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.