The 'Writing on the Wall' - Pupils As Researchers
4 May 2011
Sue Tabberer (Headteacher, The Pingle School, Swadlincote), left, and Yiva Winther (Rektor, Rudsskolan, Karlstad), right, with English and Swedish students at 'The Writing on the Wall' conference held at Makeney. Picture courtesy of Derbyshire County Council.
Tremendous partnership working has taken place throughout the project which has given pupils the chance to experience different cultures
”Bruce Buckely, Derbyshire County Council Strategic Director for Children and Younger Adults.
The University of Derby is taking a key role in an international project where school pupils from England and Sweden have researched all aspects of anti-social behaviour.
The project is being led by Derbyshire County Council together with its partner agencies - the University, Derbyshire Police and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue - who have secured £32,000 in funding from the British Council under its Comenius Regio Scheme.
The schools involved are The Pingle School in Swadlincote and Rudsskolan School, Karlstad, Sweden. Pupils from the two schools have taken part in exchange visits to share their research during the project, called The Writing on the Wall.
The pupils and staff from both schools met today, 4 May, for a conference at the Makeney Hall Hotel, Milford, to share their conclusions.
Professor Dennis Hayes, Head of the Centre for Educational Research (CER) at the University of Derby, who has been working closely with the partners and the schools to ensure that the research was properly conducted, said: "The unique part of this project was the active engagement of school pupils as researchers.
"Whatever their findings, they are learning both how to research and how to engage their developing views with others who have different opinions.
"For example, the pupils have been using debating techniques from the Debating Matters Competition format to debate the motion: 'Closed circuit television (CCTV) should be installed to monitor all areas of the school' at today's conference to explore cultural differences in the willingness to be monitored by technology."
Tony Bamford, Deputy Head Teacher at The Pingle School, who supervised the pupils' research, was impressed by their findings. He said: "I was extremely shocked to hear that Swedish schools have felt the backlash of anti-social behaviour in the form of arson attacks on their buildings. We are acutely aware of the damaging consequences of fire on the life of a school.
"It is encouraging to hear from the pupils' research that in Sweden there is a proactive approach to deal with the causes of anti-social behaviour and so, in a positive, productive way, address the problems at source.
"Our pupils' research suggests that we can learn from the Swedish experience and look at how we design schools and their curricula, thus eliminating the motivation and the opportunities for anti-social behaviour."
In terms of The Writing on the Wall project, Bruce Buckley, Derbyshire County Council Strategic Director for Children and Younger Adults, said: "Pupils from both schools have made impressive progress on ideas to promote positive behaviour.
"Tremendous partnership working has taken place throughout the project which has given pupils the chance to experience different cultures.
"We are committed to giving young people a voice in the community and learning from what they have to say."
A film maker worked with the students during their exchange visits to record footage of their experiences. Their findings will now be used to produce a DVD and teaching pack for use by schools in Derbyshire, Karlstad and elsewhere to promote positive attitudes and help reduce anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, and arson.
Here some pupils, aged 14-15, from the Pingle School share some of their research findings. In the near future, pupils and teachers from Rudsskolan will provide a Swedish perspective from their research.
Pupil one:
"I think the important thing our research has shown is that people do not necessarily commit anti-social behaviour to be anti-social. They may be doing this for fun, for example, and not thinking what they are doing is wrong. From this I have learnt that you must deal with these people in different ways so if someone commits anti-social behaviour out of boredom then they must be made to pick up hobbies and interests.
"I think interviewing pupils from The Pingle School and Rudsskolan was a very important aspect in addressing the issue of anti-social behaviour in school. Pupils have a better knowledge of the reasons for anti-social behaviour because they are the same age and will understand it better.
Pupil two:
"From the project I have learnt many people's opinions about anti-social behaviour, what constitutes anti-social behaviour and the best ways to reduce it. The differences between anti-social behaviour in the UK and in Sweden are very apparent.
"I think that the DVD which we made as part of our project will be essential in reducing anti-social behaviour, because it will be shown to teenagers, who, it is thought, commit the most anti-social behaviour so they may stop and think about the consequences of their actions.
Pupil three:
"One very important thing that I have learned from my research about anti-social behaviour is that boredom is one of the main causes. This showed me that giving teenagers something to do can help to prevent anti-social behaviour.
"One aspect of the project that I found essential to addressing the problem of anti-social behaviour in schools is the curriculum PowerPoint as it showed me that, in most schools, there are too many academic lessons and not as many practical and cross-curricular subjects. I found that cross-curricular subjects especially are essential for helping teenagers to understand things such as money management and enterprising skills, which are key in adulthood."
