Researcher notes and musings

Time

Not surprisingly, time came up as a point of interest. Notably, the authors noted that teachers may not always have time to spend on skill building or other activities due to managing the classroom.

Bias

This is an interesting one. Bergsgaard (1997) notes studies (although they are not cited) suggest teachers may focus on overt aggression or behaviours that require attention when adapting programs in their classrooms. This often is targeted to males more than females, as they tend to engage in more overt behaviours. Thus, covert actions are overlooked and not a focus of bullying prevention and/or SEL initiatives.

I wonder if this might come back to fostering the teacher’s own social and emotional competencies (e.g., self-awareness, social awareness and reflecting). Researchers have often found that teachers support the implementation of SEL but do not feel confident in their competencies to adequately teach students about them. Fostering these skills might allow for deeper reflection on potential biases and social dynamics within the class. Thus, teachers may be better prepared to implement a more holistic approach to program/strategy implementation.

Expertise

Buote & Berglund (2010) note that the highly trained facilitators from a community partnership could easily adapt the content of a positive youth development program to the audiences they were working with at the time. This brings me back to a question I keep wondering about in terms of programs and SEL. If we were to include this level of expertise and training in teacher’s college, would teachers themselves have the skills to adapt programs and strategies as needed? As Leadbeater and her team have stated, programs need to be adaptable and meet the context’s needs in terms of program implementation. However, there always seems to be an emphasis on fidelity for things to ‘work.’ This might be a random musing, but it’s something I find myself thinking about more and more.

Partnerships

Buote & Berglund evaluate a community partnership program where a community partner provides a 4-year positive youth development program about healthy relationships in BC. It made me think a lot about the benefits of this form of partnership to address concerns around time and expertise, not to mention building community connection.

Additionally, this program sought feedback from and included youth in their program implementation. Youth engagement in this way is so impactful to the program.

Mental/Methodological Hurdles

Regarding how the research is going, I think some of the evaluations are not helpful for my study. They don’t offer enough information regarding the implementation and/or the intervention. So, this will likely make my sample size smaller. However, it does make me wonder if I should try to find an article on the implementation or intervention with more details? I’m leaning towards yes.

Secondly, I’m always wondering whether I’m missing something. Were my search terms/strategy robust enough? In teaching my students this term in Intro to Research, I have told some not to include Canada as a search term, because articles may (big may) not be tagged with Canada as a keyword/associated term, and they might miss some. This makes me wonder if I fell into the same trap. I will need to speak to my supervisor about and perhaps connect with the librarian to discuss possible oversights a little more.

Next steps

I’ll keep on trekking through the articles. I am looking forward to sharing more thoughts and perhaps some trends I’m seeing next week!

Articles reviewed this week:

Abrami, P. C., Chambers, B., Poulsen, C., Kouros, C., & et al. (1994). Positive social interdependence and classroom climate. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 120(3), 327–346.

Abrami, P. C., Venkatesh, V., Meyer, E. J., & Wade, C. A. (2013). Using electronic portfolios to foster literacy and self-regulated learning skills in elementary students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(4), 1188–1209. https://doi.org/10/ggtm3j

Abrami, P. C., Wade, C. A., Pillay, V., Aslan, O., Bures, E. M., & Bentley, C. (2008). Encouraging Self-Regulated Learning through Electronic Portfolios. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 34(3), 1–12.

Beran, T., & Shapiro, B. (2005). Evaluation of an Anti-Bullying Program: Student Reports of Knowledge and Confidence to Manage Bullying. Canadian Journal of Education, 28(4), 700–717. https://doi.org/10/fwrx5k

Bergsgaard, M. (1997). Gender Issues in the Implementation and Evaluation of a Violence-Prevention Curriculum. Canadian Journal of Education, 22(1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10/bw98pr

Buote, D., & Berglund, P. (2010). Promoting Social Justice through Building Healthy Relationships: Evaluation of SWOVA’s “Respectful Relationships” Program. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 5(3), 207–220. https://doi.org/10/b5b5r5

Any thoughts or feedback? Let me know in the comments below!

If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to email me at hwoods@uottawa.ca.

By participating in discussions through the comment section on this website, you consent to your participation in the study.

Please refrain from using any identifiable information (e.g., names, schools, locations). All posts will be screened prior to posting to ensure no identifiable information is being shared.

Please use a pseudonym for your name for all comments.