Diverse School Settings Research Articles

Community Recommendations for Adapting an Evidence-Based Mental Health Intervention for Racially/Ethnically Diverse Schools: A Qualitative Study

AbstractThe goal of this qualitative study was to understand the perspectives of school community members (adolescents, parents, school administrators, teachers, mental health providers) regarding the adaptation of an evidence-based transdiagnostic mental health treatment, known as the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents, for delivery in racially/ethnically diverse schools. Thirty-three school community members (n = 9 adolescents, n = 4 parents, n = 5 school administrators, n = 10 teachers, n = 5 mental health providers) participated in a series of focus groups or individual interviews. We used a rapid qualitative analysis to summarize their recommendations for adapting our intervention across seven themes: (1) consider social determinants of health, (2) include content related to social media and digital literacy, (3) provide teachers and staff with training on identifying and referring to mental health services and basic psychoeducation, (4) build trust and reduce stigma, (5) use qualified mental health providers to conduct culturally relevant sessions in person during school hours, (6) consider flexible format offerings and extended intervention delivery window, and (7) anticipate low parental engagement. These data were critical for informing systematic content and procedural modifications to our adapted intervention, such as scheduling sessions for school lunch hours and identifying coaches (e.g., teachers, school administrators) to support students with check-ins regarding session attendance and skill practice. These adaptations may be applied more broadly to the implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions in diverse school settings.

Bias-based harassment and bullying: addressing mechanisms and outcomes for possible interventions

ABSTRACT Bias-based harassment has emerged as a significant concern in schools globally. Unsurprisingly, exposure to such negative treatment has detrimental effects on the psychological functioning, academic performance, and behavioural adjustment of children and adolescents. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop a comprehensive understanding of the factors that exacerbate or mitigate the negative consequences of bias-based harassment on its victims, as well as the factors that lead young people to engage in bias-based harassment. To address this need, this paper begins by providing a brief overview of the literature on bias-based harassment and bullying among early adolescents and adolescents. Subsequently, we introduce the studies featured in this special issue and present an integrated summary of their key findings. Our goal with this special issue is to compile scientific evidence on this social concern across diverse school settings and pave the way for future initiatives aimed at addressing bias-based harassment more comprehensively and efficiently.

The Influence of Emotional Intelligence in Educational Leadership and School Climate

This research investigates the critical role of emotional intelligence (EI) in shaping educational leadership effectiveness and its impact on school climate. EI, comprising self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills, is increasingly recognized as pivotal in fostering positive educational environments. This study employs a quantitative research design, utilizing surveys as the primary instrument to gather data from a sample size of 289 educational leaders across diverse school settings. The research explores how EI influences decision-making processes, interpersonal dynamics, and overall organizational climate within schools. Surveys are structured to assess participants' EI competencies, perceptions of school climate, and their leadership practices. Statistical analyses, including correlation and regression techniques, are employed to examine the relationships between EI competencies and various indicators of school climate such as teacher satisfaction, student engagement, and academic performance. Findings from this study aim to illuminate the extent to which EI contributes to effective leadership practices and positive school climates. The results will provide empirical evidence supporting the integration of EI development into leadership training programs, emphasizing its role in enhancing organizational resilience, fostering inclusive cultures, and promoting collaborative decision-making. Insights garnered from this research are expected to inform educational policy and practice, advocating for the prioritization of EI competencies among current and aspiring educational leaders to optimize learning environments and promote holistic student development.

Constructing Identities in a Diverse School Setting: From Finnish Learners to Multilingual Experts

ABSTRACT This article investigates how Shanaya and Zona, two 11-year-old multilingual migrant children, construct identities as knowledgeable, multilingual, and socially aware experts in a comprehensive school in Finland. I use ethnographic data that includes school observation and interviews to show how they find moments for overcoming disadvantageous circumstances through identity construction, and thus empower themselves. This empowerment seems to happen in informal situations, implying that there is little space for being something other than Finnish or Finnish-speaking elsewhere in the school. This study describes the children’s lived experience holistically by showing how linguistic, ethnic, and social identity categories intertwine and manifest in language use. It adds to our knowledge of the empowerment of young migrant children in school-related discourses outside of the anglophone world and calls for acknowledging children’s voices in developing education globally.

Unveiling the black box: exploring teachers’ approaches to ethnic victimization incidents at school

Schools are crucial socialization contexts where civic norms and values such as appreciating diverse perspectives and embracing differences can be systematically transmitted to the next generations. This process, in turn, can foster the development of more inclusive societies. However, increasing polarized political climate poses a risk for the formation of harmonious interactions between youth of different ethnic origins in schools. Teachers are considered as crucial resources in addressing negative student interactions and helping victims in overcoming the consequences of their negative experiences. Nevertheless, our understanding of how teachers respond to ethnic victimization incidents is limited, along with the factors influencing their responses. To address this gap in knowledge, we examined the relative contributions of teachers’ general efficacy (i.e., managing disruptive behaviors in class) and diversity-related efficacy (i.e., addressing challenges of diversity) on their responses to ethnic victimization incidents. The sample consisted of head teachers of 8th grade students (N = 72; 56% females). The results showed that teachers adopt a diverse range of strategies to address incidents of ethnic victimization, with a primary focus on prioritizing the comfort of the victim as the foremost action. Further, we found that teachers’ efficacy in handling disruptive behaviors in class, as opposed to their efficacy in addressing diversity-related issues, explained their responses to victimization incidents. Specifically, teachers with a high sense of efficacy for classroom management were more likely to contact parents of both victims and perpetrators and to provide comfort to the victim. These findings highlight the necessity of supporting teachers to enhance their efficacy in classroom management, and in turn to address potential challenges in diverse school settings more effectively.

English as Second Language Challenge Faced by Students: Comparative View of Public and Private Sector Students

The present study diagnosed English reading difficulties faced by students among primary school learners in public and private sector schools. To investigate the problem, teachers' perceptions were taken to find out the prevailing situation. A survey study was conducted using a rating scale instrument. Data analysis highlighted significant differences in pronunciation problems, with public school learners encountering more problems. On the other hand, public school learners also experience more problems regarding speed, but the difference between both sectors was not significant. Comprehension problems are comparable between the two groups. Gender-based disparities show that male students in public schools encounter more pronunciation challenges, though overall reading problems are significant for both genders in public schools. Recommendations include targeted programs for pronunciation improvement and enhanced comprehension instruction. This study contributes valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and curriculum developers aiming to address English reading challenges in diverse school settings.

A rights-based exploration of children’s pedagogic voice in the classroom

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘pedagogic voice’ emphasises the capacity of children to express their views on matters related to teaching, learning and curriculum. ‘Pedagogic voice’ aligns with children’s rights to be listened to and the extent to which their views are fully considered and acted upon. Combined, these rights based approaches positively shape children’s learning experiences. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data from the longitudinal mixed methods cohort study Children’s School Lives to explore children’s voice. Grounded in the sociology of pedagogic voice literature and building upon research on children’s participatory rights, the paper explores children’s experiences of being heard and actively participating in decision-making processes in diverse primary school settings in Ireland. It analyses children's voice by looking at their capacity to influence their own learning, contrasting their experiences and perspectives, to those of their teachers. Findings illustrate the interplay between children’s and teachers’ narratives regarding children’s voice and their pedagogical encounters to explore the impact on teaching and learning processes, highlighting structural challenges to the realisation of children’s voice in primary classrooms in Ireland.

“I am maybe half-and-half Swedish. 50-50.” – Young adolescents’ national identity negotiation in a diverse school setting

ABSTRACT To explore young adolescents’ negotiation of their national identity in an educational context, we individually interviewed nine students (ages 10–14) with different backgrounds attending an ethnically diverse school in Sweden. The transcribed interviews were thematically and qualitatively analyzed. Results show that students negotiated their national identity as being quantifiable, often as sized portions of a whole or percentages, and dichotomous (Swedish vs. non-Swedish). Their national identity negotiation further related to feelings of belonging as well as to birthplace, appearance, and language. Results suggest that national identity is more complex for youth with immigrant backgrounds and that the status conferred by being part of the majority group is recognized in ethnically diverse and segregated contexts. These findings on young adolescents’ national identity negotiations can inform future research or educational practices as well as curricula to support national identity development or feelings of belonging in diverse school settings.

Academic achievement, same- and cross-ethnic positive peer regard among Asian American and Latinx adolescents.

This article presents a short-term longitudinal study examining bidirectional associations between academic achievement and positive peer regard among Asian American and Latinx adolescents. Specifically, our investigation distinguished between positive peer regard within and across different ethnic groups in a diverse school setting. Three hundred and thirty-five middle school students (52.8% girls; 65% Asian American, 35% Latinx; assessment at the first time point Mage = 12.27 years, SD = 0.71) were followed across two consecutive school years. Participants completed a peer-nomination inventory assessing multiple dimensions of positive peer regard (i.e., reciprocal friendship, social acceptance, and respect), and grades were obtained from school records. Academic achievement was predictive of prospective positive peer regard received from same-ethnic peers only for Asian American adolescents. In contrast, academic achievement predicted prospective positive peer regard received from cross-ethnic peers only for Latinx adolescents. These results suggest that academic achievement was linked to social gains with peers from different ethnic backgrounds for Asian American and Latinx students. The findings underscore the importance of disentangling the sources of positive peer regard in multiethnic school environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Facilitating Student Learning With a Chatbot in an Online Math Learning Platform

Chatbots represent a promising technology for engaging students in math learning. Guided by Jerome Bruner’s constructivism and Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, we designed and developed a chatbot that incorporates scaffolding strategies and social-emotional considerations, and we integrated it into ASSISTments, an online math learning platform. We conducted an experimental study to examine the influence of learning math with the chatbot compared to traditional learning with hints. This study involved 85 middle and high school students from three diverse school settings in the United States. The results revealed no significant differences in students' math learning performance and perceived helpfulness and interest between the chatbot and traditional hints conditions. However, students in the chatbot condition displayed significantly lower confidence in solving a similar problem after the intervention, likely due to the removal of the high level of support provided by the chatbot. Despite this, students’ open responses indicated that a significantly higher number of students had positive attitudes towards chatbots. They appreciated the chatting feature, breaking down a problem into steps, and real-time support. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and implications for chatbot designers and developers and presents avenues for future research and practice in chatbot-assisted learning. In support of Open Science, this study has been preregistered and both the data and the analysis code used in this study are publicly available at https://osf.io/am3p8/ .

A Systematic Review on the Implementation of the Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) Program in the Philippines: Implications on the Educational Psychology Practice

The purpose of this meta-synthesis is to gather issues about the implementation of the ALIVE program in Philippine public elementary schools based on the "Standard Curriculum for Elementary Public Schools and Private Madaris" (DepEd Order Number 51 Series of 2004) developed by the Department of Education. Based on a set of criteria, ten (10) research studies conducted between 2015 and 2023 were selected. The ALIVE Program's execution was examined through studies found in published articles from CrossRef, OpenAlex, and Google Scholar databases. The included studies were arranged using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 flow diagram. The concerns regarding the ALIVE Program's implementation was determined to be the meta-theme. Through the use of thematic analysis, seven sub-themes emerged, including: fostering cultural integration through the ALIVE program and collaborative leadership; modifying the program's implementation in diverse school settings; maximizing learning environments for the ALIVE program through strategic leadership; navigating educational challenges in historical and conflicting contexts for the ALIVE program; transforming education for inclusive perspectives in the ALIVE program; educating for inclusive social transformation; and holistic governance for educational equity. This systematic review provides a comprehensive synthesis of recent research, revealing the complex barriers impeding the effectiveness of the ALIVE Program. With the aid of educational psychology practice, the study seeks to provide a thorough knowledge of these issues in order to inspire focused interventions and reforms that will enable the program to be implemented successfully in the Philippines.

“Strive with pride”: the voices of Indigenous young people on identity, wellbeing, and schooling in Australia

Indigenous Australian young people comprise over 50% of the total Indigenous population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). Yet, the voices of Indigenous young people are seldom centred in policy or scholarship (Shay & Sarra, 2021). This paper shares findings from a three-year national transdisciplinary, qualitative study that explored the identity and well-being of Indigenous young people in diverse school settings. The data told counter-stories through the lens of Indigenous young people currently absent in mental health and educational wellbeing scholarship. This article illustrates how the theoretical/methodological approach and data provide a strengths-based alternative to trauma-informed and medicalised mental health frameworks that dominate policy and practice approaches. This paper shares key findings from Indigenous young people who articulated their identities as underpinned by respect, pride and collectivism and shaped by culture, where you are from, physicality and role models. These expressions are clearly at odds with broader deficit discourses on Indigenous identity and have implications for health and schooling settings.

Creating Black Girl Space in St. Louis: Revisiting and Reclaiming Black Girl Voice in the Classroom

ABSTRACT Black girls face the challenge of developing a healthy sense of self because of racism and sexism in school settings. Building on extant literature, this study examines a sample of socioeconomically diverse Black girls’ in predominately White, Black, and racially and ethnically diverse school settings. Data collection included focus groups with Black girls (N = 30, M age = 12.64 years). Inductive analytic techniques were used to identify themes based on the lived experiences of Black girls across these school settings. Two themes emerged that centered on the intersectionality of race, class, and gender in their educational experiences, including (1) the misconception of Black girls and (2) resisting and reclaiming. Directions for future research and implications for Black girls are discussed.

Association Between School Victimization and Substance Use Among Hispanic/Latinx Adolescents: An Intersectionality Analysis of Social–Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies, Immigration Status, and Gender in Predominantly Hispanic/Latinx High Schools

Guided by coping theory, the social–ecological diathesis-stress model, and the theory of intersectionality, this study examined how social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies, gender, and immigrant status contributed to the heterogeneity of the association between school victimization and substance use among 2,795 Hispanic/Latinx adolescents from four predominantly Hispanic/Latinx high schools in central California. After controlling for students’ demographics, SEL competencies were found to mitigate the magnitude of the positive association between school victimization on substance use. Moreover, a higher level of school victimization was associated with an increased risk of substance use in all four subgroups, with immigrant males having a stronger positive association between school victimization and substance use than three other groups (immigrant females, U.S.-born males, and U.S.-born females). The buffering effect of SEL was significant for three subgroups (i.e., immigrant males, immigrant females, U.S.-born females) but not for U.S.-born males, with immigrant males having the strongest buffering effect. The findings highlight the importance of promoting social and emotional resilience and understanding the intersection of multiple marginalized and stigmatized identities in school violence and substance use prevention and intervention; it also provides implications for implementing transformative SEL in diverse school settings. Impact Statement This is one of the first empirical studies integrating both the social–ecological diathesis-stress model and intersectionality theory to examine how SEL competencies, gender, and immigrant status influence the direction and magnitude of the association between school victimization and substance use among Hispanic/Latinx adolescents in a high school setting where they were the numerical majority. It highlights the importance of promoting social and emotional resilience in mitigating the negative influence of school victimization on substance use; it also emphasizes the importance of understanding the intersection of adolescents’ multiple marginalized and stigmatized identities in preventing school violence and substance use and implementing transformative SEL in diverse school settings.

From Blueprint to Building: How Headquarters Scaffold Mentor Teacher Program Implementation in Schools of India

The mentor teacher program introduced by several state governments in India, has emerged as a promising approach to improve the quality of education in government schools. The Directorate of Education (DoE), Delhi launched the Mentor Teacher Program (MTP) in 2016 as a key initiative to enhance teacher quality and student learning. The program identifies and trains selected teachers as Mentor Teachers (MTs) who support and guide other teachers in their assigned schools. This paper examines the critical role played by the headquarters in ensuring the effective implementation of the mentor teacher program across diverse school settings.

Curriculum and assessment in popular music education

In this article, I examine how curriculum and assessment in popular music can be organized and delivered in valid and authentic ways in both school and university settings. This discussion focuses on how popular musicians learn, what they do as independent musicians on a regular basis and how this is contrasted with traditional models of music instruction and assessment in schools. I describe the three stages of backward curricular design and address formative, summative and negotiated assessments in detail. This discussion is supported with examples of assessment tools currently being used in selected popular music programmes in diverse school settings around the world.

Toward a Holistic Pedagogical Approach in K-6 Education: Evidence From a Multiple-Case Study in Spain

ABSTRACT This article examines how a multidimensional, skill-driven curricular framework plays out in diverse primary school settings toward a holistic K-6 curriculum framework. Particularly, it explored how unplugged tasks involve imaginative pedagogies, computational thinking skills, new media literacy skills, and social-emotional skills across three different primary schools by fulfilling two learning conditions, without coding/programming and without using digital devices. Within-case and cross-case analyses were conducted by following the qualitative multiple-case study research design. The evidence stems from lesson analysis, observation field notes, and interview transcripts with 152 participants. We collected 94 lessons from the three schools and we analyzed the data by using a predefined coding scheme grounded upon four frameworks. We conclude that the detected teaching practices uncover promising trajectories by demonstrating a great potential to consider the proposed framework as an effective and age-appropriate pedagogical approach applicable to low-technology and coding-free learning environments. The study highlights the need of teacher professional development, especially on computational thinking in reference to cognitive/intellectual, emotional/affective, social, creative/imaginative, and material dimensions for conscious computational thinking practice implementation. Given the paucity of research on unplugged and, especially, non-programming/coding methods at primary education level, this study can open up prominent issues for further examination and validation.

Exploring the experiences of elementary teachers after completing Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT): Implications for teaching in diverse school settings.

Exploring the experiences of elementary teachers after completing Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT): Implications for teaching in diverse school settings.

Joining networked society: integrating Academic Service-Learning into formal school

ABSTRACT The gap between students’ formal, school-based learning and informal, social learning has been widely acknowledged. To overcome this gap, academic service-learning (AS-L) pedagogy involves deliberate efforts to interconnect formal and informal learning by enhancing students’ transitions across multiple authentic settings and fostering their participation in various social roles. The aim of this study was to examine how AS-L is practiced among Finnish primary and secondary schools, what kind of stakeholder networks are involved, what the experienced outcomes are, and which factors enable the AS-L pedagogy to be embedded into the Finnish formal school context. The data consisted of semi-structured educator interviews describing nine cases of implementing AS-L practices in diverse Finnish school settings. Empirically driven, thematic data-analysis generated an overall description of the AS-L pedagogies examined. The findings confirm that AS-L pedagogy fulfiled the curricular aims, assisted in meeting the learning objectives and affirmed the fundamental role of external stakeholders in AS-L pedagogy. However, results also revealed challenges related to schools’ operational infrastructures, lesson frameworks, and teacher collaboration hindering the interdisciplinary implementation of AS-L pedagogy, preventing synergies with subject-specific learning contents, and limiting stakeholder networks. Innovative teacher activity, in turn, was identified as a success factor in applying AS-L pedagogy. The results indicate that interconnecting formal and informal learning requires schools’ systemic change, and furthermore, legitimising teacher’s transformative efforts fosters development and implementation of novel pedagogical practices.

Understanding Racial Attitudes Among Students and Teachers in a Ethnically/Racially Diverse High School.

This study examined the role of racial attitudes in a diverse high school setting. Teachers and students were recruited from a public charter high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The final sample consisted of 19 students and 10 teachers who participated in face-to-face interviews regarding racial attitudes and racial bias in the academic setting. Three themes emerged among the teacher interviews: rejecting racial inequalities, contradicting thoughts and color-blind explanations, and racially conscious explanations. For the student interviews, two themes emerged: color-blind racial attitudes and witnessing/experiencing bias. These findings yield evidence that color-blind racial attitudes are prevalent in diverse schools among students and teachers, presenting a challenge to intervention efforts in schools aimed at promoting racial justice.