Talking during class, packing up books and name calling: Is it really that big a deal? An exploration of classroom incivility

Abstract

The main goal of my dissertation was to explore and expand our understanding of the concept of adolescent classroom incivility. Specifically, I wanted to expand the current research on classroom incivility in children and youth using a range of methods. Methods comprised validating a measure of engagement in uncivil behavior, including open-ended responses to understand the experiences and viewpoints of both adolescent students and their teachers and exploring social network position in relation to engaging in classroom incivility. In Study 1, I validated a scale of uncivil behavior in the classroom. This validation confirmed subscales of intentional and unintentional classroom incivility in adolescents. This study also assessed construct validity via the examination of associations between classroom incivility with self- and peer-reported behavior and mental health correlates. As well, I investigated differential personality profiles of adolescents who reported engaging in intentional vs. unintentional uncivil behavior. Study 2 focused on comparing and contrasting the perceptions and experiences of classroom incivility of middle and high school teachers and students. This study used both quantitative reporting and qualitative methods to investigate how middle and high school teachers were experiencing and understanding classroom incivility compared to students. The results of this study indicated that there were differences in how uncivil behaviors were being perceived by students and teachers, depending on the classroom or individual circumstances. Finally, Study 3 was an exploratory study that investigated the association between social network position and self-reported engagement in classroom incivility. Results indicated a curvilinear association between social network position and classroom incivility, such that students who engaged in the highest or lowest levels of classroom incivility had lower social network position, while students who engaged in moderate levels of classroom incivility had the highest levels of social network position. Taken together, these studies have expanded our knowledge and understanding of adolescent classroom incivility. These results can inform intervention of uncivil behavior in the classroom and have highlighted the importance of limiting uncivil behavior in adolescence in an effort to promote a civil society.