School Professionals’ awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale (SPACES): Initial steps towards the development of new scale

This short paper describes the initial scale development of an instrument designed to measure school professionals' awareness of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), their impact and practices that can support children who have been affected by ACEs.

Triggering sustainable professional agency: using change laboratory to tackle unequal access to educational success collectively

Purpose This study aims to depict how a change laboratory (CL) promotes sustainable professional practice at the workplace to tackle unequal access to educational success. Design/methodology/approach The empirical findings are from a CL focusing on school professionals’ agency and a follow-up study one year after the CL. Findings The study shows how the staff gained insight that professional agency is a collective and relational practice. Furthermore, the staff explored how to make a difference with viable means to create new workplace models for students’ success despite experiencing a conundrum. Research limitations/implications This study examined participants’ perspectives in workplace change and provided support for further research examining how professionally and collectively designed models gain sustainability in schools. Practical implications This study provides empirical data of how professional agency for change driven by collective visions can be accelerated with the interventionist method CL among school professionals. Social implications This study emphasizes the value of professional collective learning at the workplace, driven by several professional groups in school, and the need to follow up to detect sustainable change. Originality/value This study emphasizes the value of professional collective learning at the workplace, driven by several professional groups in school, and the need to follow up to detect sustainable change.

Building Capacity for Prevention of Gender-Based Violence in the School Context

School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) is highly prevalent worldwide which calls for a range of early prevention and innovative solutions. The presence of GBV in the school context is well-documented and it highlights the importance of building competencies of teachers and other school professionals for recognizing and intervening in SRGBV cases. This paper analyses the current and future teachers' training needs, and their level of preparedness for detecting and intervening in cases of GBV in the school context, with the objective of developing a targeted training program. The participants in this study were 597 current and future teachers and other school professionals from Croatia, Finland, and Spain. An ad-hoc built questionnaire was distributed in the three participating countries. Results show that the interest in receiving training is related to the perceived importance of coping with GBV in the (future) work and that the main topics of the training should focus on addressing parties of SRGBV, guidelines for prevention and intervention in schools as well as online GBV. These findings were similar in three countries, and they provided user-generated topics and tools that served as a guideline for the development of a training program that aims to increase the knowledge about SRGBV and to develop skills for coping with GBV in the school context regarding victims, bystanders and perpetrators.

Listening-Related Fatigue in Children With Hearing Loss: Perspectives of Children, Parents, and School Professionals

Purpose Children with hearing loss (CHL) are considered at risk for listening-related fatigue and its negative consequences. We collected data via focus groups and interviews from three stakeholder groups—CHL, their parents, and teachers/school professionals—in order to define the construct of listening-related fatigue from the perspective of CHL and key stakeholders. This is an important first step in our long-term goal to construct and validate a measure (i.e., scale) of listening-related fatigue for the pediatric population, with a focus on CHL. This article provides an overview of the data gathering process, analysis of qualitative reports, and the development of a theoretical framework for understanding the experience of listening-related fatigue in CHL. Method We conducted focus groups and interviews in school-age children exhibiting bilateral, moderate-to-profound hearing loss ( n = 43), their parents ( n = 17), and school professionals who work with CHL ( n = 28). The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded using a hierarchical coding system. Qualitative analysis was conducted using an iterative inductive–deductive approach. Results We identified primary themes from the focus group/interview discussions to develop a theoretical framework of listening-related fatigue in CHL. The framework demonstrates the complex interaction among situational determinants that impact fatigue, symptoms or manifestations of fatigue, and the utilization of, and barriers to, coping strategies to reduce listening-related fatigue. Conclusions Participant discussion suggests that listening-related fatigue is a significant problem for many, but not all, CHL. Qualitative data obtained from these stakeholder groups help define the construct and provide a framework for better understanding listening-related fatigue in children.

Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Verbal Aggression: Why School Professionals Should Care and What They Can Do

Verbal aggression (VA) is the most prevalent form of aggression perpetrated, experienced, and witnessed by students with victims experiencing a variety of adverse outcomes. Furthermore, VA is known to contribute to physical aggression, especially for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Despite the high prevalence, researchers suggest that school personnel may not understand the harmful nature of VA. We summarize research about VA, suggest schoolwide initiatives, and propose effective interventions for perpetrators, victims, and bystanders.

Collaboration, Training and Resources to Support School Policy Development and Recovery from Concussion

Objective: Concussion is a public health concern across all ages, yet there is little research on providing concussion education and training within the educational context. The Concussion Awareness Training Tool for School Professionals (CATT SP) was developed to provide the necessary concussion education and resources for school professionals to support a student with concussion while integrating back to school. Methods: The CATT SP module underwent a 2016 pre/post-intervention evaluation to determine if knowledge and attitudes significantly improved among educators and administrators following completion of the CATT SP, as well as a 2018-19 pilot study within a school district in British Columbia with an accompanying Quality Assurance/ Quality Improvement assessment. Results: A statistically significant positive change in knowledge (p = .027) was found among those who indicated that they had accessed CATT SP. Results of the pilot study and QA/QI assessment found support of the use of CATT within the school district. Conclusions: Evidence-based concussion training and resources are key components for school professionals who are collaboratively supporting a student’s individualized return to school and learning following a concussion, and when developing and implementing a concussion policy within districts and school.

Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Perception and Experience with Zero-Tolerance Policies and Interventions to Address Racial Inequality

This study expands the current research on anti-Black racism and student discipline in schools. It examines perception, experiences, and alternatives of zero-tolerance policies in education, in relation to the call for action by Black Lives Matter at Schools. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students are impacted at a disproportionate rate when it comes to school discipline, leading to high, inequitable incarceration rates. However, behavior analysis already has powerful tools and interventions that can stop this ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ effect. A survey of school professionals investigated awareness of adverse outcomes from zero-tolerance policies and the use of effective, behavioral alternatives to exclusionary disciplinary practices. Results confirmed zero-tolerance policies still exist in North American schools, but that school professionals, including behavior analysts, support Black Lives Matter at School’s call to end such practices. Importantly, participants report already having the necessary skills to combat zero-tolerance; however, many still feel uncomfortable or ill-prepared to implement interventions specifically to decrease anti-Black racism in schools.

What would you do? Children’s hypothetical responses to hearing negative and positive gossip involving friends and classmates

The current study examined children and adolescents’ hypothetical responses to hearing negative or positive gossip shared by a friend or a classmate that targeted either a friend or a classmate. Participants ( N = 134, ages 8–16) read eight stories and were asked to take the perspective of the gossip listener and indicate how they would respond, a 2 (valence: negative or positive) × 4 (relationship type: friend or classmate of the sharer and target) design. Participants’ responses to how they would react were coded as encouraging, neutral, or discouraging. The findings showed that negative gossip shared by a classmate that targeted a friend had more discouraging responses than negative gossip shared by a friend targeting a classmate. Furthermore, positive gossip shared by a friend that targeted another friend had more neutral responses than positive gossip shared by a classmate that targeted a friend or another classmate, which had more encouraging responses. Age and gender differences revealed that adolescents provided more neutral responses overall, compared to children, and girls provided more discouraging responses for negative gossip than boys. This study provides information on how children and adolescents think they should respond to gossip. This can help school professionals address neutral attitudes toward gossip and prevent engagement in gossip behavior.