The culture of bullying in a primary school
- Authors: Macdonald, Helen Margaret
- Date: 2012-09-05
- Subjects: Bullying in schools - South Africa , School environment - South Africa , Schools - Social aspects - South Africa
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:9593 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7015
- Description: M.Ed. , School bullying has become a serious problem worldwide, affecting as many as one in four children. Although not much research on bullying has been conducted in South Africa, bullying has been found to underlie psychological problems, violence and suicide. A common myth among people is that bullying is seen as something that only happens at other schools, but according to many researchers it happens at all schools. Until recently, research has focused on deficit-positivistic perspectives that have viewed bullying as a cause and effect relationship. This consequently led to a belief that the problem can be 'fixed'. This resulted in the use of ad-hoc, short-term strategies that have served to alleviate the problem of bullying temporarily. The focus of this research was to gain a thorough understanding of how the unique culture at Hillside Primary School influenced bullying behaviour, by identifying and describing the values and norms of the various members of the community, that underlie bullying. This study was based on a constructive, ecosystemic and critical perspective, and therefore focused on the whole system, rather than only on the bully and/or the victim. An integration of Davidoff and Lazarus's (1997) framework for whole-school development and Keith Sullivan's continuum model, which shows the relationship between the school's philosophy and the school environment, was used to understand and interpret the findings. It is contended that if members of a community are made aware of the values, norms, beliefs and attitudes that contribute towards bullying, then they are in a position to change them. It is argued that such an approach will lead to deep and long lasting change because it is preventative in nature, rather than solely relying on intervention. The methodological design used to achieve the research aim was a qualitative critical ethnography. The sample was purposefully and theoretically selected. This design allowed the researcher into the here and now perspectives of the participants at Hillside Primary School, once a week, over a period of approximately two terms. Moreover, it accommodated the flexible and emergent nature of the research, and allowed for thick, rich interpretive descriptions of the process. The researcher used the Grade seven class as one of the systems of the school, as a lens to explore the culture of the school, through participant observation. The data that emerged was continuously interpreted by means of the constant comparative method of data analysis.The main finding of the study indicated that bullying is a complex phenomenon that is interwoven into numerous values and norms of a predominant authoritarian culture that unwittingly condone bullying. The findings also revealed that Hillside Primary School may be described as a conflicted school, because its philosophy does not cohere with the implementation of democratic procedures. This is indicative of an unsafe learning environment. The research concludes that if schools in South Africa are serious about combating bullying, then they need to first become authentic, purposeful communities, in which all members of a community identify and commit to core values.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Macdonald, Helen Margaret
- Date: 2012-09-05
- Subjects: Bullying in schools - South Africa , School environment - South Africa , Schools - Social aspects - South Africa
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:9593 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7015
- Description: M.Ed. , School bullying has become a serious problem worldwide, affecting as many as one in four children. Although not much research on bullying has been conducted in South Africa, bullying has been found to underlie psychological problems, violence and suicide. A common myth among people is that bullying is seen as something that only happens at other schools, but according to many researchers it happens at all schools. Until recently, research has focused on deficit-positivistic perspectives that have viewed bullying as a cause and effect relationship. This consequently led to a belief that the problem can be 'fixed'. This resulted in the use of ad-hoc, short-term strategies that have served to alleviate the problem of bullying temporarily. The focus of this research was to gain a thorough understanding of how the unique culture at Hillside Primary School influenced bullying behaviour, by identifying and describing the values and norms of the various members of the community, that underlie bullying. This study was based on a constructive, ecosystemic and critical perspective, and therefore focused on the whole system, rather than only on the bully and/or the victim. An integration of Davidoff and Lazarus's (1997) framework for whole-school development and Keith Sullivan's continuum model, which shows the relationship between the school's philosophy and the school environment, was used to understand and interpret the findings. It is contended that if members of a community are made aware of the values, norms, beliefs and attitudes that contribute towards bullying, then they are in a position to change them. It is argued that such an approach will lead to deep and long lasting change because it is preventative in nature, rather than solely relying on intervention. The methodological design used to achieve the research aim was a qualitative critical ethnography. The sample was purposefully and theoretically selected. This design allowed the researcher into the here and now perspectives of the participants at Hillside Primary School, once a week, over a period of approximately two terms. Moreover, it accommodated the flexible and emergent nature of the research, and allowed for thick, rich interpretive descriptions of the process. The researcher used the Grade seven class as one of the systems of the school, as a lens to explore the culture of the school, through participant observation. The data that emerged was continuously interpreted by means of the constant comparative method of data analysis.The main finding of the study indicated that bullying is a complex phenomenon that is interwoven into numerous values and norms of a predominant authoritarian culture that unwittingly condone bullying. The findings also revealed that Hillside Primary School may be described as a conflicted school, because its philosophy does not cohere with the implementation of democratic procedures. This is indicative of an unsafe learning environment. The research concludes that if schools in South Africa are serious about combating bullying, then they need to first become authentic, purposeful communities, in which all members of a community identify and commit to core values.
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The life experiences of children in middle childhood who continue to be bullied
- Authors: Macdonald, Helen Margaret
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Bullying , Bullying in schools
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/365792 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233846 , uj:23884
- Description: D.Ed. , Abstract: Bullying continues to be a complex international problem that has the potential to debilitate some individuals more than others, leaving those who are bullied with unpleasant memories, feelings of frustration and anger, and diminished self- esteem. There are several meta analyses of bullying interventions that indicate minimal or no change (Merrell, Gueldner, Ross, & Isava, 2008). The question thus arises, “What are the life experiences of children in middle childhood, who continue to be bullied?” This research study was conducted to more thoroughly investigate bullying in middle childhood and to determine more effective prevention efforts. A phenomenological design with a bioecological and social constructionist perspective was used to guide this research study. This qualitative approach was employed to investigate the significant life experiences of three middle childhood children who have been bullied consistently since early childhood. The data were collected through creative expressive arts, in-depth interviews with the participants and their parents, observations and conversations with the relevant teachers and peers. This study was conducted over four phases. In the first phase, planning and preparation took place, including the development and acceptance of the research proposal and a critical review of the literature. Phase 2 and 3 occurred simultaneously because as the data were collected the analysis of the data commenced. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was employed to interpret the data. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: the experiences of maternal stress; the experiences of trauma; the experiences of innocent versus wicked1; and the experiences of supportive relationships. The findings indicated that the experiences of maternal stress commenced in utero, also when the participants all first experienced trauma. All the participants found bullying to be traumatic, and insight into their various experiences of being bullied emerged. Lastly, the experiences of supportive relationships, including positive and negative experiences are discussed. In order to extend this study's findings to practical application, the fourth phase of this study highlight two important missing theoretical links, namely, the element of trauma is one of the criteria for the definition of bullying, and the importance of the mother’s womb for human development is lacking in Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model. The fourth phase...
- Full Text:
- Authors: Macdonald, Helen Margaret
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Bullying , Bullying in schools
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/365792 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/233846 , uj:23884
- Description: D.Ed. , Abstract: Bullying continues to be a complex international problem that has the potential to debilitate some individuals more than others, leaving those who are bullied with unpleasant memories, feelings of frustration and anger, and diminished self- esteem. There are several meta analyses of bullying interventions that indicate minimal or no change (Merrell, Gueldner, Ross, & Isava, 2008). The question thus arises, “What are the life experiences of children in middle childhood, who continue to be bullied?” This research study was conducted to more thoroughly investigate bullying in middle childhood and to determine more effective prevention efforts. A phenomenological design with a bioecological and social constructionist perspective was used to guide this research study. This qualitative approach was employed to investigate the significant life experiences of three middle childhood children who have been bullied consistently since early childhood. The data were collected through creative expressive arts, in-depth interviews with the participants and their parents, observations and conversations with the relevant teachers and peers. This study was conducted over four phases. In the first phase, planning and preparation took place, including the development and acceptance of the research proposal and a critical review of the literature. Phase 2 and 3 occurred simultaneously because as the data were collected the analysis of the data commenced. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was employed to interpret the data. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: the experiences of maternal stress; the experiences of trauma; the experiences of innocent versus wicked1; and the experiences of supportive relationships. The findings indicated that the experiences of maternal stress commenced in utero, also when the participants all first experienced trauma. All the participants found bullying to be traumatic, and insight into their various experiences of being bullied emerged. Lastly, the experiences of supportive relationships, including positive and negative experiences are discussed. In order to extend this study's findings to practical application, the fourth phase of this study highlight two important missing theoretical links, namely, the element of trauma is one of the criteria for the definition of bullying, and the importance of the mother’s womb for human development is lacking in Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model. The fourth phase...
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