Ramon Lewis

Adolescent coping: the different ways in which boys and girls cope

In order to investigate the ways in which boys and girls cope with their concerns, 650 Year 11 and Year 12 students from seven post-primary schools in Melbourne, Australia were asked to describe how they cope with the main concerns in their lives. In addition to elicitation of spontaneous responses, a modified form of the Ways of Coping Checklist (Folkman and Lazarus, 1980; 1985b) was also administered to obtain an assessment of students coping strategies. Clear differences were found between the ways in which boys and girls cope. Girls seek more social support and generally are more likely than boys to focus on relationships. They also employ more strategies related to hoping for the best and wishful thinking. The question of how boys and girls can develop their coping repertoire so as to increase the adaptability of their responses in difficult situations is also addressed.

Classroom Discipline and Student Responsibility: The Students' View.

Abstract There is, internationally, increasing interest in the quality of childrens character. This paper examines, in 21 elementary and 21 secondary schools, the role of classroom discipline in promoting student responsibility for the protection of learning and safety rights in the classroom. The results indicate that teachers are seen by students to react to classroom misbehavior by increasing their use of coercive discipline, which inhibits the development of responsibility in students and distracts them from their schoolwork. Unfortunately, teachers fail to increase their use of more productive techniques, such as discussions, rewards for good behavior and involvement in decision-making. Implications of these findings are discussed.

A Replication Study of the Structure of the Adolescent Coping Scale: Multiple Forms and Applications of a Self-Report Inventory in a Counselling and Research Context

This paper reports two independent studies designed to investigate the reliability and validity of the Long and the Short Form of the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS). Since we have found from our research that much of an individuals behaviour is situation-specific there is a Specific Form of the ACS which allows for the measurement of responses to a particular self-nominated (or administrator-nominated) concern. However, it is also clear that an individuals choice of coping strategies is, to a large extent, consistent regardless of the nature of the concern. Thus, there is a General Form of the instrument which addresses how an individual copes with concerns in general. The two sets of data reported, utilising the General and the Specific Form (in a Long and Short format), show the value of utilising separately 18 coping scales when measuring adolescent coping strategies. The reliability, validity and empirical distinctiveness of each scale is demonstrated. Nevertheless, factor analyses reported here show...

Coping with different concerns: Consistency and variation in coping strategies used by adolescents

This study set out to determine the relationship between those things which are of concern to adolescents, and the ways in which young people cope with these concerns. One hundred and seventy-eight senior students from five postprimary schools in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, completed a checklist designed to measure coping. They did this three times, once for each of three identified domains of concern, namely Achievement and Relationship concerns and Social Issues. The analysis of their coping patterns indicates that regardless of the problem, students have a stable hierarchy of preferred coping strategies which are in the repertoire of most, if not all, students. Nevertheless, significant differences were found in the way students cope with different concerns, the most general finding being that Social Issues concerns were managed in a different way to Achievement and Relationship issues. These findings support a conceptualisation of coping which includes a general style of coping which is not problem specific as well as a component which is specific to a problem.

Adolescents least able to cope: How do they respond to their stresses?

This paper reports the coping strategies characterising self-professed weak copers. In order to do so it examines strategies reported by a subset of a sample of 976 adolescents, as measured by the Adolescent Coping Scale. What is of interest in this investigation are the coping strategies of the most vulnerable adolescent group. Such information would be of great value to those in the helping professions working with adolescents. The results indicate that the least able copers used, at least sometimes, non-productive strategies such as tension reduction, self-blame, ignore, keep to self and, most noticeably, worry and wishful thinking. However, a range of productive strategies was also used at least sometimes, including problem-solving, working hard and focusing on the positive. The implications of these findings for turning poor copers into good copers is discussed.

Coping with concerns : An exploratory comparison of Australian, Colombian, German and Palestinian adolescents

Consistent with an emphasis on positive psychology, and on ability rather than deficit, this study of adolescents in 4 communities sought to examine how young people cope with their concerns. Samples of Australian, Colombian, German, and Palestinian students completed the general form of the Adolescent Coping Scale, an 80-item instrument used to measure coping. A comparison of young peoples usage of 3 coping styles and 18 coping strategies within these communities indicated that Palestinian youth report greater usage of all but three strategies (namely, physical recreation, relaxation, and tension reduction), and German youth report the least usage of 2/3 of the strategies assessed. Both Palestinian and Colombian youth were noted to utilize more seek to belong, focus on the positive, social action, solving the problem, seeking spiritual support, and worry than were German or Australian adolescents. When the relative usage of coping strategies within national settings was considered, some noticeable differences were apparent. For example it was found that regardless of the national setting young people reported most frequent use of working hard and use of problem solving strategies. When it comes to more culturally determined activities such as physical recreation, the Australian and German students ranked this strategy more highly in their coping repertoires than do the Colombians, and more noticeably, the Palestinian students. For example, although physical recreation is ranked as the second most commonly used strategy for the German sample, it is ranked 16th by the Palestinians. The study demonstrates the importance of identifying coping strategies that are reflective of each community under investigation. Similarity in coping cannot be assumed across different student populations. Consequently caution needs to be exercised when importing coping programs from one community to another.

Things don't get better just because you're older: A case for facilitating reflection

Aims. This study reports on the coping actions of Australian secondary students and highlights the role schools may play in helping adolescents to both document, and if desired, modify their current styles and strategies of coping. Sample. A sample of 829 Australian school students (11-18 years) participated in the study. Methods. All participants completed the General Form of the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS, Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993 a), and gender, age and SES were the predictors of coping. Results. Girls sought more social support but less professional advice than did boys. In addition, girls professed less ability to cope and were more likely to utilise strategies such as tension reduction, self-blame and worry. In contrast boys were more likely to seek relaxing diversions or physical recreation, to ignore the problem and to keep problems to themselves. There was also a greater usage of two non-productive coping strategies by older adolescents but the tendency was more noticeable for females. Finally, adolescents from white collar backgrounds expressed less worry and were less likely to engage in wishful thinking or to seek spiritual support than were students from low SES. Conclusions. The reported data provide a reference point for student selfevaluation of their own adaptive behaviour.

The Impact of Teachers’ Aggressive Management Techniques on Students’ Attitudes to Schoolwork

ABSTRACT Previous studies have shown that teachers’ aggressive classroom management impacts negatively on students. The authors compared student reaction to teachers’ use of aggressive management techniques in Australia, China, and Israel. Reactions included distraction negativity toward teachers and perceptions that teachers’ responses were unjustified, yet the perception of aggression as justified (or not) only minimally affected the degree of students’ distraction and negativity toward the teacher. Yelling in anger and sarcasm appeared less problematic in Israel and somewhat less so in China; in Australia, no difference in potential impact between different forms of aggression was evident. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The carrot, the stick, or the relationship: what are the effective disciplinary strategies?

The effectiveness of various management strategies has been of central concern in academic and educational debates on the role and nature of classroom discipline. Educational theorists and researchers have put forth a range of different models, each of which incorporates the use of a number of strategies. This article reports on a study that seeks to investigate the gamut of these strategies pragmatically and considers their affects on a range of factors, such as levels of student responsibility, misbehaviour, relationship with teachers, and connection to school. Analysis of the results offered in this article supports the judicious use of a combination of strategies involving the use of hinting, involvement, discussion, and recognition and rewards. The discussion focuses primarily on the benefits that can be achieved through a regulated process of positive discipline strategies, through which teachers and students can develop mutual respect and trust.

Providing for student voice in classroom management : teachers' views

Recent research indicates that teachers would prefer to allow for more student voice in classroom discipline decision‐making than is currently the case. This paper identifies factors that teachers suggest inhibit them from implementing their ideas of best disciplinary practice. It also examines which classroom discipline issues teachers are willing to submit to student voice. Among the most important inhibitors of best disciplinary practice identified by almost 300 Australian secondary teachers were: too many things to do; classroom size and layout; and a lack of support from the school administration. When presented with 30 varying management issues, an independent group of approximately 250 primary and secondary teachers nominated classroom conventions (e.g. tidiness of the classroom) and issues related to teaching and learning (e.g. seating arrangements) as those that they were most prepared to negotiate with students. In contrast they would prefer to concentrate the power of decision‐making in their own hands when managing issues pertaining to safety of students and moral issues such as racial and sexual discrimination.