Student Teachers' Understanding of Policy Behavioural Directives Concerning the Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse: Findings from One Australian State

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Autor/inn/en	Goldman, Juliette D. G.; Grimbeek, Peter
Titel	Student Teachers' Understanding of Policy Behavioural Directives Concerning the Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse: Findings from One Australian State
Quelle	In: Educational Research, 50 (2008) 3, S.291-305 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0013-1881
Schlagwörter	Student Teachers; Sexual Abuse; Child Abuse; Knowledge Level; Measures (Individuals); Foreign Countries; Teacher Role; Elementary Schools; Questionnaires; Educational Policy; Statistical Analysis; Student Teacher Attitudes; Legal Responsibility; Teacher Responsibility; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Lehramtsstudent; Lehramtsstudentin; Referendar; Referendarin; Sexueller Missbrauch; Abuse of children; Abuse; Child; Children; Kindesmissbrauch; Missbrauch; Kind; Kinder; Wissensbasis; Messdaten; Ausland; Lehrerrolle; Elementary school; Grundschule; Volksschule; Fragebogen; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Statistische Analyse; Strafmündigkeit; Lehrverpflichtung; Australien
Abstract	Background: In the Australian state of Queensland, many Department of Education Policies include behavioural directives for school teachers, whereby "the teacher must..." behave in a certain manner. The introduction of an education policy, such as the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse by teachers, has significant and wide-ranging implications for the lives of children. However, little is known, and little literature has been found, about student teachers' knowledge and understanding of these new behavioural directives for teachers. Purpose: This study audits Bachelor of Education (Primary School) student teachers who are about to become qualified teachers, on their knowledge, and their confidence in that knowledge, of the Department of Education behavioural directives on child sexual abuse mandatory reporting policy, which they will soon have to implement when they are employed in professional teaching positions in primary schools. Sample: A fourth-year, final-semester volunteer cohort of 52 Bachelor of Education (Primary School) student teachers at a major university in Queensland, Australia, provided this sample of 42 females and 10 males, whose ages ranged from 21 to 45 years. Design and methods: The audit's five-page, anonymous and confidential questionnaire included a series of valid statements, and one invalid statement, about the behavioural directives for teachers contained in the Queensland Department of Education policy on the mandatory reporting of suspected child sexual abuse. Participants self-evaluated their knowledge of the policy on a quantitative three-point scale, and their confidence in that knowledge on a four-point scale, and then responded to an open-ended qualitative query about their understanding of the policy, during their tutorial classes. The quantitative responses were analysed and displayed as histograms, and the qualitative responses were clustered into three categories. Results: Analysis of the data shows that while the majority these student teachers claim satisfactory levels of knowledge and confidence concerning their Department's behavioural directives, such results seem disappointing given a necessarily high standard of competence, and significant numbers indicating uncertainty of knowledge and/or lack of confidence regarding their roles as mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse. Conclusions: It is expected that all new teachers be properly equipped and prepared in pre-service training, with appropriate knowledge and understanding of these important directives, to report the cases of suspected child abuse they will encounter in their schools. Current pre-service education of primary school teachers at this Queensland university, and very likely throughout the state, does not reach a standard that engenders educators' satisfaction and confidence in student teachers' understanding of their Department's behavioural and legal requirements upon qualification. This conclusion is consistent with national and international research, showing that teachers and student teachers lack confidence and are inadequately prepared to fulfil their role as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse. (Contains 4 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10