Task 1: Prospectus

Capstone: Bullying in Schools

PART A: Bullying Impacts students’ academic Performance

A study done by the Barrington (2018) shows that bullying exists in almost every school bout private and pubic and the main effect it has on students is the decline of their academic performance. In the research that involved 200 students from the grades 4 to 12 showed that the academic bullying affected their performance by 19% since they started being bullied. The results also show an interesting effect on the academic performance of the bullies which shows that the bullies’ academic performances are affected by a 3.8% change when involved in bullying activities. Academic performance is also affected indirectly by bullying because it is because it leads to lack of engagement in class discussions or missing school sessions altogether. It is therefore evident that bullying has an adverse effect on performances.

This is a problem for school administrators because those affected by bullying tend to miss classes and due to the lack of a proper learning environment in school. As Barrington (2018) explains, 10% of all those who are bullied end up dropping out of school. The problem that this presents to the administrators is that students fail to achieve their full potential while in school. School administrators are responsible for ensuring that students have an environment where they can learn peacefully and perform well in their studies. Administrators should create programs that will stop bullying because bullying deters students from realizing their full academic performance and it is also because of bullying that 10% of students drop out of school. To prevent this from happening school administrators need to be vigilant in creating a learning environment that will serve the students effectively.

PART B:

Problem Statement

Bullying affects students’ academic performance and is one of the major reasons students struggle in school, exhibit low self-esteem, perform at a lower level and in some cases, drop out of school. The problem of bullying affects the local school setting by negatively impacting the school environment making it harder for administrators to provide a conducive learning environment for their students.

Problem Explanation

Bullying refers to the use of force and threat to intimidate others. The study done by UCLA shows that students who are frequently bullied report lower academic performances and less involvement in school activities (Oliviera et al, 2018). Barrington (2018) also shows that bullying is a leading cause of dropouts in school. Bullying is can be caused by a possible number of elements such as depression, behavioral change from students and mental health issues.

The propagation of bullying in the school is caused by the lack of proper governance from school administrators. School administrators need to create proper reporting systems and anti-bullying programs to mitigate bullying. Bullying is also caused by the lack of school administrators’ involvement. Bullying requires stringent policies and school administrators to place systems that will deter such activities.

Solution

The solution here is to educate staff about how to identify students who are bullies, and those who are victims, how to respond to them, who to report to and what to report, and how to become an advocate to both instigative students and victims, ultimately reducing bullying and creating a more conducive learning environment. This will all be accomplished through a professional development training.

Proposed Research

The research will utilize the feedback from 20 educators, staff and counselors that interact with students daily. These staff members will vary in gender, age, race, and number of years of experience in education. 16 of the 20 will be female and 4 will be male. 5 of the 20 are under the age of 30. 6 of the 20 are between the ages of 30-50, and 9 of the 20 are over the age of 50. All 20 are Caucasian. 10 of the 20 have less than 5 years of experience in education. 3 of the and 20 have between 5-10 years of experience in education, and 7 of the 20 have more than 10 years’ experience in education.

Research Questions

There are two research questions, and they will be measured and defined before and after the professional development that will be implemented.

Quantitative – What is the difference in knowledge of the participants about the intervention to improve or prevent bullying before and after the professional development has been implemented?

Qualitative – What is the difference in knowledge of the participants about the intervention to improve or prevent bullying before and after the professional development has been implemented?

Answering the Research Questions

Quantitative – I will be issuing a Likert format 5-7 question survey via Google Forms, whereas all questions will be relative to the professional development. This will be given to the staff pre-training and post-training.

Qualitative – I will be issuing a questionnaire with 2-3 open ended questions with narrative response answers via Google Forms. The questions will be relative to the professional development. This will be given to the staff post-training only.

Data Analysis

Quantitative – I will be using a descriptive statistical analysis approach. I will take the average of each question pre professional development and compare to the average of each question post professional development. I will then use a positive or negative compare and a positive or negative contrast difference. I will report this data using a chart or graph.

Qualitative – I will be using a descriptive narrative analysis approach. I will take the responses for each question and categorize them into common themes and similar responses. Once that is done, I am then going to look for the most predominant response and use that for the response to the question. I will report this data using a simple table.

References

Oliveira, F. R., de, M. T. A., Irffi, G., & Oliveira, G. R. (January 01, 2018). Bullying effect on student’s performance. Economia, 19, 1, 57-73.

Barrington, K. (May 01, 2018). How Does Bullying Affect a Student’s Academic Performance? Public School Review.

Shetgiri, R. (November 01, 2017). Bullying and Children’s Academic Performance. Academic Pediatrics, 17, 8, 797-798.

IDENTIFYING THE IMPLICATIONS OF DIVERSE METHODOLOGIES AND METHODS

Identifying the Implications of Diverse Methodologies and Methods

Introduction

The proposed topic is “The development of project plan to support implementation of school wellness.” It is critical in the advancement of plans and policies that ensure the overall improvement of school-based curricula. Furthermore, the analysis of play-based learning vs traditional in early years will allow the researcher to identify the potential areas of improvement in the designing of future curricula by determining how the two approaches can be merged together to develop a more advanced syllabus (Barnhardt et al., 2016). The professional relevance of the given research topic will be through interaction with teachers, students and other relevant stakeholders.

Research Questions

1. What internal and external factors affect the effectiveness of school-based curricula?
2. What roles do teachers play in the improvement of school-based curricula?
3. What methodologies are applied in the selection of modes of learning in schools?

The given research questions were developed based on the research topic and the existing literature review. As such, the investigation of existing knowledge and texts in educational research play a key role on how a researcher develops their research questions based on a specific topic. Sandberg and Alvesson (2011) provide that the available methodological principles also play a role in answering the questions. It may be explained by the fact that they enable the researcher to understand the research topic and consequently guide the research process. Therefore, it is critical to establishing intertextual coherence and problematisation while determining the research questions (Sandberg and Alvesson, 2011). These aspects allow for clear determination of the research’s position and determination of the most appropriate methodology of the study.

Possible Research Designs and Methods

Mixed method will be the best approach for answering the research questions as it involves the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Diller (2016) determines that this type of research allows the combination or mixing of the two approaches in a specific manner. The fundamental rationale for this type of research design is that the researcher can learn more about their topic. Since the three questions need to be answered through both quantitative and qualitative approaches, mixed methods provide the integration of the strengths of the two methodological paradigms.

Withams (2016) refers to this aspect as the fundamental principle of mixed methods research. However, Fletcher (2016) argues that to achieve reliable and accurate findings, it is important to combine them in a manner that achieves complete complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses. This logic will ensure that the researcher is able to apply the quantitative methodology in the conceptualization of variables, the profiling of dimensions, determining the existent of relationships and formalising comparisons (Fry, 2016).

On the other hand, the qualitative research allows the investigator to achieve the strengths of sensitivity to meaning and context. Moreover, the great methodological strength of this approach enhances the ability to study process and change. Therefore, quantitative methods can be of advantage in areas where quantitative methods are weak and vice versa (Jackson, 2016). This approach is the best for this methodological study as at will allow the investigator to determine what internal and external factors affect the effectiveness of school-based curricula, what roles do teachers play in their improvement, and what methodologies are applied in the selection of modes of learning in schools.

Ethical Considerations

During the collection of data on the development of project plan to support implementation of school wellbeing, various ethical considerations may arise. First, before commencing the collection of data, the investigator will need to gain consent from the study participants. Punch (2009) provides that this action prevents the participants from feeling compelled to participate in the study. As such, the BERA guidelines state that a consent form is provided allowing the researcher to collect data from each subject.

Furthermore, the investigator is obliged to keep all the collected information confidential by maintaining a strict chain of command to protect the subjects in the study. Finally, there is need to ensure that no harm, both physical and emotional is done to the subjects while participating in the study. This factor means that the dignity of all subjects must be respected at all times. These concerns will be addressed by following the stipulated standard operating procedures while interacting with the research participants. Any type of communication relating to the research should be done with honesty and transparency by avoiding all forms of misleading information as well as representing the collecting data in an unbiased manner. This concern is addressed by using the appropriate data analysis technology and approaches to provide accurate findings.

Evaluation of Contrasting Methodological Approaches

Qualitative Research Design

In educational research, qualitative design mostly concentrates on the evaluation of human behaviour and other and social life. Jackson (2016) argues that its richness and complexity mean that there exists other means of analysing social life such as education, an element that presents multiple perspectives and practices in the collection and analysis of the data. Qualitative research provides an alternative approach to the analysis of the research questions.

In the determination of what external and internal factors affect the effectiveness of school-based curricula, this type of methodological design would be the most appropriate as it provides the contextualisation of the theoretical insights that are needed to understand the significant elements that affect education in this regard (Lund, 2019). Thus, qualitative methodology provides not only faster but more effective means of answering the research questions at hand through the application of interviews and case study research to provide an in-depth insight in regards to the elements affecting the school-based curricula.

This type of methodological approach would also be appropriate for determining what methodologies are applied in the selection of modes of learning in schools. This research question is relevant in the determination of the standard operating procedures that are applied in the establishment of school-based curricula and the subsequent modes of learning (Pugsley, 2001). Through the use of interviews with educators and other relevant stakeholders, the researcher is able to gather relevant data in regards to how modes of learning are selected and how these approaches can be utilised in the provision of school wellbeing programs.

The analysis of qualitative data will need the application of coding to assign names, labels, and tags to the collected data. As such, the researcher is able to assign meaning to each piece of data while still indexing it and providing the basis for storage and retrieval (Robertson, 2018). However, there must be clear links between data indicators and the conceptual labels that are given to it as they enable the investigator to check and test the reliability of each code before giving out the final findings.

A qualitative research design provides a rich and detailed analysis of why people act in a certain manner and how these actions affect the final outcome. Sych (2018) argues that this type of approach allows a researcher to evaluate attitudes, feelings and behaviours. Furthermore, qualitative approach creates openness in the sense that it encourages people to expand their response thus leading to more in-depth information. Techniques such as interviews have been shown to stimulate individual’s experiences allowing the research to gather insights that would be otherwise impossible with other techniques (Sych, 2018).

However, studies show that qualitative research design has its own share of disadvantages. The approach is generally more time consuming than quantitative methodology, an aspect that reduces the number of study participants. As such, due to the reduced number of research participants, it becomes difficult to generalise the findings (Hay et al., 2015). A researcher is unable to make systemic comparisons and the accuracy usually depends on the skills of the researcher.

Quantitative Research Design

The use of surveys in the collection of data in educational research has over the years proven relevant when reliability needs to be maintained (Sych, 2018). The use of questionnaires in determining what roles teachers play in the improvement of school-based curricula allows the investigator to gather factual information and provides an effective means of measuring participants’ attitudes, opinions and beliefs. However, Yoo, Jang and Park (2018) argue that the development of the different parts of a survey should depend on the types of measurements involved. As such, it is critical for the investigator to design the questions and approach the respondents professionally in order to ensure that accurate data is gathered.

Quantitative methodological approach allows for a broader study that provides for an increased number of research participants. This element ensures greater objectivity and accuracy of results by allowing few variables and extended cases (Sych, 2018). Thus, personal bias can be avoided as the findings are based on the response of the subjects and not the investigator’s conclusions.

However, quantitative methodology has been found to collect much narrower and sometimes superficial datasets making the results limited as they provide less elaborate accounts of human perception rather than the detailed narrative (Barnhardt et al., 2016). Also, the development of standard questions by investigators has been found to contribute to structural bias which subsequently leads to false representation.

References

Barnhardt, C., Reyes, K., Vidal Rodriguez, A. and Ramos, M. (2016). A Transformative mixed methods assessment of educational access and opportunity. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 12(4), pp.413-436.

Diller, H. (2016) Literature and the learner: Methodological approaches. System. 20(1), pp.99-101.

Fletcher, A. (2016). Applying critical realism in qualitative research: Methodology meets method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 20(2), pp.181-194.

Fry, E. (2016). Research tools: Instrumentation in educational research. Review of Educational Research. 30(5), p.513.

Hay, J., Puckeridge, M., McDonald, R. and Kelly, M. (2015). Ermington family learning centre: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage through parents and children learning together. Children Australia. 20(1), pp.13-17.

Jackson, E. (2016). Quantitative methods in educational research: The role of numbers made-easy. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 12(3), pp.358-359.

Lund, T. (2019). Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches: Some arguments for mixed methods research. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. 56(2), pp.155-165.

McKim, C. (2016). The value of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 11(2), pp.202-222.

Pugsley, L. (2001). The researcher experience in qualitative research. Qualitative Research. 1(1), pp.120-122.

Punch, K. (2009). Introduction to research methods in education. British Journal of Educational Technology. 40(6), pp.1149-1150.

Robertson, S. (2018). The qualitative research process as a journey: Mapping your course with qualitative research software. Qualitative Research Journal. 8(2), pp.81-90.

Sandberg, J. and Alvesson, M. (2011) Ways of constructing research questions: Gap-spotting or problematization? Organization. 18(1) pp.23-44.

Sych, T. (2018). Methodological approaches in research of education management problems. International Scientific Journal “Internauka”. 10(50), pp.51-54.

Withams, S. (2016). Ethical guideline reviews need time. Nursing Standard. 10(34), pp.11-11.

Yoo, Y., Jang, J. and Park, S. (2018). A study on the analysis of the current status of applying CPTED project to school. Korea CPTED Association. 9(1), pp.180-210.