Dealing with secondary school violence, teachers speak

grantor: University of TorontoThis study seeks to explore constructions of violence from a sampling of urban and rural setting teachers and to provide insights into current directions in teacher-based violence-response and violence-prevention strategies. The analysis draws on research findings, in the Winter/Spring of 1996/97, at two secondary schools, one urban and Catholic, the other rural and Public. This study, qualitative and descriptive in nature, used audio-taped teacher/participant interviews and classroom observation as the main strategies for data collection. Twelve experienced full-time secondary school teachers, male and female, were interviewed. The study focusses on the perceptions of teachers as those who deal with violence 'on the front line' and are the prime implementers of educational change. Interviews, seven at a large district rural high school, and five at a large urban secondary school, were often several hours in length, semi-structured, and interpretive in nature. Seven teachers were selected for more in-depth investigation by way of classroom observation. The selections satisfied a number of criteria: male and female participants, representation from both schools, and a wide range of subjects and levels taught. The teacher/participants conceptualized violence as 'any behaviour intended to be seriously hurtful or harmful, whether perpetrated by one person on another or directed towards oneself. Such behaviour can include physical or non-physical acts of psychological emotional, physical, economic, spiritual, verbal, and self abuse.' From their perspectives on violence, teachers of both settings perceived their schools as non-violent. The perception of the rural school as non-violent did not stand up. The study explored contradictions between and among: teachers' general constructions of violence in schools, teachers' ideas and images concerning violence in their schools, and teachers' particular constructions of violence in their own schools using their own articulated definitions as points of reference. Teachers' strategies for dealing with school violence fall into two categories: reactive and proactive. Reactive include: rational intervention, separation, threats, curricular penalties, expulsion, humour, professionalism, and school databases. Proactive include: interesting curriculum, focus time, extra-curricular activities, environmental concerns, positive reinforcement, counselling, Zero Tolerance, student participation, and participative democracy. In this instance, the more participative and more democratic the school culture, the less violent.Ph.D