Bullying and victimization in children with special educational needs: implications for inclusive practices

Bullying has been recognized as a widespread, persistent and serious problem occurring in schools across different national contexts. Despite the surge of interest in bullying in recent years, much of the research has focused on its multiple facets and characteristics among non-disabled students, while little is known about its incidence and dimensions in the population of students receiving special education support provision. It is well-known that schooling has generally been constructed and operates around the notions of normalization and homogeneity and children’s diversity often generates discriminating responses contributing to exclusionary educational experiences. In the light of above, the present study aims at exploring the extent and different types of bullying and victimization among Greek students receiving special education support provision. The sample of the study consisted of 173 students attending 5th and 6th primary school grades and participating in pull-out special education delivery programs operating within mainstream schools. According to the findings, participants were actively involved in both bullying and victimization with higher rates in victimization. Bullying was mainly related to physical aggressiveness, humiliating and racist behaviors towards others and social isolation from peers, while victimization included destruction of personal belongings attacked. Statistically significant differences were identified between girls and boys over the different types of bullying and victimization getting involved in, with girls experiencing mostly social isolation and manipulation from others and boys displaying aggressiveness towards others and attacking peers. Statistically significant differences were also found in physical bullying between children receiving more than 12 hours a week special education support and the rest. Children with developmental disabilities tended to use more indirect methods of bullying such as social exclusion more often than children with learning difficulties and children with learning difficulties combined with socio-emotional behavioral disorders. Overall bullying behavior was found to be predicted by presence of playmates during playtime and victimization by absence of playmates during break and limited number of friends in class. The implications of the study for developing school-based inclusive responses to students with SENs, are also discussed. - O bullying tem sido reconhecido como um problema generalizado, persistente e grave que ocorre nas escolas em diferentes contextos nacionais. Apesar da onda de interesse nos comportamentos de bullying ao longo dos últimos anos, grande parte da pesquisa concentrou-se nas suas múltiplas facetas e características entre os estudantes sem deficiência, pouco se sabendo sobre a incidência e dimensões no seio da população estudantil com necessidades educativas especiais. É sabido que a escolaridade tem sido geralmente orientada e opera em função das noções de normalização e de homogeneidade, sendo que a diversidade das crianças gera, muitas vezes, atitudes discriminatórias que contribuem para experiências de exclusão educativa. À luz do exposto, o presente estudo tem por objectivo explorar a extensão e diferentes tipos de bullying e vitimização entre estudantes gregos que recebem apoio ao nível da educação especial. A amostra do estudo foi constituída por 173 alunos do 5 º e 6 º anos do ensino básico que participam em programas de educação especial em funcionamento no seio de escolas regulares. De acordo com os resultados obtidos, verificou-se que os alunos da amostra se encontravam activamente envolvidos em comportamentos de bullying e vitimização, com índices de envolvimento mais elevados de vitimização. O bullying encontrou-se fundamentalmente relacionado aos comportamentos agressivos físicos, comportamentos racistas e de humilhação para com os outros e isolamento social dos seus pares, enquanto a vitimização incluiu a destruição de pertences pessoais e ser atacado. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram identificadas entre raparigas e rapazes relativamente aos diferentes tipos de comportamentos de bullying e vitimização em que se envolveram, sendo que as raparigas vivenciaram maioritariamente o isolamento social e a manipulação de outros, e os rapazes exibindo maioritariamente comportamentos de agressividade para com os outros e ataques aos colegas. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas foram também encontradas relativamente aos comportamentos de bullying entre crianças que recebem mais de 12 horas semanais de apoio no ensino especial. Crianças com deficiências de desenvolvimento tendem a usar métodos mais indirectos de bullying, como a exclusão social, mais frequentemente do que crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem e do que as crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem combinadas com distúrbios sócio-emocionais e comportamentais. No geral confirmou-se, como factor preditor da ocorrência de comportamentos de bullying, a presença dos colegas durante o recreio, e como factor preditor da vitimização a falta de companheiros durante o intervalo e o número limitado de amigos na sala de aula. As implicações do estudo para o desenvolvimento de respostas baseadas na escola inclusiva para alunos com necessidades educativas especiais, também são discutidas

School Belongingness and Coping with Victimisation in Bullied and Non-bullied Students: A Discriminant Analysis Approach

All rights reserved © 2017, Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. Reproduced with permission of the publisher.Documented evidence has raised public and professional concern regarding the prevalence of victimisation in schools and the established immediate and long-term adverse consequences it has on many aspects of the development of adolescents. The purpose of our research was a) to examine the frequency of self-reported victimisation b) to investigate the victimisation coping strategies c) to examine possible gender and age effects and d) to identify differences between bullied and non-bullied students with regard to coping strategies and school belongingness. Eight hundred sixty students (860), aged 12 to 16, from 15 public secondary schools of Greece participated in the study. Gender proved a stronger differentiating factor than age in reporting being victimised, in coping with victimisation and in perceived school belongingness. Being a boy and feeling rejected in school puts individuals at high risk for being victimised. These results are in line with ecological approaches to school bullying phenomena

Financial Appraisal of Small Hydro-Power Considering the Cradle-to-Grave Environmental Cost: A Case from Greece

In the last decades increasing attention to environmental issues has come to the fore due to the looming issue of climate change. The growing demand for energy, coupled with the increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, have forced the study and development of energy plants that use renewable energy sources (RES), as electricity generation is one of the major contributors to anthropogenic emissions. Small hydropower plants are of particular interest as their potential is assumed to be high. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts of small hydropower plants (SHPs) using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The main parameter set for our simplified LCA model was the weight of the components used to construct and operate the plant: concrete, aggregates and steel. Through LCA, air pollutant externalities were associated with the life cycle of SHPs. This was accomplished by applying the NEEDS framework. The results are given per impact type (human health, loss of biodiversity, crop yield, material damage and climate change). The spearhead of the study is that the environmental cost must be a parameter of the total investment cost, which may affect the indexes of the financial evaluation of the project

Revista de educación

Resumen tomado de la publicación. Monográfico con el título: 'La educación ante la inclusión del alumnado con necesidades específicas de apoyo'Se examinan los puntos de vista de los maestros de educación general griega respecto a la viabilidad y conveniencia de adaptaciones en la enseñanza rutinaria así como explorar el razonamiento subyacente en sus respuestas. Los datos se recogen mediante entrevistas que incluyen preguntas estructuradas y otras semiestructuradas. Al procesar las entrevistas se utiliza una versión modificada de la Escala de Adaptación de la Enseñanza (EAE). La escala permite la evaluación de las percepciones de los maestros con respecto a las adaptaciones en la enseñanza y su viabilidad y conveniencia en cinco de las seis categorías originales que incluyen: organización en el aula, estrategias de agrupamiento, enseñanza adicional, ajuste de actividades y análisis de la formación. La mayoría de los participantes comunicaron que utilizan la mayoría de las adaptaciones pero que, nunca o raramente, han utilizado: agrupamiento entre clases, actividades con varios grados de dificultad, actividades diversas, recursos específicos y ordenadores. Éstas son también las adaptaciones más deseadas que viables, a excepción de la utilización de materiales específicos. Al mismo tiempo, una minoría de maestros no quería algunas adaptaciones, entre las que están: agrupar clases, agrupar a los estudiantes en parejas, proporcionar enseñanza adicional a algunos subgrupos de la clase, implementar actividades con varios niveles de dificultad, mandar diversas actividades, y utilizar material alternativo, recursos específicos y ordenadores. El principal resultado de la investigación es que todos los participantes se aferran al ritmo de trabajo, temario e implementación del libro de texto. Los inconvenientes observados son la falta de tiempo, temario sobrecargado, área académica influida por la manera en la que los maestros respondieron, errores conceptuales de los maestros en la comprensión y conocimiento de adaptaciones particulares. Se analizan las implicaciones en la formación de maestros, a la vez que se habla de respuestas de inclusión y prácticas reglamentarias.The aim of the study is to examine greek mainstream teachers' views concerning the feasibility and desirability of routine instructional asaptations, and to explore the reasoning underpinning their responses. Data were collected by using interviews, which included both highly-and semi-structured questions. A modified version of the Teaching Adaptation Scale (TAS) was used for the interviews process. The scale allowed for the evaluation of teachers' perceptions of instructional adaptations and their feasibility and desirability in five out of the six original categories, including: classroom management, grouping strategies, additional teaching, activity adjustment and foprmative assessment. The majority of participants reported that they use frequently most of the adaptations included whilst those used rarely or never used by teachers were: between-class grouping, activities at various levels of difficulty, diverse activities, specific resources and computers. These were also the adaptations -with the exception of using specific resources- that were deemed to be more desirable than feasible. At the same time, some adaptations were not desired by a minority of teachers including between-class grouping, grouping all students in pairs, providing additional teaching to certain subgroups in the class, implementing activities at variuos levels of difficulty, asking for diverse activities, and using alternative material, specific resources and computers. The most salient and recurrent finding was that all of the participants were strngly bounded by pace, curriculum and the implementation of the textbook. Lack of time and time and the overloaded sykkabuses were reported as some of the main barriers prohibiting the implementation of adaptations. Further, the academic context seemed to influence the pattern of teachers' responses while a number of misconceptions were revealed in teachers' understanding and knowledge of particular adaptations. Implications in terms of teachers' trining, inclusive responses and policy practices are discussed and analysed.MadridBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Human Thermal Conditions and North Europeans' Web Searching Behavior (Google Trends) on Mediterranean Touristic Destinations

This paper examines the relationship among the outdoor thermal conditions in northern European countries and their individuals' web searching frequency on summer holidays and touristic destinations. While previous studies have examined biometeorological conditions' impacts by comparing statistics from police and hospital archives, this paper focuses on the Big Data gathered by Google and delivered by Google Trends service as a new and promising species of data. The correlation of those two factors (thermal conditions and searching frequency) indicates the connection between the atmospheric thermal conditions and the alteration of human behaviour and desires. The analysis and the visualization of time-series, longer than a decade, retrieved by five countries, reveal the anticipated seasonal covariance and a striking impact of the thermal conditions on the searching behavior of the individuals. Additionally, the paper introduces a new field of combined utilization of web searching activity and atmospheric data

Energy Management Practices’ Determinants in Greek Enterprises

The implementation of energy management over recent decades has been considered to be particularly important for companies wishing to save energy resources, to tackle the issue of climate change, and, at the same time, maintain their competitive edge in an ever-changing environment. The main objective of this article is to identify and analyse all of those critical factors that may affect the implementation of effective energy management practices by Greek enterprises. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the implementation of energy management in Greek enterprises. The survey was conducted between May and September 2016. Out of the 649 questionnaires sent, 132 were collected (a response rate of 20.3%). The implementation of energy management in Greek enterprises is affected particularly positively by the implementation of a structured and integrated energy management system as far as the main findings of the survey are concerned. The use of modern technology, the involvement of the employees, and the commitment of the senior management proved to be additional critical determinants in the implementation of energy management in the operation of businesses

The Environmental Strategy of Businesses as an Option under Recession in Greece

In recent years and mostly during the last two decades, the decisive role of the environment in the business administration field and business life in general has emerged. In the modern, fast changing, and highly competitive business environment, and even more so in the context of the recent economic crisis, businesses constantly struggle to survive, trying to resolve problems and improve their performance and competitive advantage. Therefore, they must save and invest substantial sums of money to build strong infrastructure, to change procedures, and to produce environmentally friendly products. In view of the above, the current study attempted to examine the impact of environmental strategy on the growth of medium and large enterprises in all sectors in Greece, in a period of economic crisis. The study, carried out in February and March 2018, confirmed the positive correlation and the critical role of environmental strategy in the financial performance of Greek enterprises during this period of economic recession. Both eco-efficient practices and innovative practices lead to the creation of competitive advantage and, thus, to the improvement of the financial performance of a firm

Sustainable Development and Business Strategies: An Exploratory Study of Greek Businesses

The purpose of the present study is threefold: (a) it examines how Greek businesses perceive the concept of sustainability, (b) it investigates the implementation of sustainable development practices in Greek businesses, and (c) it examines if there is a correlation between sustainable development practices adopted by businesses and the competitive advantage of businesses. Furthermore, reference is made to concepts like sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, the TBL for sustainable business practices and the viability of measurement systems are examined. For this study, a survey was conducted using a questionnaire composed of five sections, which was addressed to Greek companies operating in various sectors. A total of 150 questionnaires were sent out and responses were received from 34 enterprises. An analysis of the data from field research confirms that Greek companies perceive sustainability as a transformation catalyst for businesses and have adopted sustainability practices. Furthermore, there is a moderate correlation between the economic and social pillar of sustainability and the competitive advantage of organisations. The study aims to provide a deeper understanding of factors that influence the adoption of sustainable practices in Greek enterprises