Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.49.3.4
School Climate and Conflicts in School
Saša Puzić
orcid.org/0000-0001-7231-7312
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
Branislava Baranović
orcid.org/0000-0001-6768-3596
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
Karin Doolan
orcid.org/0000-0002-6478-062X
; Department of Sociology, University of Zadar
Abstract
The article reports on empirical research which examined pupils’, teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of school climate related to conflicts among pupils. Pupil conflicts were explored from an ecological-developmental perspective, including a sample of 370 pupils in their final year of compulsory schooling across 10 primary schools in Zagreb, 29 teachers and 5 principals. The research employed a mixed methods design: questionnaires administered to pupils, focus groups with teachers and interviews with principals. The results show that verbal conflicts between pupils prevail, but a substantial number of pupils also reported physical conflicts among pupils. Pupil responses indicated that both conflictual and cooperative relations exist in schools. In relation to teacher-pupil contact, pupils reported they perceived teachers as people they could rely on for support in conflict resolution, but at the same time expressed lower estimates for teachers’ respect for pupils. The research identified girls in comparison to boys as “more sensitive” to violence in schools, as well as a more positive perception of the school enviroment by pupils with higher grades and pupils who less often experienced violence in schools. Teachers and principals reported that milder forms of conflict among pupils were part of everyday school life. Several teachers and principals expressed their concern with the phenomenon of “cyber-bullying”, i.e. verbal violence over Facebook. The insufficient professional development of teachers in conflict resolution, restricted organisational characteristics of schools, pupils’ health problems and problems in the family environment have been identified as factors which negatively affect school climate and the incidence of conflicts.
Keywords
school climate; ecological-developmental perspective; conflict and violence in schools; relations between pupils; pupil-teacher relations; pupil perspective; teacher and principal perspective
Hrčak ID:
79838
URI
Publication date:
13.4.2012.
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