School climate and conflicts among pupils

The presentation reports on empirical research which examined pupils’, teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of school climate related to conflicts among pupils and peace education as a means of the development of peace oriented pupil behaviour. The focus of the presentation is on the pupils’ perception of school climate as a social context which is relevant for occurrence and resolution of conflicts in schools. Pupil conflicts were explored from an ecological-developmental perspective (Fraser, 1996; Holtappels and Meier, 2000; Khoury-Kassabri et al., 2004), including a sample of 370 pupils in their final year of compulsory schooling across 10 schools in Zagreb county. Questionnaires administered to pupils consisted of scales “measuring”: (1) relations among students, (2) relations between students and teachers, (3) the incidence of conflicts in schools and (4) the presence of peace education themes in classroom teaching. Pupil responses indicated that both conflictual and cooperative relations exist in schools. In relation to teacher-pupil contact, pupils reported they perceived teachers as people they could rely on for support in conflict resolution, but at the same time expressed lower estimates for teachers' respect for pupils. The research identified girls in comparison to boys as "more sensitive" to violence in schools, as well as a more positive perception of the school environment by pupils with higher grades and pupils who less often experienced violence in schools. The most often taught themes relevant for peace education are issues related to human rights, while the least taught themes are those concerning groups at risk (e.g. persons of different sexual orientations). The results will serve as an analytical basis for the development of peace education curriculum and improvement of the violence prevention programmes in compulsory schools.