The rise of violent incidents in South African schools has sparked widespread concern. Most studies on school violence focus on the experiences of learners; little attention has been paid to educators' experiences. As a result, violence against educators is both underreported and understudied. The research question prompting this study was: What…

Studies show that despite many programs with intentions to create a positive and inclusive learning environment, bullying and exclusion is still a challenge. This article investigates the following: (a) What challenges are there in the psychosocial learning environment in primary school, from a student perspective, and (b) what strategies can…

Although several studies have focused on why school climate is important, the timing of the collection of climate measures should be considered. This is of particular interest to schools that gauge school improvement efforts within a school year and are interested in how climate changes from the beginning to the end of the academic year. We show…

School climate is crucial for understanding everyday school life. For pupils, breaktime seems to be associated with how they feel about their school climate. To better understand school climate and what social processes pupils address, this study explores pupils' perspectives on school climate with attention on how they perceive their breaktimes.…

School safety is a key feature of the learning environment. Research suggests if students perceive their environment as unsafe they will face a myriad of possible detrimental consequences. Using qualitative interviews, we explore the factors most consistently identified by students as important in their feelings of safety. We examine whether the…

One of the negative consequences of bullying in schools is its adverse effect on students' sense of safety. Previous studies yielded mixed results and a nonlinear relationship between bullying and students' sense of safety and pointed to the need for revealing possible mediating and moderating factors in order to better understand this…

There is a longstanding stereotype that segregated high schools serving a large majority of minority students are unsafe. But it is unclear if this stereotype has any merit. I use a QuantCrit theoretical framework along with data from the nationally representative Education Longitudinal Study and multilevel logistic regression models to explore…

Although several studies have focused on why school climate is important, the timing of the collection of climate measures should be considered. This is of particular interest to schools that gauge school improvement efforts within a school year and are interested in how climate changes from the beginning to the end of the academic year. We show…

Students often have differing perceptions of their school's climate. Although these subjective perceptions can be meaningful outcome predictors, discrepancies create challenges for those seeking to globally characterize or intervene to improve the climate of a school. Trained, outside observers can provide insights on perceptible and ostensibly…

Students' experience of learning, relating and belonging are crucial to their participation in school. With ever growing concern about young people's mental health and levels of informal and formal exclusion it is timely to investigate how schools can be supported in meeting the social and psychological needs of learners. The focus of this paper…

The purpose of this research is to develop a scale to determine the perceptions of teachers working in secondary schools related to school safety. Alongside the social actors, the elements involved in achieving the goals of educational activities are important actors in the solution and implementation of the school security problems. Therefore,…

This study examines the school climates of previous K-12th-grade students who previously attended Little County School District (LCSD) and their perceptions of bullying and being bullied in those climates. In addition, this study will examine the previous students' parents, their perceptions of bullying in the school climate, and their…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of student diversity and inclusion training on the overall climate of a school. The study was a quasi-experimental quantitative study that compared school climate prior to and after the implementation of student diversity and inclusion trainings. During this study, two types of diversity and…

The United States of America has a unique problem of school shootings. The victims of school shootings are robbed of their futures at the very institutions attempting to prepare them for college, career, and citizenship. These shootings have inspired massive, costly security upgrades in American schools. This target hardening is one way to prevent…

A school safety team collaborates with stakeholders to promote and maintain a physically and psychologically safe school environment. Together they must identify safety deficits and prioritize initiatives and practices. This phenomenological qualitative case study examined how a school safety team makes decisions and determines safety outcomes.…