"I didn’t want to be known as a snitch": Using PAR to explore bullying in a private day and boarding school

Bullying research in secondary schools is plentiful in the literature but in the context of private day and boarding schools research is limited. This study used a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework embedded in the philosophy of social constructionism to add to the knowledge in this field. PAR is quite distinct from traditional research because it includes participants collaboratively in the research process. To this end a group of students in a private day and boarding school were recruited and trained in research methods. We worked together to answer the main research question: What do young people in this private day and boarding school view as the core issue of bullying in the school and how do they want to address this? This study followed three distinct cycles of PAR through inquiry, action and reflection. Cycle one investigated the bullying definition used by the school in terms of how it is understood from the viewpoint of students, teachers, and parents. Cycle two investigated the concept of the ‘snitch’ and how safe students feel to report school bullying. Cycle three focussed on dissemination. Through these cycles, a school anti-bullying policy was devised and improvements to how the school deals with bullying implemented

Secondary school teachers' and pupils' definitions of bullying in the UK: a systematic review

The aim of the systematic review (SR) reported in this article was to compare how UK secondary school pupils and teachers define bullying, using the analytical framework proposed by Naylor et al (2006). Findings were drawn from five major studies – two quantitative, two qualitative and one using mixed methods – and suggest that teachers are much more likely than pupils to employ broader definitions and to include indirect forms of bullying. Possible additions to Naylor et al’s framework are highlighted. The SR encompassed views from 3,283 pupils and 225 teachers, and a number of modest implications for policy and practice are identified

An exploratory study of bullied young people’s self exclusion from school: Evidence presented at meetings of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Bullying 2011-2016

The Study: This study focuses on the views of a small number of young people (n=4, Nikki, John, Andrew, Sam), who self-­‐excluded from school as a result of bullying. Two parents also participated (Jessica, Nikki’s mother and Jackie, John’s mother). Semi-­‐structured interviews and an online survey were used to collate data. The findings were presented to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Bullying in October 2016. This paper provides a summary of the key findings from the study. Findings: This paper focuses on two key themes from the study: • School support • Life after exclusio

Community Radio in Ireland: “Defeudalising” the Public Sphere?

The growth in interest and research in community radio worldwide over the last few decades is a welcome development. While, as noted by Jankowski (2003), a fi rst generation of research has been largely empirical in nature, describing and analysing the organisation and operation of stations in diff erent contexts, more recently a second generation of work has begun to emerge which aims at grounding empirical studies within broader theoretical frameworks, most notably those relating to democracy and the public sphere. The specifi c components of the public sphere remain somewhat underdeveloped in these studies however. This article aims to contribute to this literature through an examination of community radio in Ireland within a framework drawn from evolving work of Habermas and associated deliberative, social and media theorists. The article, drawing on a detailed study of four community stations in Ireland, identifi es elements of community radio which contribute towards a “defeudalisation” of the public sphere as well as highlighting challenges in this regard. Although situated within a specifi c context, with Irish community radio operating within a comparable regulatory environment to both that in Australia and the United Kingdom, the article draws lessons of specifi c interest to researchers and activists in these domains, as well as off ering a framework of use to community radio researchers interested in examining the sector’s contribution to the re-animation of the public sphere more globally

The impact of cyber-bullying on young people’s mental health

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The child's perspective and service delivery

Discussion Points: * Are there any risks associated with children’s participation? * What are the barriers to children’s participation? * What do you understand by the term ‘participation’ in your area of work? * How could you involve children and young people in your work? * To what extent can we involve all children in a participatory way? Or can we? * How can we develop systems for the effective monitoring of children’s participation? * How can we know when participation has been achieved? Or can we? * Consider the idea that non-participation is just as valuable as participation

The Mental Wellbeing of Children and Parents When There are Child Protection Concerns – Can volunteers help?

In child protection work the main focus is on safeguarding the child and promoting better parenting. Focus on mental health is limited even though we know that problems with mental health (parental or child) impact on family functioning. An evaluation of an innovative scheme, ‘Volunteers in Child Protection’ that promotes volunteers to work alongside statutory child care workers in complex child protection cases measured the mental health outcomes for the family. At referral, two thirds of the families were dysfunctional, with children having emotional and behavioural disturbance and some mothers having clinical levels of depression. Repeat measures indicate improvements in children’s emotional wellbeing, family functioning and mother’s mental wellbeing during the volunteer intervention

Value for money in social welfare services?

There is an increasing focus on gaining ’value for money’ in all areas of public spending in the UK and worldwide . It is hard to conceptualise what this ’value for money’ means in relation to social welfare provision since the range of services provided through the public sector are so diverse. In relation to children’s welfare and protection, the services must cover: 1. protection from harm: physical and emotional; 2. protection from neglect; 3. prevention of harm and neglect. To evidence value for money these outcomes must be achieved

Voice of the people? Objectives versus outcomes for community radio in Ireland

Research has neglected to address the question of whether practitioners and the community groups served by community radio see it as a conduit of community empowerment and social change. This article explores this question through in-depth analysis of four community radio stations in Ireland. The central finding is that, while community stations subscribe to most of the ideals of community radio, practitioners do not generally see the stations as sites of social and political empowerment. Moreover, this outcome is not recognized as a benefit by the communities served by the stations. This is the case because of the policy framework, cultural traditions and training programmes central to community radio in Ireland, the weakness of linkages between stations and community groups and the failure of the latter to understand the unique remit of community radio