The relationship between school and classroom characteristics and the prevalence of bullying behaviours Daniel Muijs University of Southampton, UK

Educational effectiveness  Goals of education are broader than cognitive attainment  EER has traditionally focussed on attainment, but this is increasingly being challenged by studies on e.g.: – Well-being (De Fraine et al, 2005; Kelly, 2007) – Mental health (Modin & Ostberg, 2009) – Physical health (West et al, 2004)  This study seeks to extend to bullying

Bullying  Olweus (1993): – A student is being bullied or victimized when he/she is exposed, repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more other students. It is a negative action when someone intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another. (p. 9).  Bullying is inherently social, and takes place in the peer group  Therefore, can schools affect peer behaviours and cultures? And if so, how?

School effects on bullying: previous studies  Previous research shows some school effects: – Weak relations with SES and ethnicity (Wolke et al, 2001; Kyriakides et al, 2013) – School norms related to bullying (Payne & Gotfredson, 2004) – Few relationships with pupil-level achievement (Wood et al, 2003) – Little research on other characteristics  School factors often weakly theorised and measured

This study  Is there a school effect on bullying?  What school factors are related to differences in bullying behaviours?  Theoretical frameworks from EER: – Proximity theory – DMEE (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2009) – Cultural, behavioural and structural factors (Muijs & Brookman, 2014)

Methodology  Quantitative approach: – Survey of pupils – Survey of teachers – Secondary data analysis: school performance, NPD, Ofsted  35 primary schools in England. N=68 (teachers) and 811 (pupils)  Multilevel modelling

Results  School level explains 15.2% of variance in bullying  Classroom level explains 14.7%  Remainder is individual level variance

What factors  Not significant : – Social background – Ethnicity – School size – Location – Attainment

Results  School level : – Cultural factors: explain 27% of variance  Parents involved…  Teachers collaborate… – Behavioural factors: explain 24% of variance  Bullying is reported…  Policies on behaviour… – Pedagogical factors: explain 16% of variance  Quality of teaching – Structural factors: explain 3% of variance  Faith schools

Results  Classroom level factors: – Cultural factors: explain 28% of variance  Perceived classroom climate  Pupil relations

Conclusion  School and classroom significantly impact bullying  Cultural and behavioural factors predominate  Next steps: – SEED intervention – Further analysis of attainment/bullying relationship