Belgian Primary Schools Research Articles

Supporting teachers to actively respond to bullying and to build positive relationships with their students: effects of the T-SUPPORT training.

Despite the central role that teachers can have in preventing and reducing bullying, they often feel insecure about how to deal with bullying. This study evaluated a short teacher training - called the Teachers SUPporting POsitive RelaTionships (T-SUPPORT) training - that aims to reduce bullying by supporting teachers in building positive teacher-student relationships and in actively dealing with bullying. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the T-SUPPORT training resulted in higher quality teacher-student relationships, and more active and less passive responses to bullying incidents, and whether these improvements in turn resulted in lower levels of bullying victimization. In a Randomized Controlled Trial 10 Belgian primary schools were randomly assigned to an intervention or control condition. The Grades 4-6 teachers of the five schools in the intervention condition received the three-session school-based training; control teachers received no intervention. Grade 4-6 students (N = 964; 55 classrooms) in these schools completed questionnaires at pre- and post-test. In contrast to the hypotheses, results of the two-level linear mixed model analyses revealed no significant effect of the training on teacher-student relationship quality, teachers' responses to bullying and bullying victimization. Yet, higher quality teacher-student relationships and more active teacher responses to bullying were significantly associated with less bullying victimization, whereas more passive responses were linked with more victimization. The latter findings are in line with theorizing and research on the role that teachers can play in reducing bullying.

Decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and Raising tap water consumption through Interventions based on Nutrition and sustainability for Kids: study protocol of the “DRINK” cluster randomised controlled trial

BackgroundEffectiveness of actions to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SB) consumption in children still needs to be improved. Furthermore, the growing concern about sustainable food systems encourages to develop sustainability-based interventions. The objective of this cluster randomised controlled trial is to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of nutrition- and environmental sustainability-based interventions on the reduction in SB intake and on the increase in tap water consumption in 3rd to 6th grade primary school children (8 to 11 years of age).MethodsForty-eight French-speaking Belgian primary schools (equivalent to around 3500 pupils involved in the evaluation) are randomised using a factorial plan: (i) control, (ii) nutrition-based intervention, (iii) sustainability-based intervention, and (iv) both. The interventions (encouragement of water breaks; provision of posters, leaflets, reusable cups, and glass bottles; website; meetings at school) were undertaken from February 2022 to June 2023. Evaluation includes questionnaires for the children and their parents on various determinants of dietary behaviour, a 4-day diary to collect information on the child’s beverage consumption, and audits at schools. The first evaluation was conducted in Spring 2021 before any intervention, with the two post-intervention evaluations being held in 2022 and 2023. The main quantitative judgement criterion will be the change over time in the mean SB consumption (in ml/day) in the intervention groups compared with the control group. Given the context of the research (school), the safety of the intervention, and the content of data collection, a consent was acknowledged as unnecessary by the Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Psychology (ULB; n°073/2021), but children and parents are explicitly informed of their right to refuse to fill in the questionnaires.DiscussionMulticomponent interventions based on nutrition and on environmental sustainability, alone or mixed, will provide an original and topical insight into health promotion at school around dietary behaviours. The dissemination plan will enable to widely inform stakeholders, school staff, and families, in addition to the scientific community through the usual medium (articles, conferences), about the research findings in 2024–2025.Trial registrationISRCTN Registry ISRCTN99843102. Retrospectively registered on 25 May 2021

‘A thousand times more interesting’: introducing the optical lantern into the Belgian classroom, 1880–1920

ABSTRACT In the early 1880s, Belgian educators were confronted for the first time with calls for the use of the optical lantern in schools. Around the same time, new pedagogical theories gained ground, which argued in favour of visually aided, more experiential forms of teaching. By investigating the pedagogical discourse on the introduction and use of image projection in Belgian primary and secondary schools between 1880 and 1920, this study investigates how campaigns for the educational use of lantern slides framed the optical lantern as an educational medium and to what extent this discourse was influenced by contemporary pedagogical theories. As such, this study sheds new light on the professional pressures placed on teachers and the expectations of how they should use media, and how these demands were often at odds with teachers’ practical pedagogy.

From Treading Water to Swimming Uphill: A Comprehensive and Innovative Assessment Program for Teaching Swimming in Belgian Primary Schools

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every child should learn to swim as a recognised life skill. Which swimming skill or stroke to learn first is not the most important question. What is important is to teach children to learn tasks or techniques which allow them to they feel safe. Emphasizing foundational principles of motor development and focusing on safety in and around the water are paramount. Beginning in 2016 school swimming lessons in Flanders (Belgium) were given a new focus in all educational institutions. Foundational competence tasks replaced the focus on acquiring competitive swimming strokes as the primary objective. As part of this process, our instructional methods began to include the use of practicing in deep water. This paper identified didactic and pedagogic screening practices of the revised water safety program and highlighted the importance of simplifying the teaching and learning methods as much as possible. One important didactic innovation used by the authors was to categorize swimming exercises using a color-coding scheme.

School Policy on Drinking and Toilets: Weaknesses and Relation With Children's Hydration Status

ObjectiveTo investigate school policies and practices related to drinking fluids and toileting and test their association with children's hydration status and toilet behaviors. DesignCross-sectional study in 2014. SettingSeventeen Belgian primary schools. ParticipantsA total of 416 children (aged 7–13 years). Main Outcome MeasuresHydration was measured by urinary osmolality in a pooled school-day sample and by impedance-based body water percentage. Children reported how much they liked school toilets. School policy and practices were reported by schools on 59 items over 10 policy components. AnalysisMultilevel logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, region and socioeconomic status. ResultsSchool's weaknesses were the lack of policy participation by parents and children; official agreements (only in 11%); organizing education on drinking and toilet visits; and toilet infrastructure. Children's hydration was higher in schools that (1) made water available, (2) organized toilet and drinking related education, (3) had formal agreements on drinking and toilet visits, and (4) had good toilet maintenance. Children liked school toilets more in schools that (1) organized toilet and drinking related education, (2) had an official policy on drinking, (3) had good toilet infrastructure, and (4) allowed policy participation by parents and children. Conclusions and ImplicationsSpecific action points for school management and government to improve children's hydration at school were detected by focusing on both drinking and toilet practices/infrastructure.

Socioeconomic inequalities in caries experience, care level and dental attendance in primary school children in Belgium: a cross-sectional survey

ObjectivesOral health inequality in children is a widespread and well-documented problem in oral healthcare. However, objective and reliable methods to determine these inequalities in all oral health aspects, including both...

Speaking Turkish in Belgian Primary Schools: Teacher Beliefs versus Effective Consequences

In this mixed-method study, we explore teachers’ beliefs concerning the use of the Turkish language by Turkish children in Belgian primary schools, and we compare these findings with the effective consequences of language maintenance. The qualitative analyses revealed thatteachers have very negative views about the use of the Turkish language, as they believe that speaking the mother tongue is detrimental to academic achievement. These adverse teacher beliefs are not only shaped by the assimilationist policy context in Belgium, but they are also (re)produced and reinforced by interactions between teachers and the Turkish middle-class. Nevertheless, the quantitative analyses with a data of 435 Turkish pupils in 48 schools have shown that there is no evidence that speaking Turkish, at home or at school, harms pupils’ academic achievement. However, the negative school culture about the Turkish language causes feelings of rejection and reduces the sense of school belonging for pupils who speak Turkish more frequently at school

Negative life events, emotions and psychological difficulties as determinants of salivary cortisol in Belgian primary school children

This paper describes whether children's life events, emotions and psychological difficulties are related to their salivary cortisol patterns and whether this is different between sexes. In 385 children (5-10 years old) participating in the ChiBS study, salivary cortisol samples were collected when waking up, 30 min and 60 min after wake up and in the evening on two consecutive weekdays. Moreover, data on children's life events, emotions and difficulties were collected. Statistical analysis was done separately for boys and girls by multilevel growth curve modelling with adjustments for age, body mass index, socio-economic status and wake up time. In boys and girls with more negative life events during the last three months, the diurnal cortisol slope was steeper (more decline). Boys with higher self-reported happiness showed lower overall, morning and evening cortisol levels. In contrast, the diurnal slope was steeper (more decline) in boys with emotional problems due to higher morning values. In girls, peer problems were associated with lower overall and morning cortisol levels. Children's salivary cortisol patterns were related to some negative life events, emotions and difficulties, although differently in boys and girls. As such, sex-differences in HPA functioning are already present in young children. Most findings support the upregulation of the cortisol response to stress, although lower morning values were found in the presence of peer problems in girls. Future studies should focus on sex differences, positive emotions and the diurnal cortisol slope.

Determinants of the Formation of a European Identity among Children: Individual‐ and School‐Level Influences

AbstractWhile a growing number of studies have been conducted on European identification, very few of them have examined how children form their sense of European identity. This article investigates the impact of individual‐ and school‐level characteristics on children's formation of a European identity. Multi‐level analyses of data from 2,845 pupils (aged 10–14) in 68 Belgian primary schools revealed that family socio‐economic status (SES), ethnicity, gender and the school's SES make‐up influence the extent to which children identify as European; age, religion and school sector do not. The study clarifies the importance of examining how children form their European identity.

Parental attitudes towards advertising to children and restrictive mediation of children's television viewing in Belgium

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate parents' attitudes toward advertising to children, and advertised foods in particular, as well as parental concern regarding children's nutrition habits and the degree to which these perceptions influence television monitoring by parents.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire assessing attitudes was distributed among parents of Belgian primary and secondary school children. Parental mediation of television viewing was measured by self‐reports. A structural equation model was built using data from a sample of 485 parents.FindingsThe study finds that parental nutrition attitudes and the degree to which advertising causes family conflicts and pestering are among the most important drivers of restrictive mediation of television. Attitudes towards food advertising, the degree to which children can understand the commercial intent of advertising and the perceived influence of advertisements on children do not directly affect restrictive mediation.Research limitations/implicationsThe model was based on a single‐country study, and did not distinguish between parents of different socio‐economic backgrounds or between parents with children in different age categories. All the constructs used in this model were self‐reports. The model could also be extended to encompass different types of mediation.Practical implicationsParents serve as gatekeepers for children's television viewing. Advertisers targeting children need to obtain the green light of the gatekeepers before they can reach the children. It is therefore important that advertisers have an understanding of how parents perceive advertising and which factors specifically incite them to restrict their children's viewing.Originality/valueAttitudes of parents are considered as a multidimensional construct, consisting of “commercial intent”, “conflict” and a separate component relating to advertised foods. The differential impact of each of these components, as well as parents' nutritional concerns and perceived advertisement influence, on restrictive mediation is assessed.

Researching the ‘Grammar of Schooling’: An Historical View

I am currently working at a university where Vernon Mallinson (Mallinson, 1963), England’s leading expert on Belgian education, once held a chair, but knowing little about schooling in Belgium and even less about Belgian primary schooling, either currently or in the past, I approached this text with some trepidation. My fears were allayed, however, as soon as I began reading it, for this is no ordinary, descriptive historical account of Belgian primary schooling. Instead, the authors utilise data gathered from three different periods of Belgian primary school history to provide an account of what was going on in the classroom. The reason for this, it might be inferred, is to test a hypothesis regarding the existence and power of ‘a number of tenacious basic mechanisms’ (p. 10) in place since the end of the eighteenth century, which underlie ‘the structural framework of pedagogic practice’ (p. 11). These mechanisms, designed to instruct, socialise and discipline pupils, have both spatial and temporal dimensions. Examples given in the book are:

The choreography of schooling as site of struggle: Belgian primary schools, 1880-1940

The choreography of schooling as site of struggle: Belgian primary schools, 1880-1940

Overall and Meal-Specific Macronutrient Intake in Belgian Primary School Children

In the fall of 1991, dietary intake of 1,321 primary school children aged 6-12 years was studied in 79 schools in an area called 'South Campine' in Flanders-the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Assessment of dietary intake was done using the '24-hour estimated food record method'. The energy distribution over the macronutrients showed no significant difference between boys and girls. On average 37.2% (SD 7.88%) of energy came from total fat and 15.4% (SD 3.70%) from saturated fatty acids; 49.0% (SD 7.87%) from total carbohydrates with 21.8% (SD 5.84%) from complex carbohydrates and 27.7% (SD 7.79%) from free sugars. Snacks accounted for on average 19.5% (SD 10.83%) of total energy intake; on average 55.7% (SD 21.22%) of the energy in these snacks was represented by free sugars. Lunch and dinner had very high fat contents (around 40% of energy). Already at this young age, the dietary pattern is deviating strongly from the recommended population nutrient goals.

Achievement in Belgian Primary Schools

Achievement in Belgian Primary Schools

The School Question in Belgium

The Belgian primary schools are administered by the authorities of the communes. The central government, however, contributes large subsidies to the support of the primary schools and establishes certain requirements to which the primary schools must conform. The administration of the subsidies, including the national publicschool inspection service, falls to the Minister of Sciences and Arts. For fifty years or more the so-called school war has been waged in Belgium over religious courses in the public schools and state control of private religious schools. Religious instruction in the public schools was established by the law of 1895 and has been in operation since that date. Parents who do not wish their children to take the religious courses may have them exempted. Political control of the public schools has also been a major issue for many years in Belgium. In politics the school war is reflected in the activities of the Catholic or Clerical party and of the Liberal or anti-clerical party. Each of these parties has undertaken to use the public schools to impress the minds of the children with its political principles. The present political situation in Belgium gives added interest to M. Destr6e's address.