Session Information
05 SES 05 A, Examining Bullying and Conflict
Paper Session
Contribution
Bullying as one of the most aggressive and long-term forms of aggression, is common worldwide (UNESCO, 2019). Frequency of bullying is different through studies and time - from 3.5% (Leymann, 1992) to 10.6% (Hoel, Cooper, 2000) and 27.2% of population report experience of bullying of any kind (Keashly, 1998). Differences in these results could be due to various definitions and measurments of bullying.
Education policy makers from all around the globe are increasingly concerned about bullying in schools (Rigby, 2007). Students’ exposure to bullying at school is a major problem in several countries around the world and spread of bullying varies significantly from country to country (OECD, 2017).
Physical abuse is the most common form of visible violence in schools and is therefore perceived by educators as the most serious type of bullying (Rivara and Le Menestrel, 2016).
Bullying at school can affect any student making school life uncomfortable and affecting performance (OECD, 2019). Bullying can negatively affect students’ academic achievement as emotional, victimization, behavioral and psychological consequences affect student focus on learning tasks (Nakamoto and Schwartz, 2010). Bullying has serious consequences on both - victims and attackers (Rivers, 2000). Adolescents who are involved in bullying as attackers, victims, or both are more likely not to finish a class or leave school, and their level knowledge is lower than of their schoolmates, for whom such conflict situations have not been identified (Konishi et al., 2010).
Studies show that in OECD countries schools with a higher incidence of bullying (more than 10% of students exposed) score lower on educational achievement than schools with a lower incidence (less than 5%). The differences in learning outcomes between these two types of schools are significant, even when controlling for differences in the socio-economic status of schools. This shows that high levels of bullying often have a strong impact on learning outcomes and performance (OECD, 2017).
All large scale international studies of education include questions about students’ experiences with bullying-related behaviours at school. It is obvious that all students appreciate a school environment where bullying is unusual, and wellbeing is an everyday practice.
The results obtained within several cycles of IEA’s (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) have been discussed in this paper. Different aspects of relations between bullying, school climate, wellbeing and its influence on students’ achievement in reading literacy test have been discussed within the framework of the proposed paper.
The research question of the proposed presentation are: How bullying is related to students’ performance in reading? And how influence of bullying on reading achevement has changed through years in different European countries?
PIRLS data from European countries which have participated in at least two cycles of PIRLS are analyzed.
Method
All data are obtained within the cycles of IEA’s PIRLS (e.g. PIRLS 2001, PIRLS 2006 and PIRLS 2016). Standard set of instruments (school questionnaire, student questionnaire, parents’ questionnaire and test booklets) has been used to obtain data from the representative sample of schools. Standard sampling procedures developed by Statistics Canada were put into practice for the selection of participating schools. Data stored in international PIRLS database have been used for comparative analysis. Data processing is performed by SPSS software. Regression analysis of data is the main method of data processing. The main research activities are about: • Bullying and its relation to student achievement, • Disciplinary climate in school and its association with school characteristics and student achievement, • Students’ sense of belonging to school, depending on the bullying and the school climate as whole, • Changes in bullying and its’ influences over time in European countries.
Expected Outcomes
Expected outcomes are the following: 1. Overview of student achievement results in PIRLS and key trends related to school climate, sense of belonging, and bullying. 2. Analysis of international data from PIRLS questionnaires regarding school climate, sense of belonging, and bullying. 3. Bullying at schools is increasing, in many cases so is student achievement, too. There have to be differences in relationship between bullying and student performance. The purpose of the paper is to find factors behind it and see how general they are. 4. Recommendations for school heads, teachers, parents and policy makers will be formulated to help taking care of positive and effective school climate.
References
Hoel H. & Cooper C. L. (2000). Working with Victims of Workplace Bullying. In H. Kemshall & I. Pritchard (Eds) Good Practice in Working with Victims of Violence. London, Jessica Kingsly Publishers, p. 101-118. Keashly L. (1998). Emotional abuse in the workplace: Conceptual and empirical issues. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 1, p. 85-117. Konishi, C. et al. (2010). Do school bullying and student-teacher relationships matter for academic achievement? A multilevel analysis. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, Vol. 25/1, pp. 19-39, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0829573509357550 Leymann H. (1992). From bullying to Expulsion from Working Life. Publica, Stockholm. Nakamoto, J. & Schwartz, D. (2010). Is peer victimization associated with academic achievement? A meta-analytic review. Social Development, Vol. 19/2, pp. 221-242, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00539.x OECD (2017). PISA 2015 Results (Volume III): Students' Well-Being. France, Paris, OECD, 528 pp., ISBN: 9789264273856 (PDF), https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264273856-en OECD (2019). PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives. France, Paris, OECD, 368 pp., ISBN: 9789264816268 (HTML), 9789264562837 (EPUB), 9789264879720 (PDF), https://doi.org/10.1787/acd78851-en Rigby, K. (2007). Bullying in Schools: And What to Do about It, Australian Council for Education Research, Melbourne, AU. Rivara, F. & Le Menestrel, S. (eds.) (2016). Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice, National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. Rivers, I. (2000). Long-term consequences of bullying. In C. Neal and D. Davies (eds.), Issues in Therapy with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Clients, Open University Press, Maidenhead, BRK, England, pp. 146-159. UNESCO (2019). Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying, Paris.
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