
were related to some social indicators such as
absolute deprivation and age distribution but
not to others such as income inequality or
social integration. School violence rates were
related to school-system variables and the
effect of these variables was independent of
social variables.
28
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
What do we know about school bullying
and violence?
Slide 7
The concept of school bullying and violence
was defined and discussed in Chapter 1.1.
Here we do not go further into the discussion
about definition. Working on school bullying
and violence is closely linked with working on
less serious behaviour, such as indiscipline,
disobedience and disruption (see Chapter 2.6).
Bullying, violence, harassment and disruptive
classroom behaviour are serious and
interrelated problems in schools throughout
Europe and the rest of the world. A disruptive
pupil, however, is not necessarily a violent
one. “Class clowns” can have a devastating
effect on instruction but may in no way cause
pupils or teachers to worry about their safety.
This does not imply that disruptive behaviour
is not related to school bullying and violence
(Roland, 1998). Classrooms characterised by
disruptive behaviour might experience a
cumulative effect which eventually leads to
more serious incidents if the disruptive
behaviour is not reduced. Furthermore,
teacher style is related to the amount of
school bullying and violence (Roland &
Galloway, 2002). Thus, less serious violence
carries major psychological weight through its
cumulative effect. This should be taken into
account when evaluating policies and
programs in the devising of which actions to
take. Most researchers into school violence
and bullying agree on its social implications
and on some inner aspects of the aggressive
situation.
A danger in focusing on school violence and
bullying might be to paint a picture of teachers
and administrators who do not care about the
problem of bullying, or seemingly about the
pupils at all. In daily life we can hear teachers
described negatively as “lazy”, “indifferent”
and “unaware”. Some of the features reveal an
unfavourable and unfair bias against teachers
and administrators as a whole. These kinds of
descriptions will certainly not encourage
teachers or administrators to improve their
professional development. However, it might
sometimes seem as if teachers, and other
professionals, are reluctant to intervene in
incidents of violence or bullying. Probably it is
not because they are indifferent, but more for
the reason a Norwegian head teacher stated
during an informal observation:
“I think some of the teachers at our school
turn away from incidents of bullying, but it is
not because they don’t care, it’s because they
don’t know what actions to take”.
A first step in knowing what to do is basic
knowledge of the phenomenon. We will now
look into some summarised knowledge about
bullying. There is some evidence that at least
some of this knowledge also relates to violence
in general (Akiba et al, 2002).
29
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
What do we know about victims of
bullying?
Slides 8 and 9
• No clear gender differences. Boys are
somewhat more likely to become
victims of bullying than girls in some
studies (e.g., Roland & Galloway,
2002). The opposite is found in other
studies and countries (e.g., Ortega,
del Rey, & Fernández, 2003)
• Occurrence of bullying decreases the
older the pupils become. However the
decrease is smaller for boys than girls.
• The most frequent type of bullying is
verbal bullying both for boys and girls.
• Boys are more often victims of
physical harassment and bullying, girls
are more often victims of social
exclusion.
• At least 5% of pupils in primary and
secondary schools are bullied weekly
or more often in countries all over the
world
(Based on Roland & Galloway, 2002; Cowie,
Jennifer, & Sharp, 2003; Ortega et al., 2003;
O’Moore & Minton, 2003).
What do we know about perprators of
bullying?
Slides 10 and 11
• Boys are more often offenders of
bullying than girls. These gender
differences increase with age
• Rates of offenders of bullying among
boys (in percent) show marked
increase with age
• Rates of offenders of bullying among
girls (in percent) are relatively stable
over age. Boys’ bullying contains,
more than girls’ bullying, physical
harassment; girls more often use
social exclusion
• Both boys and girls use teasing
• At least 5% of pupils bully others
every week or more often (differs from
one country to another)
(Based on Smith & Sharp, 1994; Everett &
Price, 1995; Roland & Galloway, 2002; Ortega
et al., 2003).
Bullying by mobile phone – studies from
Norway
Slides 12 and 13
In recent years new technology has brought
about new types of bullying. Roland (2002)
and Auestad and Roland (2005) have studied
bullying by mobile phone among a
representative sample of pupils in Norwegian
schools.
• About 15% of pupils using mobile
phones have experienced bullying.
30
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
• There are more reports of bullying
others and be victim of bullying by
SMS than by calls.
• More boys than girls are victims of
serious (every week or more often)
bullying by mobile phone. However,
more girls than boys are victims of
less serious (sometimes) bullying.
• Being the victim of bullying by mobile
phone is not related to grade level
• More pupils have mobile phone in
higher grades, therefore the problem
increases with age.
• From 2001 to 2004 there was a
decrease (about 50%) in the most
serious bullying, the less serious
bullying also decreased. However, the
decrease was less.
• Recently, photos taken by mobile have
become a problem. 4.5% of boys and
2.2% of girls admitted they had taken
photos of other in the locker room
once or more.
To sum up:
What do we know about school violence?
Slides 14 and 15
• School violence, like all violence,
cannot be explained simply by a single
cause but is complex and multi-
determined
• The educational literature makes it
abundantly clear that school violence
prevention and school improvement go
hand-in hand, yet there is also a
reluctance to discuss many of the
sensitive topics associated with school
bullying and violence (Midthassel &
Ertesvåg, 2006).
• School violence is not limited to one
country. It is international in scope
(Akiba et al., 2002; Smith, 2003)
• In many countries, significant research
has been done in the past 25 years
(Smith, 2003)
• Bullying is a major component of
school violence yet bullying is not a
well-understood phenomenon in all
countries throughout Europe, although
we gradually increase our knowledge.
How we understand school violence and
bullying partly depends on what theoretical
approach we have. There is a multitude of
different theoretical approaches to school
violence. We have chosen an ecological
approach, a perspective well suited for
approaching the complex aspects of school
violence and bullying. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-
ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979,
1995; Bronfenbrenner & Morris 1998) offers a
framework integrating the various factors
associated with school violence. In this
framework we can describe school violence
and bullying as an interplay among several
relevant subsystems (i.e pupil, family school
and neighbourhood). This type of nested
ecological theory can be described as an
interactionist theory that tries to understand
human behaviour as a “duet” between a
31
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
person’s individual biological and psychological
characteristics and contextual and
environmental variables, both social and
physical (Ertesvåg & Bø, in press). This
environment may include other human beings
who are involved in the situation (other pupils,
teachers) and includes the physical
environment (class and school size, school
structure). As obvious as this may seem,
many interventions to prevent or reduce
school bullying and violence overlook the
multilevel nature of the phenomena, focusing
either on pupils or the school as an
organization. Interventions will benefit from
addressing school bullying and violence both
at individual, class and school level.
Factors related to school violence range from
those concerning the individual pupil to social
factors – school organization, the community
in which the school is embedded, the
characteristics of the pupil’s family, including
their culture and country of residence. These
factors follow many levels of hierarchy –
individual pupils within their classes, classes
within schools, schools within neighbourhoods,
and neighbourhoods within societies and
cultures (Duncan & Raudenbush, 1999; Lee,
2000). One important question concerning
school violence is the degree to which these
nested ecological factors contribute to pupil
victimization in the school grounds and
furthermore, how to prevent and reduce
school bullying and violence.
There are many recommendations from
schools and school psychology services on how
to approach school bullying and violence based
on research and practice. We will attend to
these later in the course. For the time being
we will look into some recommendations for
work on school district level based on this
theoretical approach (see also Chapter 4.3).
The school district administration has a unique
opportunity to initiate collaborative approaches
to interventions aimed at preventing and
reducing school bullying and violence including
different schools in a community. A broad-
based project group might be organized and
serve as the facilitative body to guide schools
through the program. An example is the local
educational board of Oslo that in cooperation
with the Centre of Behavioural Research,
University of Stavanger, initiated a
comprehensive program involving 30 primary,
secondary and combined schools in the
ConnectOSLO program, a continuation of the
Norwegian branch of the European Connect UK
001 project.
The Local Educational Board of the city of Oslo
had the responsibility for administration of the
project and played an important role in
promoting non-violence in the Schools of Oslo
(Ertesvåg & Vaaland, 2006).
In order for a school district to choose a
conceptual model and to prioritise the order of
the components of a comprehensive violence
prevention and intervention program it might
be helpful to construct a procedural scaffolding
to guide the planning and implementation of
the initiative. The procedures need to be based
32
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
on theory and research on innovation and
adjusted to the country in which it is carried
out. (In a Norwegian setting a guide to
implementing intervention is presented in
Ertesvåg, 2001, 2002). The relative usefulness
of such a plan is a function of its capacity to
organize the effort along a pathway that brings
order to the process and understanding to the
participants.
We will return to the role of the school district
administration in implementation of prevention
and intervention programs in Chapter 2.2.
Activity 2: Classroom level
(30 minutes)
Purpose
• To reflect on how we interpret and
understand school bullying and
violence
• To provide the opportunity to
recognise that we might understand
the nature and concept of school
bullying and violence in different ways,
that is. based on professional position,
education and the ideas we have about
life in general
• To be able to identify different types of
problem behaviour in a classroom
context and to separate violent
behaviour from disruptive behaviour
• To reflect on teacher style as part of
preventing and reducing school
bullying and violence
Materials
Resource 1 The classroom
Resource 4 Suggestions for systematizing
measures
Procedure
Read the story described in Resource 1 The
classroom. Discuss the following question in
groups of about 5 people:
- What is violent behaviour and what can be
considered as disruptive behaviour described,
discussed or actually happening in this
classroom setting?
- What are the problems related to preventing
and reducing school bullying and violence in
the classroom described?
- What measures will you implement on
classroom level? (See Resource 4).
Activity 3 The school level
(30 minutes)
Purpose
• To provide an opportunity to reflect on
the necessity of a shared
understanding of school bullying and
violence
33
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
• To understand possible reasons for
different opinions of school bullying
and violence among actors at school
Materials
Resource 2 The school
Resource 4 Suggestions for systemising
measures
Procedure
Read the case described in Resource 2 The
school individually. Discuss the following
questions in the same groups as in exercise 1.
- Why is there a need for a shared
understanding of what behaviour to expect
from the pupils among staff in a school and
among staff and parents?
- How can schools work on creating a shared
understanding of school bullying and violence?
- What measures will you implement to create
a shared understanding of school bullying and
violence? (See Resource 4 Suggestions for
systemising measures).
Activity 4 A whole school
approach (40 minutes)
Purpose
• To be able to recognise action needed
at individual, class and school level
• To be able to identify problem areas
and decide on possible measures
Materials
Resource 3 John
Procedure
In the same groups as before and based on all
the information you have from Resource 1, 2
and 3 discuss the following questions.
Emphasis the individual level and discuss the
interrelation between the three levels.
Measures will mutually strengthen each other
if they have the same focus.
- What kind of measures would you use at
classroom, school and individual level?
- Who is responsible for carrying out the
measures?
- Which target group(s) do you have for your
work?
- Is there any particular circumstance you
have to take care of?
- For how long will you work before you do an
evaluation?
Activity 5 Debriefing (30
minutes)
At the end of the discussions, there could be a
plenary discussion of how best to respond to
the problems presented in Activities 2, 3 and
4. This is an opportunity to share different
34
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
views and relief measures at all three levels of
school bullying and violence. The facilitator
summarises the results of the activities,
drawing upon the examples arising in the
group work and the plenary session, and
making links with the theoretical issues raised
in the pre-reading and the summary. Finally,
the facilitator should allow time for participants
to raise any questions or make any comments
regarding the power point presentation and
the results of the activities.
References
Akiba, M., LeTendre, G. K., Baker, D. P., &
Goesling, B. (2002). Student victimization:
National and school system effects on school
violence in 37 nations. American Educational
Research Journal, 39, 829-853.
Auestad, G. & Roland, E. (2005). Mobbing og
mobiltelefon. [Bullying and mobile phone]
Spesialpedagogikk, 4, 4-11
Barta, M. T. (2000). Death in the classroom:
Violence in schools. In. D. Capuzzi & D. R.
Gross (Eds.), Youth at risk: A prevention
resource for counsellors, teachers and parents
(3rd ed., pp. 385-408). Alexandria, VA:
American Counselling Association.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of
human development. Experiments by nature
and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1995). Developmental
ecology through space and time: A future
perspective. In P. Moen, G. H. Elder, & K.
Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context (pp.
619-647). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998).
The ecology of developmental processes. In R.
M. Lerner (Ed), Handbook of child psychology,
Vol. 1, (5th ed., pp. 993-1028). New York:
Wiley.
Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., & Sharp, S. (2003).
School violence in the United Kingdom:
Addressing the problem. In P. K. Smith (Ed.),
Violence in schools. The response in
Europe(pp. 265-281). London:
RoutledgeFalmer
Duncan, G. J., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1999).
Assessing the effects of context in studies of
child and youth development. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 34, 29-41.
Ertesvåg, S. K. (2001). Prosjektorgansiering
av lokale utviklingsarbeid – rettleiing for
prosjekt i PPT og skule. [Project management
in schools improvement project – a guide for
schools and school psychology services].
Trøndelag kompetansesente
Ertesvåg, S. K. (2002). Prosjekt som
arbeidsmetode i SAMTAK.[Project managenent
in SAMTAK] Spesialpedagogikk, 6 pp.
35
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Ertesvåg, S. K. (2003). ConnectOSLO. Centre
of Behaviour Research, Stavanger University
College.
Ertesvåg, S., & Bø, I. (in press). Gjensyn med
Urie Bronfenbrenner - etter hans ”arbeidsdag”
på 60 år [Urie Bronfenbrenner revisited – after
his 60-years’ of work] Nordisk Pedagogikk.
Ertesvåg, S., & Vaaland, G. K. (2006).
Prevention and reduction of behavioural
problems in school: A pilot evaluation.
(Manuscript submitted for publication)
Everett, S. A., & Price, J. H. (1995). Students’
perception of violence in the public schools:
The MetLife Survey. Journal of Adolescent
Health, 17, 345-352.
Flannery, D. J., Wester, K. L., & Singer, M. I.
(2004). Impact of exposure to violence in
school on child and adolescent metal health
and behaviour. Journal of Community
Psychology, 32, 559-573.
Garbarino, J. (1999). What children can tell us
about living with violence. In M. Sugar (Ed.),
Trauma and adolescence. Madison, CT:
International Universities Press.
Lee, V. E. (2000). Using hierarchical linear
modelling to study social context: The case of
school effects. Educational Psychologist, 35,
125-141.
Midthassel, U. V, & Ertesvåg, S. K. (2006).
Schools Implementing Zero. The process of
implementing an anti-bullying program in six
Norwegian compulsory schools. (Manuscript
submitted for publication)
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying in schools: What
we know and what we can do. Oxford:
Blackwell.
O`Moore, M., & Minton, S. (2003). Tackling
violence in schools: A report from Ireland. In
P. K. Smith (Ed.), Violence in schools. The
response in Europe(pp. 282-297). London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Ortega, R., del Rey, R., & Fèrnandez, I.
(2003). Working together to prevent school
violence: The Spanish response. In P. K.
Smith (Ed.), Violence in schools. The response
in Europe(pp. 135-152). London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Roland, E., (1998). School influences on
bullying. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Durham, UK.
Roland, E. (2002). Mobbing gjennom
mobiltelefon. [Bullying by mobile phone],
Spesialpedagogikk, 3, 3-8.
Roland, E., & Galloway, D. (2002). Classroom
influences on bullying. Educational Research,
44, 299-312.
Smith, P. K. (Ed.). (2003). Violence in schools.
The response in Europe. London:
36
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
RoutledgeFalmer.
Smith, P. K., & Sharp, S. (1994). School
bullying: Insights and perspectives. London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
Resource packs
Resource 1 The classroom
Introduction
John is nine years old, a grade 4 boy at a primary school. You met him in the pre-chapter
reading story (Appendix 1). His form teacher has reported concerns about John due to
disruptive behaviour and repeated incidents of harassment and bullying of other pupils.
The teacher has also told the observers that there have been repeated incidents of verbal
bullying of a girl in class and John seems to be very active in this harassment. The School
Psychology Service is supervising the school in this case. A preliminary inquiry reveals that
the case is not limited to John and his problems. Based on an ecological perspective,
measures at the class-, school-, and individual level are recommended. Along with
individual measures, classroom initiatives are made to strengthen the social climate of the
class. As part of classroom measures colleagues from the School Psychology Service do an
observation in the classroom.
The students are returning from break. It is noisy, pupils are talking loudly and shoving chairs and
desks. The lesson starts with a twenty minute lunch break in the classroom. While the students are
eating, the teacher is talking about a school outing and a fight between two boys, Brian from grade 5
and John. While the teacher talks, some pupils make comments to the teachers and he responds.
Four of the boys are talking loudly to each other. They leave their desks and walk around in the
classroom. The teacher acts calmly and does not pay attention to their talking, but he comments that
they are walking around in the classroom. The pupils pay no attention. However, after a while they
return to their desks.
John is seated at the front of the classroom. He is very loudmouthed and makes many cheeky
comments to the teacher: “ Peter (the teacher), why are you saying that....”, “That was stupid,
Peter”. The other boys have comments on John, “You are stupid, John”, ”You always mess up”, “You
are the reason we will never have an outing again”...
37
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
The class has now finished the meal break and is going to work on English language. John starts to
pull the curtains in such a way that the teacher gets the sun in his eyes. The teacher does not
comment, but moves away from the sun.
John starts calling a girl: ” bitch, witch...” The girl responds by raising her hand, calling for the
teacher’s attention. It takes a long time before she gets a response. The teacher is listening to the
girl and then asks John to stop.
While this is happening the teacher is instructing the class to listen to a story on the CD-player. When
he goes to insert the CD he discovers that he left it in the staff room and has to leave the classroom
too fetch it. While he returns to the classroom half of the boys are gone and the rest of them are
running around in the classroom, hiding themselves behind the curtains or standing on the desks. The
girls are sitting quietly at their desks. The teacher finds the pupils that have left the classroom, but
has to struggle to get them back as they were making objections. John did not interact with any of
the other pupils. He was standing at the top of his desk yelling into the classroom. At last the teacher
gets all the pupils into their places and the lesson can continue...
Resource 2 The school
The head teacher and the form teacher in John’s class are interviewed by the educational
psychologists about the situation at the school and within John’s class in particular.
The situation in John’s class was not special, several classes at the school were in the same situation
especially concerning disruptive behaviour in the classroom. The head teacher was aware of the
situation in John’s class, since both the form teacher and parents had discussed the situation with
him.
The head teacher had participated in class parent meetings, but overall shown little interest in
arranging for practical measures that the form teacher had suggested to solve the problem.
The head teacher spent overall little time at the school and the form teacher did not think he knew
him very well either. He had the impression that most of the staff felt the same way.
John’s class had several teachers during the school week. There was little or no cooperation between
the different teachers. There was no discussion about how to address the pupils’ disruptive behaviour
38
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
in the classroom, no procedures on how to handle incidents of bullying or other types of violence.
Accordingly, there was no consensus about what behaviour they expected from the students. Some of
them thought it was acceptable for students to walk around in the classrooms or go to the toilet
without asking for permission, others did not think this was good pupil behaviour.
The form teacher of the class had tried to cooperate with the parents at parent meetings and parent
conferences. The parents had attended school activity days but they were now more and more hostile
against teachers, the head teacher and the school because they did not handle the class well.
Resource 3 John
In the interview the head teacher and form teacher also revealed:
John has serious academic difficulties, with his behaviour and with peer relations at school. He is
struggling both with reading and mathematics. He is falling behind the academic development of the
rest of the class’. He has repeatedly been in fights with other pupils in and outside the school. John
also had problems in kindergarten.
John has the same problems outside school. The school explain the boys’ difficulties through trouble
in the family. Johns mother has been addicted to drugs and Social Services have taken care of the
family since John was a baby. John’s father has a steady job and has managed relatively well. After
the boy tried to set a garbage container on fire, the school asked for help.
39
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Resource 4: Suggestions for systemising measures
A visual presentation of (possible) goals and measures in a whole school approach to the
problems described might help you to systemise individual measures (Resource 4 will be
further developed in Chapter 2.2).
Goal
Classroom
level
Measure Date
(done
within)
Target
group
Responsible Comments
Goal
School level
Measure Date
(done
within)
Target
group
Responsible Comments
Example:
Map the school
situation according
to disruptive
behaviour at
classroom level
To give an
account of
the problem
at school
level
January
15th
Those
employed
at the
school
The head
teacher
A step towards
shared
understanding of
school violence at
school level
Goal
Individual level
Measure Date
(done
within)
Target
group
Responsible Comments
40
VISTA/VISTOP School Bullying and Violence: Taking Action Project 129352-CP-1-2006-1-DE-COMENIUS-C21 www.vistop.org
© Cowie, H., Jennifer, D., Chankova, D., Poshtova, T., Deklerck, J., Deboutte, G., Ertesvåg, S. K., Samuelsen, A. S., O'Moore, M., Minton, S. J., Ortega, R. & Sanchez, V. (2006)
Appendix 1 An introductory
story…
In a meeting teachers, school leaders and
school psychologists discussed an incident that
had occurred in a primary school. Two boys,
John and Brian, had fought on a school outing,
and though nobody was hurt, both boys had
thrown punches. Brian was a star pupil, with
excellent grades and a promising athlete.
John did not perform well academically and his
form teacher had asked the school psychology
service for classroom observation due to the
boys’ disruptive behaviour. After the fight,
John claimed the other pupil had taunted him
in the past. Brian claimed that he had never
spoken to John before, let alone taunted him.
When the group of professionals discussed the
incident, important issues were raised about
youth violence and responses to violence in
schools. One teacher wanted to suspend John
for starting the fight, and another insisted that
both boys be expelled because each had
violated the school’s zero-tolerance policy. One
teacher felt that the boys should be required
to attend peer mediation and perform some
type of community service but not be
suspended or expelled. Another felt that they
should be arrested and charged with “breach
of the peace”. The one who recommended
peer mediation and community service felt
that John should be offered a second chance
because he was “disadvantaged” and had
academic problems, a second teacher
responded that the boy would never “learn his
lesson” if he “got away with it”. Some teachers
wanted to explore whether Brian had taunted
John. One teacher wanted to let the whole
thing blow over, stating “it was only a tussle
between two boys”.
How we interpret this incident is influenced by
the knowledge and ideas we have of violence.
Certainly, we could do with more information
about the incident and about the boys.
However, even if we got the so-called facts of
the incident, we would still face ambiguities
based on our own thoughts about the situation
and may disagree on how the problem should
be solved. This occurs partly because we all
have different ideas about violence and
different definitions of what is and is not
violence, we have different feelings about
young people and how they should be treated:
and we also have different levels of
understanding about the responsibilities of
schools. Chapter 1.2 aims to introduce some
key knowledge to professionals to increase
their knowledge of school bullying and
violence. The pre-reading text is meant to give
background information and context related to
school bullying and violence. It should help
readers understand the complexities of the
issue when deciding how to approach school
bullying and violence at their own school.
41