Teachers' reasoning about school fights, contexts, and gender: an expanded cognitive developmental domain approach

Abstract

Teachers' moral reasoning about intervening in school fights in violence-prone subcontexts is an under-studied topic. The authors propose that concepts from cognitive developmental domain theory (CDD), public health, and environmental psychology be used conjointly to explore teachers' judgments about intervention in violence-prone subcontexts such as hallways, playgrounds, and cafeterias. It is argued that teachers (along with other members of the school community) have different preformed informational assumptions about violence-prone school subcontexts that systematically influence their judgments and interpretation of events in those locations. Two important informational assumptions are (1) the individuals' or groups' estimation of risk for physical harm or potential provocation in specific locations within the school and (2) the individuals' or groups' beliefs about the school staff's professional role or responsibility to monitor and intervene in violence-prone areas. In addition, the authors present evidence concerning teachers' informational assumptions about the gender of the intervening teachers and fighting students. Applications of this conceptual framework and future directions for research are explored.