BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGEMassachusetts Aggression-Reduction Center (M.A.R.C.) |
Statement of PurposeM.A.R.C. is a partnership between higher education educators and researchers and K-12 educators, guidance counselors, administrators, law enforcement, and public servants in the legal sector (e.g., District Attorney's Office). The ultimate purpose of such a partnership is to:
There exist avenues whereby current and up-to-date research findings are disseminated to professionals in K-12 education. Research findings are typically published in peer-reviewed journals, which are available through library services, and many researchers, including myself, publish comprehensive books aimed at educating professionals about the causes and behaviors associated with aggression and violence. Despite such opportunities, knowledge frequently takes too long to filter down to the applied professionals who can use it in the classroom. School violence is an important safety, and an important emotional, issue for school personnel, faculty, administrators, guidance counselors, and parents. On the one hand, the public is continually reassured that schools remain among the safest of institutions - statistically (Agron, 2002). On the other hand, most adults (and children) do not feel safer in schools today than they did a decade ago. While much research has been done on the improvement of academic learning, there is somewhat less focus on problems in social and emotional development in teacher training courses, despite the fact that such knowledge can be critical in maintaining a positive learning environment (Kuntz, 2000). It is true that the violent crime arrest rate for youths under 15 years old peaked in 1994 and has been declining since then (Englander, 2002). Still, a dramatic increase in this arrest rate occurred between 1988 and 1994, after which the arrest rate declined (although not to pre-1980 levels). This increase coincided with a general crime wave in the United States during the late 1980s. In the 1990s, students shooting multiple victims in suburban and rural school districts caused enormous alarm and dismay (Englander, 2001). In Great Britain, school violence has become a serious threat; one study found that one in four teachers reported having been threatened by a student (Times Educational Supplement, 2001). These factors have contributed to a general sense of unease in public schools today. Academics in higher education, researchers in law enforcement, and K-12 educators publish hundreds of articles yearly addressing the causes of childhood aggression and the best ways to teachers and administrators in public schools to cope with such aggression. Unfortunately these fields tend to be disparate and generally do not share information. One result is that some studies have found that teachers aren't getting enough training and support to help them cope with behavior problems in public school (Kuntz, 2000). Teacher training often seems to lack explicit curriculum in strategic coping with student misbehavior, despite the fact that this is clearly a critical issue in maintaining an effective learning environment within the classroom (Kuntz, 2000). One recent survey of teachers in the U.S. found that they believed that did not have any training that enabled them to understand and cope with the aggressive behavior problems they were seeing in schools today (Wong, 2000). Several studies have examined whether there are "trainable" areas of teacher education that can affect their ability to understand and cope with student aggression. One recent study of more than 100 teachers in elementary and middle schools examined the impact of training teachers on what areas of the school are their "purview." It found that when teachers regard the entire school as their purview they are significantly more likely to feel comfortable intervening and settling issues around student aggression. Another study of 82 females and 34 males in a teachers' college in Canada found that attitudes and knowledge levels about student aggression could significantly impact the ability of teachers to intervene effectively in student aggression. This study administered a series of questionnaires to prospective teachers and found that teaching teachers about the causes and consequences of aggression in students greatly increased their empathy for victims and aggressors, which in turn increased their willingness to intervene in episodes of aggression. Likewise, when prospective teachers are training about understanding what constitutes an important or serious act of violence, their self-confidence in their ability to intervene rises significantly (Craig, Henderson, & Murphy, 2000). Finally, a study of current teachers also found that while they often witness acts of aggression, they feel uncertain about what acts are "serious" and when they are given additional training focusing on identifying important types of violence they feel much more comfortable intervening (Kikkawa, 1987). Other countries, and some areas of the U.S., have piloted programs similar to the one I am proposing to initiate here at BSC. In Seville, Spain, a project entitled Seville Against School Violence has launched a collaboration between university faculty and public school teachers, seeking to form a Task Force to help train teachers in learning about the causes of violence and aggression and building a support system to help teachers cope with such behavior (Kuntz, 2000). In England, the National Association of Schoolmasters, drawing on research done by higher education faculty, has issued guidelines for teachers in dealing with aggression in the schools (Bloom, 2002). In some areas of the U.S., teachers and administrators who have received training have expressed the attitude that it is useful to understand the causes of violence in children because it enables them to identify and detect violence-prone children (Curriculum Review, 2000). For all these reasons, I am proposing that Bridgewater State College host a one-day intensive Workshop, aimed at K-12 faculty, guidance counselors, special education teachers, and administrators. This Workshop, which will feature information from a Partnership between Higher Education, Law Enforcement, K-12 Educators, and the District Attorney's Office, will aim to provide K-12 personnel with the knowledge and resources to address one of the more pressing problems in public education today: violence and aggression at many K-12 public schools. Elizabeth K. Englander, Ph.D.
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Last Modified: January 14, 2005 |