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2008-5435/12/42-1-6 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE Copyright © 2012 by Iranian Occupational Health Association (IOHA) IJOH 4: 1-6, 2012

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Students' Perceptions about School Safety in Doroodzan Middle School, Marvdasht City, Fars Province, Iran MASOUD MOHAMMADI DEHCHESHMEH*, ALI ASGHAR POUREZZAT, ARIAN GHOLIPOUR Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Received June 5, 2011; Revised November 11, 2011; Accepted December 8, 2011 This paper is available on-line at http://ijoh.tums.ac.ir

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of factors related to school safety in Doroodzan middle school, a rural school setting located in the north section of Fars Province, Iran. By examining students' perceptions of several specific aspects of campus safety, schools can prepare a program that addresses safety concerns and creates an holistic environment that decreases the possibility of safety challenges. The instrument used in this study was titled "Our School's Safety", designed by the California Department of Education, consisted of 36 Likert-scale questions and examined the physical, social and cultural aspects of school safety in order to procure a comprehensive overview of important factors related to safety. The completed surveys were analyzed. The results showed that, the school physical, social, and cultural safety levels were in an acceptable situation. Majority of all students agree or strongly agree that social environment safety (73.2%), cultural environment safety (71.6%) and physical environment safety (65%) levels were satisfying. Doroodzan middle school successfully provides safety and it was determined that school potential for safety problems was reduced, due to the safety and security interventions in place and therefore can serves as a model for school districts around the country that are experiencing difficulties with safety and security. Keywords: Primary school, Middle school, Students' perceptions, physical safety, social safety, cultural safety, Iran

INTRODUCTION Nowadays, schools have faced a variety of challenges; one of them, which is the most frequent one, is safety challenge. Although, there are laws and regulations that may assure students' safety, but this is still a serious problem for students in school environments [1]. The school environment is an environment that students spends one third of their life with teachers and other students and staff [2] and so they have to provide * Corresponding author: Masoud Mohammadi Dehcheshmeh, E-mail: [email protected]

safe working situations for staff and students [3]. Unsafe school leads to interrupted learning process, reduces teacher effectiveness, student’s participation, increases student anxiety, destroys the valuable school building, and the facilities [4], make children terminate their schooling and make parents refuse to register and keep their children in the school [5]. Feeling safe in school is necessary to discover, learn, relate in healthy ways, shaping student learning and development [6]. Safe schools are environments with no injury to student and staff, no damage to equipment, machines, and tools, no damage to environment, no loss of school competition, no damage to school image or

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brand name and ensuring increased scientific productivities [7]. Nevertheless, today Iran faces one of the strongest challenges of the modern era; building a safe school environment. Hundreds of articles, survey reports, polls, and statistical data all point to the need for continuous and specific attention to safety problems in Iranian schools. In this context, some statistics show that, schools in Iran not providing enough safety for students and staff. Statistics shows that every year, more than 200 students in Iran die because of accidents in school, road to school and school to home. During 2001-2005 academic years, more than 50,000 accidents occurred for girl students, which have led to the deaths of 272 girl students. In a four academic year survey during 2000 to 2003, respectively 11,721, 13,597, 13,387, and 23,599 accidents reported in Boys' schools. The statistics is related to the types of events including fire, accident, destruction of schools, student's aggression, and natural disasters and like that [8]. Insufficient educational space per capita, schools nearness to unsafe places, old school buildings, unhealthful toilets and drafts, unsafe classrooms and grounds, risk of electric shock, fire, inadequate, and inaccessible first aid facilities, inappropriate board and seats, insufficient and Non-standard grounds are the most safety issues in Iranian schools [9]. During the last decade, the country witnessed dramatic increases in the numbers of school safety problems on students and teachers. On 5 December 2007, the school safety issue in Iran took on greater importance than ever before. At Doroodzan Primary School in the small village with the same name, Marvdasht City, Fars Province, Iran, school caught fire and burned because of Non-standard oil heater in the class. The disaster burned eight students and the students lost their beauty and health. For a while, the mass media focused on the incident and provided ongoing coverage of the tragedy and subsequent investigation such that never before had so much attention been given to a specific school crises like that. Students and parents across the nation expressed their fear and great concern for the safety of schools and wanted to know what could be done in order to prevent such an incident from occurring at their site. Politicians, mass media, psychologists, and the public expressed different suggestions and ideas promoting school safety. The Dorodzan tragedy forced society to look precisely at where this school incident occurred and what the government would do to prevent future tragedies likewise. The stereotypical perception that school incidents always occurred in poor areas of the country was intensified. In this regard, the purpose of the study was to evaluate Doroodzan middle school safety situation after the school tragedy, On 5 December 2007. Schools must be prepared to create a safe learning environment so that the ultimate goal of schooling, excellent learning, and a suitable curriculum is possible. So identified school safety issues as perceived by students who were involved in Doroodzan primary school tragedy and now

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are middle school students, will help to determine accurately specific problem areas and where changes must occur. The researchers chose Doroodzan middle school due to familiarity with the school incidents, met the criteria of a victim of school fire, and shared many similarities with many schools all over the country. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, the following questions will be answered. 1. What are the students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's physical environment? 2. What are the students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's social environment? 3. What are the students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's cultural environment? The study was limited to Doroodzan middle school and so the limitation of the selection to one specific school and special students who were involved in Doroodzan primary school incident reduces the generality of the study results. However, by using the experienced students in school incidents, the study provided a good indicator of the school-wide perceptions about school safety. By carefully examining the responses of these students about school safety, schools may develop ideas on creating a physical, social and cultural environment that are safety oriented, tolerant, friendly, and caring.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The research in this study attempts to get a general picture about the school safety and distinguishing three main categories of school environment, which need to be safe. So a qualitative methodology was used for this study which involves interaction between the researcher and the students (i.e., samples) [10]. This study is informal in its approach to data collection, and is heavily dependent on individual responses (i.e., subjective information), student's personal interpretations based on experiences, elicited through the survey instrument, are basic components of this study [11]. The student population for the study consisted of 30 male student from70 students who were enrolled in Doroodzan middle School. All of the 30 students who received the survey responded them and all completed surveys were used for statistical purposes. Despite its qualitative nature, various quantitative statistical tests were performed in order to better analyze students' perceptions. Permission for student participation in the survey was obtained by the researchers through the "Fars province organization of school renovation, development, and mobilization" and the school manager. The initial presentation of the survey was conducted during a school meeting. The school management team was advised that it was important that the students participate in the safe school survey. The instrument used in this study was titled "Our School's Safety" (Student Version). The questionnaire was designed by the California Department of Education (CDE), School Climate and Support Services

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Table 1. Three main constructs of the survey and their subcategories

Physical environment

Social environment

Cultural environment

Security School classrooms School buildings School grounds School location

Leadership School organization Classroom organization and structure Participation and involvement -

Affiliation and bonding Behavioral expectations Academic expectations Discipline and consequences Support and recognition

Unit, as well as by the California Office of the Attorney General, Crime Prevention Center in 1989 [12]. The questionnaire originally was designed in 1989 and was widely used in school districts throughout California in order to assess safety concerns [13]. Since filling out the questionnaire required in-class time in order to use comfortably a desk and writing utensil to select the responses, the first period was considered since it was the optimal time for greater participation. The surveys were presented in a simplified manner, which coincided with the average reading ability of middle school students. Students were asked to indicate their grade and age on the surveys. In order to maintain confidentiality, no names were requested on the surveys. Then the students were asked to indicate their responses to statements which best represented their opinion, by circling one number on the Likert scale, which was presented to the bottom of the statement. The scale range from 1 to 5, with: 1. strongly disagreeing, 2. disagreeing, 3. remaining neutral, 4. agreeing, and 5. strongly agreeing. Every survey took approximately 20 minutes to complete, at which time the researchers collected the questionnaires and coded them. Since safety issues were of paramount concern shortly after the Doroodzan tragedy, which occurred in December 2007, the Doroodzan faculty hoped to maintain and gain financial support for school safety. As a result, the students responded to the surveys in large numbers. As noted previously, 30 of 30 (100%) of the students completed the survey. The questionnaire was administered within a day. All statements on the surveys were analyzed by researchers and the responses were entered into the

Table 2. Safety in the main constructs of the survey The physical environment Response Cumulative Frequency % percent Strongly disagreeing 25 7.9 7.9 Disagreeing 26 7.9 15.8 Remaining neutral 63 19 34.8 Agreeing 100 30 64.8 Strongly agreeing 116 35 100 Total 330 100

three main categories for reporting purposes, the school's physical, social, and cultural environments. Within these three categories, further grouping of instrument items resulted in subcategories (Table 1). The school’s physical environment was comprised of additional subcategories ,which included school location, grounds, buildings, classroom, and internal security. The school's social environment was comprised of the subcategories of leadership, school organization, classroom organization and structure, and participation and involvement. The school's cultural environment was comprised of subcategories, which included affiliation and bonding, behavioral expectations, academic expectations, discipline and consequences, and; support and recognition. The instrument was used by doctoral dissertation students [13, 14]. A panel of state organization of school renovation, development and mobilization and Fars province organization of school renovation, development and mobilization educational experts validated survey instrument. These individuals were chosen based on their experience with urban and suburban school settings, experience with school safety issues, and experience in evaluating instruments. The group's main objective was to determine that the student questions were appropriately categorized in the correct construct and examine the survey items. The Cronbach Coefficient Alpha test was performed in order to measure internal reliability of the items in the questionnaire. This test indicated whether the various questions that were grouped together in categories, were properly placed and closely related to other questions placed in the same category [15]. The internal similarity based on Cronbach Coefficient Alpha test was 0.86,

The social environment Cumulative Frequency % percent

The cultural environment Cumulative Frequency % percent

22 18

6.6 5.4

6.6 12

15 30

3.6 7

3.6 10.6

49 111 130 330

14.8 33.7 39.5 100

26.8 60.4 100

74 136 165 420

17.8 32.3 39.3 100

28.4 60.7 100

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Table 3. Students' perceptions of the school's physical environment safety

Response

School location

School grounds

School buildings School classrooms

Internal security

Frequency

percent

Frequency

percent

Frequency

percent

Frequency

Strongly disagreeing Disagreeing

5 3

16.6 10

11 11

9.1 9.1

2 7

3.3 11.6

0 2

0 3.3

7 3

11.6 5

Remaining neutral

2

6.6

23

19.1

9

15

14

23.3

15

25

Agreeing

6

20

34

28.3

19

31.6

21

35

20

33.3

Strongly agreeing

14

46.6

41

34.1

23

38.3

23

38.3

15

25

Total

30

100

120

100

60

100

60

100

60

100

respectively. Three main constructs of the survey and their subcategories showed in the Table 1.

RESULTS The study examined the physical, social, and cultural aspects of school safety in order to procure a comprehensive overview of important factors related to safety. The results of the study showed that the school physical, social, and cultural safety levels were in an acceptable situation as showed in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5. The majority (about 70%) of the all students was agreeing or strongly agreeing with this idea that their school safety was satisfying. According to results, the safe environments at Doroodzan middle school, in the order of the High to low, were social environment safety (73.2% of all students agree or strongly agree that school social environment was safe), cultural environment safety (71.6% of all students agree or strongly agree that school cultural environment was safe) and physical environment safety (65% of all students agree or strongly agree that school physical environment was safe). The result of the survey showed in the Table 2.

DISCUSSION This study was intended to make an in-depth investigation of students' perceptions of school safety in Doroodzan middle school. Since safety is such a comprehensive topic, it was divided into three distinct

percent Frequency

percent

areas of analyses: 1. The physical environment, 2. The cultural environment, and 3. The social environment [13]. The first research question asked the students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's physical environment. There were eight specific Likert type questions in the student survey that addressed the physical environment. When conducting a frequency distribution, the researchers found that 66.6% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that School located in a safe place and they were not afraid of school place. On a similar situation pertaining to feeling safe on School grounds, about 82% of the students agreed, strongly agreed, or were neutral. Of these students, 18% felt unsafe, which verifies that a large majority of the students believed that School grounds was safe and the fear levels were minimal. Students (70%) agreed or strongly agreed that school buildings were safe. In this regard only 15% of students believed that school building were not safe. In regards to the school classrooms, 73.3% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that school classrooms were safe and only 3.3% students believed that their classrooms were not enough safe. Students (about 87%) agreed, strongly agreed, or were neutral that school internal security was in an acceptable level. In fact physical environment of the school is the most traditional school safety element [16]. The maintenance of the grounds, buildings and classrooms are placed all in this aspect of safety in schools [12].Careful attention should be given to the physical environment of the school, including seeing that there is

Table 4. Students' perceptions of the school's Social environment safety

Response Strongly disagreeing Disagreeing Remaining neutral Agreeing Strongly agreeing Total

Leadership

School organization

Classroom organization and structure

Participation and involvement

Frequency

percent

Frequency

percent

Frequency

percent

Frequency

percent

3 7 16 39 55 120

2.5 5.8 13.3 32.5 45.8 100

14 6 20 34 46 120

11.6 5 16.6 28.3 38.3 100

4 5 7 26 18 60

6.6 8.3 11.6 43.3 30 100

1 6 12 11 30

3.3 20 40 36.6 100

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Table 5. Students' perceptions of the school's Cultural environment safety

Response Strongly disagreeing Disagreeing Remaining neutral Agreeing Strongly agreeing Total

Affiliation and bonding

Behavioral expectations

Academic expectations

percent Frequency

Discipline and consequences

Frequency

percent

Frequency

7 10

5.8 8.3

0 9

0 10

3 3

3.3 3.3

4 7

4.4 7.7

1 1

3.3 3.3

25 32

20.8 26.6

16 33

17.7 36.6

7 26

7.7 28.8

20 36

22.2 40

6 9

20 30

46 120

38.3 100

32 90

35.5 100

51 90

56.6 100

23 90

25.5 100

13 30

43.3 100

clean and attractive classrooms and well maintaining buildings and grounds. No matter how old the building, Ways should be found to enhance physical environment of the school and make students comfortable [17]. The result of students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's physical environment showed in the Table 3. The second research question asked the students what were their perceptions of safety regarding the school's social environment. The critical aspects of School social environment are leadership, school organizational structure, classroom organizational structure, and participation and involvement [14]. Students (about 80%) at Doroodzan middle school felt positive about their school leadership. Of these students, about 10% felt negative about leadership, which verifies that a large majority of the students believed that school leadership was appropriate and the fear levels were minimal. Only one in six students believed that their school organization were not enough safe. The majority of the student body expressed that school organization safety was reliable and was satisfying. When questioned, 73.3% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that classroom organization and structure were enough safe and there were not any specific problem about this item. Only about 15% of the students expressed that this safety were not enough. Students perceived a high level of participation by their peers in activities. More than 96% positive response rate of agreed and strongly agreed or remaining neutral indicated that majority of the students have an active interest and participate or involve in the school and classroom programs. Despite, only about 4% of students involved in school activities, they saw little opportunity to influence changes in their school activities or in how their classes operated. The safe social environment in the school enhances the likelihood that children and adults will feel safe in school: direct teaching and learning that enhances social emotional competencies and ethical dispositions [6]. The result of students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's social environment showed in the Table 4. The third research question asked the students what were their perceptions of safety regarding the school's cultural environment. Cultural environment of the school can be define as Affiliation, bonding, behavioral

percent Frequency

Support and recognition

percent Frequency

percent

and academic expectations, discipline, consequences, and the support and recognition system in a school [13].Students (about 65%) at Doroodzan middle school agreed or strongly agreed that affiliation and bonding were satisfying at this school. About 21% of the students were neutral and only 14% of them were not agree with this idea. It is encouraging knowing that 72% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that their behavioral expectations at the school were fulfilled and Doroodzan middle school can be a good sample for the other schools. On the other hand, only 10% of students disagree with this idea. Students overwhelmingly believed that they could be successful and academic achievement can be reached in the school, as 85% concurred when questioned their ideas about academic achievement in the school. The minority of the student (6.6%) of students had problem with academic situation in the school. In regards to the areas of discipline, consequences, and behavioral issues, students understood the importance of doing the right things. The students (65.5%) agreed or strongly agreed that it was important to follow the school rules and do well. Students who were not aware of these rules were 12.1% of students. In regards to the areas of support and recognition issues, students (93.3%) agreed or strongly agreed or remaining neutral and were satisfied. Only about 6% of the students had problem with this situation. Previous researches showed that the culture of the school had an enormous impact on school safety and can be traced to dominant values that are also stressed in our schools [18] and sometimes schools cultural environment can be problematic for schools [19]. We need to focus on cultural environment of school because its reasonably clear that a major cause of school incidents is school cultural environment [20]. The result of students' perceptions of safety regarding the school's cultural environment showed in the Table 5. CONCLUSION Since schools in Iran were faced different safety issues and incidents in the last decade and were criticized for not providing enough safety for students and staff, it seemed timely to conduct a comprehensive

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study related to safety. Based upon the information gathered herein, the researchers believe students feel safe regardless of the problems that occur in the school. Despite the media's preoccupation with dysfunctional and unsafe schools in the country, it was determined that Doroodzan middle school potential for safety problems was reduced, due to the safety and security interventions in place. Doroodzan middle school successfully provides a safe learning environment and serves as a model for school districts around the country that are experiencing difficulties with safety and security. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank state organization of school renovation, development, and mobilization and Fars province organization of school renovation, development, and mobilization for their support. We also offer our appreciation to the Doroodzan middle School manager, their staff, and students, for their cooperation. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. REFRENCES 1.

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