Using the PhotoStory method to understand the cultural context of youth victimisation in the Punjab

Bullying is an international issue that is only just beginning to be researched in India and anecdotal evidence in Punjab, India, has suggested that most schools in the Punjab are in denial about bullying on campus. Our aim was to investigate the nature of bullying in this region using the PhotoStory Method. We sought to discover how young people in India perceived and experienced incidents of bullying. Three Punjabi schools were issued with ipads that students could use to email the researchers their illustrated stories about bullying. Using the Pic Collage App, 33 students aged 12-15 sent PhotoStories about experiences of victimization. Many stories described incidents of physical harassment, name calling and ‘Eve teasing’, which left students feeling sad, embarrassed, depressed and helpless. However, only four PhotoStories described incidents that met the definition of bullying i.e. that involved repetitive, hurtful behaviour perpetrated by a person or persons that could be considered more ‘powerful’ than the victim. Nonetheless, the stories, while not lengthy and overly descriptive, did indicate that physical acts of aggression between peers were common in and outside school. The findings are discussed in relation to definitional issues and the need to implement anti-violence programs in Indian schools.peer-reviewe

Gender Differences in Eating Behavior

University students may encounter personal, family, social, and financial stresses while trying to cope with their academic challenges. Such constraints could affect their eating behavior and health status which, in turn may have negative effects on their studies. In light of little information in Malaysia on this subject, this study was undertaken on a sample of 180 students pursuing different academic programs in a Malaysian university. The study objectives were to determine the students’ eating behavior including body weight control and the extent of fear of being fat, their social self concept that reflects the five selves namely, the psychological self, the social self, the sexual self, the family self and the physical self. Eating behavior and social self concept were determined based on various methods previously validated in studies on young adults in Asia and Australia. This article focuses on gender comparisons for these determinants. The results showed that psychological and emotional factors have a significant bearing on the eating behavior of university students. Uninhibited eating behavior of both the males and females showed significant and negative correlations with feelings pertaining to personal worth, the physical self, and their relationships with peers and families. Gender differences were manifested for some determinants. The females showed more restrained eating behavior than the males; the females have a significantly higher score for family relationship, which appears to be a significant factor on male students’ eating behavior. Future studies on a larger sample size may help to unravel the extent to which psychological factors influence eating behavior of students, and the underlying psychosocial basis for some of the gender differences reported in this study. ,

Scaffolding cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction in regular class lessons

The quality of teachers’ knowledge about how people learn influences students’ learning outcomes. Similarly, the quality of students’ knowledge about how they learn influences their engagement in self-regulated learning and consequently, their learning achievement. There is a gap between research findings that support these two premises and teaching-learning practices in classrooms. In this paper we describe attempts to reduce this gap. In Study 1 we surveyed early adolescent students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and demonstrated that students’ cognitive and metacognitive strategy knowledge has substantial room for improvement. In Studies 2 and 3 we collaborated with teachers to embed explicit cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction, using learning protocols, into regular class lessons. Studies 2 and 3 showed that the learning protocols slipped readily into teachers’ typical lesson designs, scaffolded teachers’ delivery of strategy instruction, and scaffolded some students’ acquisition of strategy knowledge, although progress was sometimes slow. Recommendations are presented for supporting teachers and students to engage with cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction

Girls’ diminishing wellbeing across the adolescent years

"This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Child and Adolescent Wellbeing and Violence Prevention in Schools in 2018, available online: http://www.routledge.com/9781138104785.” This author accepted manuscript is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (Jan 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyThe chapters in this book investigate promoting wellbeing and positive mental health from a range of perspectives. One such perspective is the influence of gender on positive mental health, and the potential for gender differences to inform, and be impacted by, the design and implementation of mental health promotion initiatives. Accordingly, this chapter reports results from three questionnaires about wellbeing and positive mental health which we administered to 1,930 students aged 10 to 15 in eight South Australian schools. Males were more likely than females to report that they were flourishing, had a positive outlook and had a positive emotional state. In contrast, females were more likely to report that they were languishing and had moderate, rather than flourishing, mental health. Furthermore, as the females in the study grew older, they reported less positive mental health. The study suggests that females in the upper-middle school years warrant special attention to adequately address their social and emotional needs. The invaluable information from this study can be used to inform future initiatives to promote students’ wellbeing and positive mental health

Coping with school bullying: a cross national pilot intervention study

In Australia and Greece the issue of school bullying is a significant concern of educators and students. While victims are not to be blamed for being bullied, research suggests that the strategies utilised by victims to cope with bullying may inadvertently reinforce victimisation. This paper will outline the successful Australian “Coping with School Bullying” (CWSB) program, including the use of a translated Greek version of the CWSB DVD, and describe the outcomes of the replication of the CWSB questionnaire with Greek students to identify effective and ineffective coping. Preliminary research conducted in Greek schools indicates that the CWSB program was successful in significantly reducing bullying amongst Greek students who had reported being seriously bullied pre-program. The intervention will now be rolled out to a larger number of schools in Greece in 2013

IB middle years program (MYP): Student social-emotional well-being and school success practices

Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher

Educational community stakeholders' perspectives about teachers' responsibilities for mental health promotion in Maltese schools

The role of school teachers in promoting students’ mental health is receiving increasing international attention. However, before venturing into schools with new initiatives such as mental health promotion, it is essential to take into account local contextual affordances and constraints. One issue is whether teachers and other school community stakeholders believe that activities related to mental health promotion are within teachers’ realms of responsibility and capabilities. This paper reports findings from two questionnaire-based studies in Malta. The first questionnaire, about teachers’ responsibilities in areas related to developing students’ positive mental health, was delivered to community stakeholders attending three public lectures. The second questionnaire asked teaching staff in seven schools about their knowledge and capabilities for teaching to promote positive mental health. Results from the two studies indicate a foundation of support for whole school approaches to mental health promotion. Teachers’ responses from the second study indicate that many teachers do not feel strongly efficacious and knowledgeable about their roles in mental health promotion. Implications for teacher professional learning are discussed.The studies reported in this paper were supported by grants from the European Union FP7 Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme, the Australian Academy of Science, the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law at Flinders University and the European Centre for Educational Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health at the University of Malta

Collaboration with parents/carers in KidsMatter school

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