NCJ Number
191558
Journal
Journal of Moral Education Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 131-153
Date Published
2001
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study compared the reasoning of 108 teachers in elementary and middle schools regarding their professional roles when violence occurred in undefined and potentially violence-prone school subcontexts, including hallways, cafeterias, and playgrounds.
Abstract
The study combined concepts from urban planning, architecture, criminology, and cognitive developmental domain theory to explore teachers’ moral attributions toward school spaces. Data collection took place via semi-structured interviews and a map exercise in seven schools located in low-income and violent neighborhoods in two small midwestern cities. The research asked participants to locate dangerous locations and discuss their professional roles in those locations. They also reviewed hypothetical situations where the specific subcontexts and school types were systematically manipulated to assess the impact of context on reasoning and judgment. Results indicated that middle-school teachers were more likely than elementary-school teachers to identify school subcontexts where they would not intervene. Middle-school teachers’ reasoning patterns were closely associated with their perceived role in undefined spaces. Furthermore, middle-school teachers’ reasoning about intervention was complex and included moral, social-conventional, and personal explanations as to why intervention was not possible in all school subcontexts. In contrast, elementary school teachers were more likely to perceive the entire school context as within their professional purview. Their reasoning about intervention focused mainly on the potential physical harm to the students. Findings implied that teachers’ perceptions of role within context and of subcontext influenced their decisions to intervene or not intervene. Tables and 70 references (Author abstract modified)