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Lindqvist, H. & Forsberg, C. (2023). Constructivist grounded theory and educational research: Constructing theories about teachers’ work when analysing relationships between codes. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 46(2), 200-210
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Constructivist grounded theory and educational research: Constructing theories about teachers’ work when analysing relationships between codes
2023 (English)In: International Journal of Research and Method in Education, ISSN 1743-727X, E-ISSN 1743-7288, Vol. 46, no 2, p. 200-210Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Constructivist grounded theory has earned a place in research worldwide and been applied in diverse fields. However, in educational research of teachers’ work in the classroom from the perspective of the teacher, it has had a lesser impact on research methodology. We argue for the benefits to educational research when using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Our arguments focus on three concrete benefits: (1) Constructivist grounded theory focuses on participants’ perspectives, or main concerns, (2) by using an open, exploratory approach, and, (3) could involve investigating the relationships between the focused codes, preferably by using theoretical coding. We argue that constructivist grounded theory adds an analytical edge to work in classrooms, when skilfully deployed. These benefits with constructivist grounded theory differentiate the approach against other qualitative methods. Another important feature is focusing on the actions, and social processes, and thus making use of several theoretical codes. As we will outline in this paper, these features of constructivist grounded theory could help produce theoretical insights that could be valuable additions to educational research and educational practices

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2023
Keywords
Constructivist grounded theory, educational research, theoretical coding, participants’ perspectives
National Category
Pedagogy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-186894 (URN)10.1080/1743727X.2022.2095998 (DOI)000822048800001 ()2-s2.0-85133446832 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-07-06 Created: 2022-07-06 Last updated: 2023-11-21Bibliographically approved
Forsberg, C., Horton, P. & Thornberg, R. (2023). Fever pitch: spatial, material, and temporal organisational dimensions of gendered peer relations on the school football pitch. Ethnography and Education, 18(2), 183-198
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Fever pitch: spatial, material, and temporal organisational dimensions of gendered peer relations on the school football pitch
2023 (English)In: Ethnography and Education, ISSN 1745-7823, E-ISSN 1745-7831, Vol. 18, no 2, p. 183-198Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

We investigate the importance of spatial, material, and organisational factors to gendered peer relations on the school football pitch. The study is part of an ethnographic research project exploring the relations between school bullying and the institutional context of schooling, focusing on the perspectives of teachers and pupils from preschool class up to grade eight (approximately ages 5-13). The findings in this study are based on participant observations and semi-structured interviews with pupils at three schools in Sweden. Our findings illustrate how social-ecological elements of spatial, material, and organisational factors such as school design, the material construction of the pitches, and the temporal organisation of the space through scheduling promote gendered positioning and fevered interactions which influence peer relations and sometimes contribute to degrading treatment, harassment and bullying. Our study demonstrates how these processes need to be understood as complexly related to social-ecological factors beyond the football pitch setting.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2023
Keywords
School; gender; peer relations; football; bullying; ethnography
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-192919 (URN)10.1080/17457823.2023.2186741 (DOI)000946843100001 ()
Available from: 2023-04-06 Created: 2023-04-06 Last updated: 2024-03-19Bibliographically approved
Horton, P., Forsberg, C. & Thornberg, R. (2023). Juridification and judgement calls: Swedish schoolteachers’ reflections on dealing with bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment. Education Inquiry
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Juridification and judgement calls: Swedish schoolteachers’ reflections on dealing with bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment
2023 (English)In: Education Inquiry, E-ISSN 2000-4508Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

While teachers are obliged to report and investigate incidents of bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment in Swedish schools, research suggests that they sometimes struggle to decide which incidents to report. In this study, we investigate Swedish schoolteachers’ reflections on dealing with bullying, harassment, and degrading treatment, and on balancing their pedagogical work with juridical demands to report. The study is based on qualitative interviews conducted with teachers at three comprehensive schools in Sweden, which were analysed in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological framework. The findings demonstrate that teachers make judgement calls regarding which incidents to report and that these influence and are influenced by micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystem factors. The findings also suggest that increasing demands for professional accountability negatively affect the professional responsibility of teachers and may lead to them making judgement calls that are not always in the best interests of the children for whom they have responsibility. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2023
Keywords
Bullying, degrading treatment, harassment, teachers, juridification
National Category
Pedagogy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-191266 (URN)10.1080/20004508.2023.2170016 (DOI)000920551100001 ()
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03604
Note

Funding: Vetenskapsradet [2017-03604]

Available from: 2023-01-25 Created: 2023-01-25 Last updated: 2023-02-21Bibliographically approved
Horton, P., Forsberg, C. & Thornberg, R. (2023). Mobbningsarenor: en socioekologisk undersökning av skolmobbning. In: Resultatdialog 2023: (pp. 60-64). Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet, Sidorna 60-64
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Mobbningsarenor: en socioekologisk undersökning av skolmobbning
2023 (Swedish)In: Resultatdialog 2023, Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet , 2023, Vol. Sidorna 60-64, p. 60-64Chapter in book (Other academic)
Abstract [sv]

Skolmobbning är ett utbrett problem som fortsätter att negativt påverka livet för skolbarn, föräldrar och skolpersonal. Trots mycket forskning kring fenomenet är forskning om skolmiljöns betydelse för skolmobbning eftersatt. Syftet med projektet var att undersöka hur olika skolfaktorer påverkar skolmobbning och skolpersonalens förmåga eller vilja att ingripa samt vilken betydelse genus har för mobbning och ingripande mot mobbning.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet, 2023
National Category
Social Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-200722 (URN)
Available from: 2024-02-06 Created: 2024-02-06 Last updated: 2024-02-28Bibliographically approved
Horton, P., Forsberg, C. & Thornberg, R. (2023). Places and spaces: exploring interconnections between school environment, resources and social relations. Educational research (Windsor. Print), 65(4), 462-477
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Places and spaces: exploring interconnections between school environment, resources and social relations
2023 (English)In: Educational research (Windsor. Print), ISSN 0013-1881, E-ISSN 1469-5847, Vol. 65, no 4, p. 462-477Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Relational issues at school, including bullying, tend to be interpreted primarily in terms of the behaviour of individual students. Whilst research has broadened this focus, more needs to be understood about how the design and management of the school environment and its resources may influence peer relations. The study sought to consider interconnections between the physical and organisational environment, resources, and social relations in school settings. Ethnographic research was conducted at three schools in Sweden, consisting of 6 to 8 weeks of participant observations at each school, and interviews with school safety or health teams, 21 teachers, and 121 students from preschool class (ages 6–7) to sixth grade (ages 12–13). Field notes and interview data were analysed using an approach based on constructivist grounded theory. In-depth analysis of data identified a complex network of interconnections between the school environment, resources and peer relationships. In particular, it illuminated how competition for limited resources can influence social relations negatively. This may lead to brief minor conflicts, which, in turn, could potentially precipitate or become part of more systematic school bullying situations. Our findings highlight the significance of decisions about the uses of space in schools, including choices in design (e.g. of play spaces) and the distribution of resources (e.g. equipment). Deeper understanding of the interconnections between the school environment, resources and peer relations can help inform efforts to support student wellbeing.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2023
Keywords
school bullying, student wellbeing, peer relationships, educational resources, school design, school environment
National Category
Pedagogy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-197706 (URN)10.1080/00131881.2023.2252829 (DOI)001060293900001 ()
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03604
Note

Funding: We are grateful to the school principals who provided us with access to the schools and to all the school staff and students who participated in the study and took the time to share their experiences with us.

Available from: 2023-09-10 Created: 2023-09-10 Last updated: 2024-02-08
Forsberg, C. & Horton, P. (2023). Så kan lärare öka elevers trygghet på rasten. Venue
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Så kan lärare öka elevers trygghet på rasten
2023 (Swedish)In: Venue, ISSN 2001-788XArticle in journal (Other academic) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [sv]

Elever i årskurs tre till sex känner sig tryggare i skolan om lärare finns närvarande, är vaksamma och ingriper mot framförallt mobbning och ensamhet på rasten. För att öka elevers trygghet i skolan efterfrågar eleverna därför insatser i relation till rasten. En aspekt som elever efterfrågar för att öka deras trygghet på rasten är att lärare finns närvarande. Utöver att finnas närvarande på raster behöver lärare också vara vaksamma på vad som händer mellan elever. I synnerhet behöver lärare vara vaksamma på att ingen är utsatt för mobbning eller ensam. Dessutom menar eleverna att det inte räcker med att lärare är närvarande och ser vad som händer utan de behöver även behöver ingripa mot mobbning och ensamhet. Ibland behöver de ingripa mer än vad de gör idag för att öka elevers trygghet och få stopp på mobbning och ensamhet. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press, 2023
Keywords
Mobbning, Ensamhet, Elevers perspektiv, Rasten, Trygghet, Lärares roll
National Category
Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-194054 (URN)10.3384/venue.2001-788X.4402 (DOI)
Available from: 2023-05-23 Created: 2023-05-23 Last updated: 2023-09-22Bibliographically approved
Hammar Chiriac, E., Forsberg, C. & Thornberg, R. (2023). Teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing the school climate: A constructivist grounded theory case study. Cogent Education, 10(2), Article ID 2245171.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing the school climate: A constructivist grounded theory case study
2023 (English)In: Cogent Education, E-ISSN 2331-186X, Vol. 10, no 2, article id 2245171Article, review/survey (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The aim of this study was to explore and analyse teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing the school climate, to better understand teachers’ everyday efforts in influencing the school climate, including obstacles they might experience. Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological theory was utilized as the overarching theoretical perspective. Data were collected by means of 14 semi-structured focus group interviews with 73 teachers from two compulsory schools in southeast Sweden. Findings revealed that teachers experienced the school climate as both positively and negatively influenced by a number of internal and external factors, perceived as influenceable or uninfluenceable. According to the teachers, four types of factors affected the quality of the school climate: social processes and values in school (i.e. influenceable internal factors), school premises and support structures (i.e. uninfluenceable internal factors, external relations (i.e. influenceable external factors) and external means of control (i.e. uninfluenceable external factors). A grounded theory of teachers’ perceptions of factors influencing school were developed. Our conclusion is that the teachers talked about a multidimensional and malleable phenomenon, emanated by a complex interplay across multiple agents and contexts both within and outside the school, aligning with all domains and features and acting as preconditions for the school climate. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis Group, 2023
Keywords
school climate, teachers’ perspective, social-ecological perspective, focus group interviews, internal and external factors, grounded theory
National Category
Pedagogy Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-196491 (URN)10.1080/2331186x.2023.2245171 (DOI)001043140600001 ()
Projects
Improving teaching learning through classroom management, classroom climate, and school climateI/Att utveckla undervisningen och förbättra lärandet genom klassrumsledarskap, klassrumsklimat och skolklimat
Funder
Swedish Institute for Educational Research, 2017-00038
Available from: 2023-08-09 Created: 2023-08-09 Last updated: 2023-12-18
Forsberg, C. & Horton, P. (2022). 'Because I am me': School bullying and the presentation of self in everyday school life. Journal of Youth Studies, 25(2), 136-150
Open this publication in new window or tab >>'Because I am me': School bullying and the presentation of self in everyday school life
2022 (English)In: Journal of Youth Studies, ISSN 1367-6261, E-ISSN 1469-9680, Vol. 25, no 2, p. 136-150Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this study, we draw on Erving Goffman’s work on the presentation of self to explore responses by 12–15-year-old (i.e. 6th–9th grade) school students to an open-ended survey question about why they think they were bullied. In doing so, we contribute to a relatively unexplored aspect of school bullying research by focussing on how those students who are subjected to bullying understand their own bullying experiences. We focus in particular on explanations that focus on themselves as individuals. Utilising thematic analysis, we identified six themes: (1) Body, (2) Manner, (3) Social structures, (4) Opinions and interests, (5) Ability, and (6) Relations. Our analysis of the students’ responses suggests that they were bullied because they were perceived as different in some sense, and that such understandings of difference are connected to broader social and societal norms. These findings have important implications for understandings of bullying as aggressive acts and suggest that rather than simply focussing on the negative behaviour of individuals, anti-bullying initiatives also need to focus on the social structures that underpin the understandings of difference that facilitate such behaviour.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2022
Keywords
Bullying, identity, stigma, power, student perspectives
National Category
Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-171787 (URN)10.1080/13676261.2020.1849584 (DOI)000591759300001 ()2-s2.0-85096577304 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2020-12-07 Created: 2020-12-07 Last updated: 2022-10-06Bibliographically approved
Horton, P., Forsberg, C. & Thornberg, R. (2022). Blurred boundaries and the hierarchization of incidents: Swedish schoolteachers' struggles with distinguishing degrading treatment, harassment, and school bullying. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Blurred boundaries and the hierarchization of incidents: Swedish schoolteachers' struggles with distinguishing degrading treatment, harassment, and school bullying
2022 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, ISSN 0031-3831, E-ISSN 1470-1170Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

While the efforts of teachers are crucial for preventing and stopping degrading treatment, harassment, and bullying in schools, research has found that teachers’ understandings of such terms may vary significantly. In this qualitative study, we take a social-ecological perspective to investigate Swedish schoolteachers’ understandings of the terms degrading treatment, harassment, and bullying. The study is based on ethnographic research, which included participant observations and interviews conducted at three schools. The findings demonstrate not only the ways in which teachers blurred the conceptual boundaries between degrading treatment, harassment, and bullying, but also how such blurring was influenced by factors within the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem, and how the juridification of degrading treatment and harassment encouraged teachers to construct hierarchies of what they perceived to be more or less serious incidents.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge; Taylor & Francis, 2022
Keywords
Bullying, degrading treatment, harassment, school, teachers, definitions, juridification, social-ecological
National Category
Pedagogy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-188283 (URN)10.1080/00313831.2022.2116486 (DOI)000851588700001 ()
Projects
Bullying arenas: A social-ecological investigation of school bullying
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03604
Note

Funding: Vetenskapsradet [2017-03604]

Available from: 2022-09-08 Created: 2022-09-08 Last updated: 2022-10-07
Hammar Chiriac, E., Thornberg, R. & Forsberg, C. (2022). Teachers´ perspectives on factors influencing their everyday efforts in facilitating and sustaining a positive school climate. In: Michael Dal (Ed.), Education and involvement in precarious times. Abstract book. NERA confrence 2022: . Paper presented at NERA 1-3 July 2022, Reykjavik, Iceland (pp. 241-242). Reykjavik
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Teachers´ perspectives on factors influencing their everyday efforts in facilitating and sustaining a positive school climate
2022 (English)In: Education and involvement in precarious times. Abstract book. NERA confrence 2022 / [ed] Michael Dal, Reykjavik, 2022, p. 241-242Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Teachers with their unique key position in school, their everyday influence on school climate, and their professional responsibility to establish a positive and healthy school climate, possess crucial information for facilitating and sustaining a positive school climate. Previous research commonly describes the multidimensional features acting as precondition for the school climate in four domains: academic climate, community, safety, and institutional environment. Each domain contributes individually but also jointly to the school climate and how it is collectively experienced both from inside and outside the school. While teachers have a significant impact on the school climate, less is known about teachers’ perspectives on these matters. To better understand teachers’ everyday efforts in influencing the school climate, the aim of this study was to explore and analyse a) teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing the school climate and b) the teachers’ apprehension of their possibility to influence these factors 

Bronfenbrenner’s social-ecological theory was adopted as a theoretical framework in the present study. Data were collected by means of 14 semi-structured focus groups interviews with 73 teachers from two compulsory schools in southeast Sweden. The analysis was guided by a constructivist grounded theory approach. 

The results reveal that teachers experienced the school climate as both positively and negatively influenced by several internal and external factors perceived as either influenceable or uninfluenceable. According to how teachers reasoned, four types of factors affected the quality of the school climate and their everyday efforts in facilitating and sustaining a positive school climate: Social processes and values in school (i.e. influenceable internal factors), school premises and support structures (i.e. uninfluenceable internal factors impossible to influence), external relations (i.e. influenceable external factors) and external means of control (i.e. uninfluenceable external factors). The conclusion is that the teachers’ talked about school climate as a multidimensional and malleable phenomenon, emanated by a complex interplay across multiple agents and contexts both within and outside the school aligning with all domains and features acting as precondition for the school climate. 

 The findings are relevant to Nordic educational research and suggest that teachers try to accommodate desired school climate and work with the conditions that exist in a constructive way. Further, the findings shed light on a contemporary societal discussion about what characterises the responsibility of the school. Notwithstanding, highlighted in this study, there are factors outside the school influencing the school climate that are beyond the influence of the school and its teachers.

 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Reykjavik: , 2022
National Category
Educational Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-185751 (URN)9789935468222 (ISBN)
Conference
NERA 1-3 July 2022, Reykjavik, Iceland
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-00038
Available from: 2022-06-10 Created: 2022-06-10 Last updated: 2022-09-11Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-0715-9703

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