No More Bystanders = No More Bullies

No More Bystanders = No More Bullies: Activating Action in Educational Professionals by Shona Anderson, 2011, Corwin Publishers

- Bullying is intentional, REPEATED, purposeful to hurt or upset the victim
- Type of bullies: physical, verbal, social/relational, cyber/electronic, gender-based, racial/ethno/cultural, sexual, religion-based (most difficult to stop are verbal and social bullying as difficult to observe)
- Bully, the bullied, and the bystander (regardless of age, race, social status) are all affected – impacts school climate; and if cycle not broken, will continue to impact school culture as more bullying occurs
• Bullies: tend to become aggressive adults
• The Bullied can be reactive, passive, aggressive; can suffer social and emotional – e.g., anxiety, emotional distress, lower self-concept, social isolation, lose friends; 4X to 5X more likely to consider suicide
• The Bystander: can become aggressive in the future since they see no interventions in place nor consequences; adult bystanders may have loss of sleep, anxiety, loss of appetite, depression ; The Bystander is “the invisible engine in the cycle of bullying” (p. 80) – bystanders play significant role in bullying
- Craig, Pepler & Atlas (2000): education professionals as bystanders intervened in only 14% of classroom bullying episodes and 4% of playground episodes; bullying occurs every 7 seconds in Toronto schools but teachers aware of 4% of incidents; teachers surveyed said they intervene 71% of time which is disconnected to students saying teachers intervened 25% of time)
- 13% Canadian students reported being cyberbullied; 36% high school students do not feel safe at school; 53% did not tell a teacher of being bullied, 37% did not tell parents, 28% told nobody (code of silence as did not see it as big deal or want to make it worse)
- To prevent bullying, need bystander to intervene and use words or get help with an adult (and not remain passive observer) – bystander is present in 85% of bullying incidents – bystander impacts bullying incident and final outcome
- Anderson’s research sought to answer “why” – barriers that kept education professionals as bystanders
- Bystander Step 1: Noticing Something Unusual or Inappropriate Occurring – education professionals lacked awareness about what happens in schools and where incidents physically occur -> prevents education professionals from intervening in bullying episodes (lack of awareness NOT lack of caring)
- Bystander Step 2: Deciding if Help is Needed – does the victim (i.e., the bullied) need help? – survey results indicated education professionals do not hold same internal beliefs -> remaining bystander
- Bystander Step 3: Feeling a Responsibility to Help – extent to which bystander has responsibility to help (does education profession see incident as bullying and can they intervene appropriately?)
• Diffusion of responsibility: do not take action since someone else will (e.g., teacher on duty)
- Bystander Step 4: Having the Ability to Help – survey results indicate ¼ education professionals do not feel they possess appropriate skills for intervention; recognized help was required and they had responsibility to assist but lacked confidence, felt unsafe, unsupported, and victimized
- Bystander Step 5: Intervening – incidents occur very quickly, with little time to think
- Results: male and female professionals responded similarly; length of employment no bearing; custodians and secretaries intervened least as they did not feel responsible to intervene
• Education professionals may be experiencing bullying themselves – from students, parents, colleagues – lack belief they possess power to help
• Education professionals feel unsafe in school = 11.1%
- Need in-faculty antibullying training and how to report; explicit instructions from administrators on supervision duties (i.e., what to do – circulating, visible – of hot spots)
• Bullying can occur in classrooms, hallways, stairwells, entrances/exits, library, computer lab, gym, change rooms, washrooms, school bus, walking to and from school, cafeteria, near school property
• Be visible! Circulate during duty; walk different routes in the hallways
- How to Intervene:
1. Stop the bullying episode immediate with your words – be sure everyone hears you stop and denounce the beavhiour – bystanders will see
2. Label the unacceptable behaviour clearly – identify the behaviour
3. Expand your intervention – state school expectations
4. insist bullying actions change – can go to main office to discuss; victim and bystanders can also see admin later to discuss

Reflections

In Ontario, Bill 157 states that staff must report incidents that are suspendable or expellable which negatively impact the school climate. Bullying is included as suspendable or expellable. Keeping the school safe is everyone’s responsibility. Every 2 years, a School Climate survey is administered and the data results can be incorporated into the School Improvement Plan; this gives a pulse of the school – do students feel safe? Do staff feel safe?

As an administrator, Anderson’s book reminded me of the importance to be visible in the school – the hallways, classrooms, cafeteria, library, stairwell, etc. Students and staff need to view admin as being everywhere (as Anderson says). Such a proactive approach will save hours when incidents do occur. I like the 80-20 approach of 80% of the school bullying results from 20% of the students – this means getting at the “hard-core” offenders – by making connections with them (2-by-10 strategy: 2 minutes a day for 10 days) and giving them extra attention and monitoring. As I keep notes of each student I see, this will determine if a pattern develops – i.e., bullying is repeated. Anderson says each statistic has a face and a story – so it is important that second chances are provided – there will be consequences but through restoration, learning occurs. One of the priorities in the York Region DSB has been Character Education – it really says it all about the traits we value and expect by everyone in our schools. Bullying prevention and intervention is definitely a school approach. Everyone needs to feel safe and supported.

Adolescents at School

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Adolescents at School: Perspectives on Youth, Identity, and Education (2nd edition) Edited by Michael Sadowski, Harvard Education Press, 2008

- Glimpse what adolescents might be experiencing – how they view themselves, their place in the world, their capabilities, their limitations, and their futures – understanding real adolescents – who they are and where they are coming from – need caring adults who guide, model, and take an interest
- Adolescents’ identities develop in a complex cultural context – in a climate of cultural racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, immigrant sentiment – family, friends, schools play a critical role to identity formation (i.e., explicit theory of oneself as a person)
- Students’ success or failure in school – academically, socially, and personally – centres on questions related to identity: Who am I?; How do others perceive me? How do I perceive myself? What kind of student do I want to be? What will my life be like in the future? What things are and are not possible for me?
- Transformational learning – students and teachers impact each other
- Identities always in flux
- Give students voice – to create positive school climates; listen to them, ask tough questions: “Adolescents yearn for discourses in school in which they can engage with the issues, questions, dilemmas, and concerns that are most salient to them” (p. 229)
- Teachers need to reflect and critique their own stereotypes, assumptions, prejudices, expectations – to establish inclusive, respectful, accepting, empowering school climates

1. Race and Ethnicity
- “hidden curriculum” – unspoken set of rules that reinforces racial stereotypes of what they can and cannot do because of who they are (i.e., racial identity and academic achievement)
- Racial group loyalty and academic achievement – many black students and peer groups reject academic achievement as “acting white” (don’t want to be viewed as “race traitors”) – black males who do well “acting like girls”; black females who do well “acting white”
- “Tell students that the reason to go to school is to please themselves...you should get educated for yourself” (p. 43) – each student is an individual, work hard and persist
- Need to actively and deliberately challenge racial stereotypes and seek to redefine their racial identities by showing them it is possible to do well in school and be proud of who they are (p. 28) – not to choose between school and racial group
- Unacceptable if students who are black or brown are mainly in lower-level courses (or tracked for lower expectations and underachievement) or are disproportionally suspended or expelled
- Asians stereotyped as foreigners (regardless of time in new country, are outsiders, accents) and as model minority (hard working, successful)
- Stereotype laces a lot of pressure on Asians to do well and can hold inferior views to other races

2. Immigration
- immigration very stressful – removing students from extended family members, best friends, neighbours – need to learn new culture – conflicting norms of home country vs. New country
- if immigrate during adolescence, face challenges of being a teenager as well as challenges of new country
- if live in poverty, may live in crowded housing conditions, may have no health insurance, vulnerable to psychological distresses such as anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping or concentrating
- academic and social adaption important through connections with teachers and other adults at school


3. Gender- girls’ brains mature earlier than boys – girls able to read earlier, better verbal abilities, able to control impulses and less likely to take risks
- boys have more advanced spatial abilities and like hands-on learning; want relevance and connection to what read
- when girls do well, attribute to easy test or luck; boys attribute to hard work


4. Male Violence- in 28 USA school shootings, 26 were by white males who lived in suburbs or rural areas – were bullied and “gay baited”, different from other males (shy, bookish, honour students) – none of the shooters were actually gay but saw no alternative
- adults at school must intervene with comments such as “that’s so gay” – need to be in the halls during class change; importance of character education
- high risk for aggressive or violent behaviour: family troubles, psychological problems, poverty


5. Sexual Orientation- peer responses can range from rejection, verbal and physical harassment, cyberbullying, physical violence to acceptance, affirmation, respect
- at risk for depression, substance abuse, suicide
- transgender – highest rates of harassment
- LGBT may feel unsafe and skip school
- adults in school must intervene when overhear hostile language, display “safe space” stickers on doors, schools have GSA with staff members who students feel comfortable going to

6. Social Class- students from affluent families – can have access to parental intervention with teachers, tutors, in higher track level, work hard
- students from non-affluent families – believe little is expected of them and available to them – skipped school, became angry, being disruptive in school (e.g., resistance to school personnel


7. Disability- stigma impacts how youths with disability construct identity – cognitively, socially, academically
- promote self-efficiacy (belief in one’s ability) – do not want students to give up or stop trying – “teens with disabilities” not “disabled teens”
- want students to self-advocate and self-regulate – have strengths and abilities – build on them and address needs through accommodations
- partners with parents – students’ first and longest-lasting teachers
- inclusive education whenever possible
- Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: schools favour linguistic and logical intelligences followed by spatial – these students do well in school

Putting FACES on the Data by Lyn Sharratt and Michael Fullan

Putting FACES on the Data by Lyn Sharratt and Michael Fullan, 2012, Corwin Publishers

Research Question 1: Why do we put FACES on the data?
o Driver: All students can learn and have the right to learn
o Clustered parameters: (1) Shared beliefs and understandings (all students can learn; all teachers can teach; early intervention and high expectations are critical; teachers, leaders can articulate why they do what they do)

o Data represents real people
o Assessment data informs differentiated classroom instruction, with high expectations for all students
o Emotional connection to the data – the statistics represent real people – how to help each child meet their learning needs (p. xiii; 2)
o “The percentage means nothing; the number of students – the actual number of FACES is what matters. Every FACE counts to us!” (p. 17)
o “’Reach Every Student’ goal states that ‘all students will have access to differentiated instruction and assessment that is responsive to the unique needs of the learner to support students’ high achievement and learning for life’” (p. 26) (Simcoe County DSB)
o “every 1 percent increase in children reaching the standard in English or mathematics at age 11 represents 7,000 more children ready to succeed in secondary education; reduction in drug abuse represented so many family tragedies avoided” (p. xii)



Research Question 2: How do we put FACES on the data?
o Driver 1: Assessment
o Clustered parameters for Driver 1:
 (5) Early and on-going intervention
 (6) Case management approach
 (8) In-school grade/subject meetings

o Formative mid-unit assessment – check informal observations are accurate, guide students’ learning, inform teacher’s instruction – teachers need to be flexible and adaptable when students are not getting it (“Data today is instruction tomorrow” (p. 89)
o Fair, transparent, equitable for all students – “It is never the child’s fault!” (p. 88) – teachers are accountable
o Assessment FOR learning, assessment AS learning (High yeld assessment practice) – make learning goals and co-construct success criteria visible to students; teacher provides oral and written descriptive feedback; students peer and self assess; teachers self-assess based on data
o Students and teachers have common assessment language – teachers can develop and mark a common assessment to develop common and consistent practices
o “If the learning intentions [goals] and success criteria are transparent, then there is a higher likelihood that students will become engaged in reducing the gap between where they started and where we would like them to finish” (Hattie, 2012)
o 5 key questions for students: (1) What are you learning? (2) How are you doing? (3) How do you know? (4) How can you improve? (5) Where do you go for help?
o “When the cook tastes the soup it is formative and when the guests taste the soup it is summative” (Steve Sake, in Hattie (2012), p. 76)
o “Most significant variation is not from one school system to another or even from one school to another, but rather from one classroom to another” (p. 85)
o “Fairness in assessment and evaluation is grounded in the belief that all students should be able to demonstrate their learning, regardless of their socio-economic status, ethnicicty, gender, geographic location, learning style, and/or need for special services” (from Growing Success, p. 34)

Driver 2: Instruction
o Clustered parameters for Driver 2:
 (3) Daily, sustained focus on literacy instruction
 (2) Embedded literacy/literacy coaches
 (6) Case management approach
 (9) Centralized resources
 (13) Cross-curricular connections
 (11) Collaborative inquiry

o Tier 1: Good first teaching and classroom practice (meet needs of majority of students)
 “No single instructional strategy is guaranteed to result in high levels of student learning” (p. 96)
 Use gradual-release-of-responsibility teaching model: whole group, small group, independent approaches – modelled, shared, guided, independent
 Questions: What am I teaching? Why am I teaching it? How will I teach it? How will I know when all students have learned it? What then?
 Instructional Intelligence has 5 elements: positive interdependence, face-to-face interactions, individual accountability, some structured activity and social skills, and team-building and group processing skills
 Rich, authentic task: higher-order thinking, student inquiry to construct knowledge, cross-curricular, applicable to real-world, spans categories of achievement chart
 “Our most important gift to students will be to teach them how to continually learn and think critically as they go through five to eight different careers” (p. 111)
 21st century literacy skills: read, write, speak, listen, view, represent, critical thinking, high-order thinking
 Co-Teaching Cycle (most powerful way to improve teaching practice):
• co-teaching – with colleague, begin with curriculum expectations, write learning goals and success criteria, use high-yield instructional strategies differentiated based on student needs and assessment data
• co-planning – focus on students’ thinking, monitor student engagement, change flow and pace as needed
• co-debriefing – what worked, didn’t work, what to do differently
• co-reflecting – honest, open dialogue, plan next stpes based on formative assessment data

o Tier 2: Case management (focused on instruction of individual students)
 Examine student work, describe strengths and weaknesses, identify 1-2 instructional strategies for teachers to use
o Tier 3: Early intervention (intensive instruction to directly support most struggling students)
 Moral imperative is to catch students early before it is too late


Research Question 3: What leadership skills are needed?
o Driver 3: Leadership
o Clustered parameters for Driver 3:
 (4) Principal leadership
 (7) professional learning at staff meetings
 (10) Budget allocation to strategic resources

- Change process takes 2-3 years before seeing real change
- Principal is highly knowledge about curriculum, instruction, special education, visible in school through classroom walk-throughs – “Leadership is about causing positive movement in individuals, schools, and systems” (Fullan, 2010a)
- Top 3 leadership skills needed to put FACES on the data:
o 1. Know-ability: knowledge of assessment and instruction (focused leadership, nexus as core work)
 Use classroom, school, and system data to monitor progress
 Principal is lead learner and instructional leader (first change agent), model continuous learning, implementing school improvement plan
 Principal provides environment for collaboration – expectation is teachers use data to inform instruction for every student every day
 Provide differentiated professional learning opportunities for teachers
 Principal uses classroom learning walks and talks to monitor expected classroom practices
o 2. Mobilize-ability: to inspire and mobilize others through clear communication of commitment
 Pushing too hard never works
o 3. Sustain-ability: know how to establish a lasting culture of shared responsibility and accountability
 Shared beliefs, goals, and vision
 Distributive leadership and professional learning cultures
 Data-based decisions/impact measures/celebrating success
 Resources
 School community/home relations



Research Question 4: Where does this happen?o Driver 4: Ownership
o Clustered parameters for Driver 4:
 (12) Parent and community involvement
 (14) Shared responsibility and accountability
o “With frequent interactions among school, families, and communities, more students are more likely to receive common messages from various people about the importance of school, of working hard, of thinking creatively, of helping one antoher, and of staying in school” (p. 193)
o Parents are students’ first and most important teachers