Project Veilig op School

A pleasant and safe social climate is essential for all children. It makes children feel good about themselves and promotes their learning performance. Unfortunately, not all children experience a pleasant and safe social climate in their classroom. This research project, therefore, aims to understand better how a safe social environment is created for all children.

The social climate in the classroom is about the extent to which children and teachers feel comfortable. The social relationships between children and the group dynamics are significant for this. The conscious perception of social relationships is often the main focus, e.g., which children are each other's friends. Yet the somewhat less aware side can also play a role. Therefore, in this study, we will look at the functioning of social relationships differently. We focus here on the arrangement of who sits next to whom in class and children's gut feelings towards each other. Examples of how these issues can emerge in the classroom include children who suddenly ultimately blossom in a particular table group, or children who say they are uncomfortable with themselves but cannot quite pinpoint what exactly it is. Finally, we want to understand how children's and teachers' class schedules and gut feelings contribute to classroom climate.

We conducted this study in primary school groups 6, 7, and 8. We focus on these groups because social relationships become increasingly important for children in the upper years.

Besides understanding how classroom climate comes about, we also want to look for ways to improve classroom climate. To this end, we have developed two methods to apply in participating classes. One method is a rearrangement of who sits next to whom. The other method is a game focused on positivity in social relationships. We will apply the two methods in different ways in the participating classes. This means that in some classes, both methods will be used in some classes, and in some classes, one of the two methods will be applied.

What exactly are we going to do in this study?

In each class, we will visit twice in consultation: once at the beginning and once at the end of the examination. When the assessment takes place, it is decided in consultation with the teacher. The examination can start at any time during the school year. There will be about 10-12 weeks between our two visits. During a classroom visit, at least one class session will take place. In some classes, individual sessions will additionally take place at each visit.

Sessions in the classroom

The children fill in several questions on laptops about their classmates and themselves. This takes a maximum of an hour. Children always choose the classmates who best fit a particular description for the questions about classmates. The descriptions include helping behaviour, bullying, cooperation and gossiping. For example: 'Who in your class helps other children?' The questions children complete about themselves cover topics such as popularity, bullying, friendship and feelings of loneliness in class. The teacher will also fill in questionnaires about the children, such as the bond with your child. The teacher will not fill in questionnaires for children who are not participating in the study.

Individual sessions

In small groups, children are taken for an individual session. This lasts a maximum of 30 minutes and occurs in a quiet room in the school. The children will individually complete two tasks on a laptop. The first is a reaction speed task that measures how children perceive their social relationships in the classroom. In addition, we measure their helpful behaviour towards classmates in a scenario task. In this, we present children with a situation, and they then indicate what they would do. For example: Your classmate loses a scarf; what do you do? Furthermore, we ask children to briefly introduce themselves to classmates in a video message briefly. With this, we want to explore their non-verbal behaviour.

Sessions for teachers

We ask all teachers to fill out questionnaires and have an interview with one of the researchers about the class schedule. These questionnaires can be completed online at a self-selected time. The interview can take place on the day of the class session or by phone at a later time. The teacher will also do some computer tasks in classes where individual student sessions take place; the teacher will also do some computer tasks. These will take place in our presence, as they require specific equipment. These tasks use reaction speeds to measure how the teacher experiences social relationships with children in the classroom.

Methods to improve classroom climate

Classes will start working with the methods we have developed between our first and second visits. We will apply these in different ways in the participating courses. This means that in some classes, both methods will be used, and in some classes, in others, one of the two methods will be applied.

The classroom

This method aims to give each child an appropriate place in the classroom. Therefore, children in all classes will be allocated a new seat in consultation with the teacher. This is not about arranging tables and chairs, but about who sits next to whom. This method is based on previous research on class layouts.

Game

For eight weeks, the children play an educational game in which they playfully learn about psychology. At the same time, the game is designed to give children positive experiences with other children's dolls. Each child creates its own puppet. These appear every time something fun happens in the game. Sometimes, they are made by classmates and sometimes by children from another class. The computer controls the dolls. So the children do not play against each other, but individually. We will also not save or use the results of the game. It is only about playing the game, so that in this way, the social climate improves.

We conduct this research by the quality guidelines for research in schools established by the Behavioural Science Institute.

Thorough

• You will know in advance exactly what we want to ask teachers and students in advance.
• You know how much time it takes and how we conduct the survey.
• We inform the parents of the pupils, you do not have to. Parents can indicate that their child is not participating in an examination without giving any reason.
• Our researchers provide clear explanations to teachers and students.

Reliable

• Our researchers make a research plan in advance. The ethics committee of the Faculty of Social Sciences ethics committee assesses the ethical conduct of the research.
• All information collected is processed anonymously and stored in a secure environment.

Practically driven

• We conduct research that has value for practice. We want to support you in solving problems in everyday teaching practice.
• After the examination is completed, the teacher will be informed of the main findings of the examination.

Of course, without participating schools, our research could never take place! We would therefore also like to give something back to the schools. Read below what the schools will receive as thanks for participating in this survey.

Social Safety Report

Each school receives a report on social safety in the participating classes at the end of the survey. In this report, you will find information about the pupils' well-being, for example. These reports comply with the guidelines of the Inspectorate of Education under the Social Safety Act. You can, therefore, use the report for the social safety monitoring obligation.

Understanding classroom climate

At the end of the survey, each participating class will receive a report at the end of the survey that reflects the study's primary results. This report includes sociometric information, which reflects how children perceive the behaviour of their classmates (e.g., who helps others, and who bullies others). This information can be valuable for the teacher in gaining more insight into the classroom climate.

Psychology curriculum

Since psychology is obviously extremely interesting for children, we also offer all participating classes a teaching package on psychology. The package consists of a copy of the book 'Between Your Ears' by Ap Dijksterhuis and Madelijn Strick and a set of accompanying teaching ideas and assignments. We also offer participating schools a workshop on psychology. The exact topic can be determined in consultation, but you can think of social relations, bullying, or aggression. By offering such workshops, we want to build a bridge between research and practice and give teachers practical insights based on scientific research.

A fun introduction to scientific research

Finally, participating in this study is also valuable for children. Children often really enjoy sharing their experiences in class. In addition, they learn about scientific research in a fun way and see what they themselves can contribute. In addition, the book that every class receives (see Psychology Learning Package) is very suitable for introducing primary school pupils to the field of psychology.