Educational Law and Governance: Bullying (Research Proposal Sample)

Educational Law and Governance
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Name
Professor’s Name
Due Date
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u List of Abbreviations PAGEREF _Toc57314793 \h 31.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc57314794 \h 42.0 Background Information of the Students PAGEREF _Toc57314795 \h 53.0 Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc57314796 \h 74.0 Findings of the Study Based on the Perceptions of the Two Students PAGEREF _Toc57314797 \h 105.0 Implications of the Findings of the Study PAGEREF _Toc57314798 \h 176.0 Validity and Reliability of the Study PAGEREF _Toc57314799 \h 207.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc57314800 \h 208.0 References PAGEREF _Toc57314801 \h 23
List of Abbreviations
OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Educational Law and Governance
1.0 Introduction
Bullying can be defined as a situation where a student is subjected to psychological torture by another student or a group of students through hurtful and mean words, making fun, name-calling, and purposefully alienating them from their social network, kicking, hitting, shoving, pushing, or intentionally locking them inside a room, maliciously ruining their reputation by spreading falsehoods and rumors or sending them mean and hurtful messages, causing other students to hate or dislike them for no apparent reason, and any other behavior which can be considered inappropriate and malicious (Olweus, 1996). A physical fight or argument between two students of equal power and strength is not considered bullying (Olweus, 1996). Bullying is said to occur when a student is repeatedly subjected to the previously mentioned painful circumstances, where the student has no power or strength to defend him/herself from the other students (Olweus, 1996; Tokarick, 2015; Vreeman & Carroll, 2007). Abuse also occurs when a student is often teased in a malicious manner that compromises their self-esteem. However, friendly banters are not termed as bullying (Olweus, 1996). According to Zequinão et al. (2016), “bullying always aims to injure and hurt the victim, occurring mainly in three ways: direct physical aggression; direct verbal aggression; and indirect aggression” (p. 183). The purpose of this paper was to conduct a study on bullying in school based environment on the perceptions of two secondary school students at the same school. The discussion was based on an in-depth analysis of the students’ background, the findings based on the perceptions of the two students, and the implication of the findings of the study.
2.0 Background Information of the Students
The first student was a form four female Malaysian aged 16 years living in Sabah state. The Sabah state is popularly known as the land beneath the winds because of its strategic location south of the typhoon-prone region along with the Philippines, shielding its people from devastating typhoons experienced elsewhere in Southeast Asia (Wonderful Malaysia, 2019). Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia after the Sarawak state. Sabah is located in western Malaysia on the island of Borneo, with natural resources such as oil, gas, palm oil, and timber (Hirschmann, 2020). The state neighbors the Indonesian island Sulawesi on the east and the Philippines on the north, separated by the Southeast China sea (Wonderful Malaysia, 2019). The territory is a disputed area, with the Philippines claiming a large portion of the state for several years (Wonderful Malaysia, 2019). The total population of the state of Sabah in Malaysia was estimated to be approximately 3.91 million in 2020, which is a negligible increase from 2019 (Hirschmann, 2020). There are 32 official ethnic groups living in the Sabah state with multicultural backgrounds and different belief systems (Loon, 2018). The people of Sabah speak 55 major languages with more than 80 local dialects (Loon, 2018). The Kadazan-Dusun tribe is the largest ethnic group in the region, comprising 17.8% of the total population (Loon, 2018). The main economic activity of the Kadazan-Dusun people is wet-rice farming and hill cultivation.
The female student hails from the Kadazan tribe, which she considers to be unique and interesting. From the foregoing, it is clear that the student has a sense of belonging, and she is proud to be associated with the largest ethnic group in Sabah. A sense of belonging is a universal feeling that indicates that one is a member or part of a certain group or society. A sense of belonging can be equated to basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing (Hall, 2014). The feeling that an individual derives from a sense of belonging is crucial in helping them cope with a difficult or challenging situation or an extremely painful sensation. It should be noted that a person who undergoes exclusion can have their self-esteem, well-being, and self-control seriously hurt, leading to pain and conflict (Hall, 2014). On the contrary, belonging to a greater society enhances one’s health, motivation, and happiness.
According to Pogosyan (2017), “much of human behavior, thought, and emotion stems from our psychological need to belong.” The importance of other people in the life of an individual can be illustrated as the source of self-esteem in the life of that particular person. Moreover, people tend to build their self-concepts based on the quality of their connections with others and social ties, as opposed to individual characteristics and unique traits (Pogosyan, 2017). The female participant has well established familial connections. She comes from a stable family, which is relatively small; there are three siblings in addition to the father and mother. Her father is a professional engineer, and her mother is a university lecturer. She also stated that although there are minor disagreements in the family occasionally, the disputes are resolved amicably. Furthermore, the recent coronavirus has strengthened the family bond since the members were indoors most of the time. As expected, she feels comfortable around her nucleus family members compared to being at school.
The male respondent, just like his female counterpart, is a 16-year-old form-four student from the Kadazan ethnic group in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. The sense of belonging aforementioned in this paper is a positive influence on the participant as well. He is proud to be associated with the largest ethnic tribe in the Sabah region. However, this particular student comes from single parenthood since his father divorced his mother and remarried when the respondent was still a child. Divorce can have a negative impact on the psychological well-being of young children and teenagers. The greatest influence in the development of an individual is the family setting given that a person learns from the rest of the members through observation. The career path and development an individual follows in life is impacted by their family of origin. Families act as a source of emotional and social support, enhancing an individual’s sense of belonging. In addition, deriving a sense of self-esteem as a result of hailing from a prestigious family can cushion a person from developing mental disorders such as depression and stress. The male participant lives in an extended family set-up with several aunties, uncles, cousins, grandmother, and grandfather. However, he is the only child to his mother, who is a teacher in one of the public schools in Sabah. There are no cases of terminal illnesses in the family, which would further affect his already fragile self-esteem. He indicated that he loves his family, more so his mother, since there exists an environment of unity, peace, and love. The family bond is enhanced by effective communication among siblings, which helps reduce conflicts and harmful sibling rivalry. The respondent also indicated that he is happier and comfortable at home compared to school. The hypothesis is that the male student has a fragile ego, which is easily hurt when he is bullied by other students.
3.0 Literature Review
Bullying can be defined as a “repeated aggressive behavior directed towards someone with less power, with the intention of causing them harm” (Maunder & Crafter, 2018, p. 14). According to Rawlings (2016), bullying is “described as intentional, repetitive, and imposing a power imbalance between students who abuse and students who are victimized” (p.7). The imbalance of power can be attributed to self-confidence, physical dominance, and peer group status (Marsh, 2018). Oppression is a destructive behavior that powerful students impose against their considerably weaker counterparts (Al-Ali & Shattnawi, 2018; PISA, 2015; Cooper et al., 2011; Thornberg & Delby, 2019). Spreading false rumors, name-calling, threatening behavior, and hitting a person constitute the various forms of tyrany (Jan, 2015; Guillory, 2013; Hayes, 2017; Markkanen et al., 2019). Social the National Association of School Psychologists has identified social media and text messaging as an emerging trend in bullying (Jan, 2015). Dating violence, sexual harassment, and verbal abuse constitute relational and physical abuse in a school setting (Jan, 2015). Abuse exacerbates the risk of school absenteeism, abuse, and misbehavior on the part of the bully and the bullied (Guerra et al., 2011).
Bullying is a social ill that leads to negative student outcomes in school and development trajectory (Jan, 2015; Hurley, 2012). Oppression affects both the bully and the bullied (Kim, 2006). Circumstances determine whether a student will be the abuser or abused. Some of the undesirable consequences of bullying include mental health problems, poor academic performance, physical injur...