p-ISSN: 2184-2205 e-ISSN: 2184-3414 ISBN: 978-989-35106-6-7 © 2024

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SCHOOL CLIMATE – TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Danijela S. Petrović 1, Jovan Radosavljević2, & Natalija Ignjatović2

1
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (Serbia)
2
Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade (Serbia)

Abstract

Multiple studies have suggested the importance of school climate in relation to various educational
outcomes. Simultaneously, school climate is the indicator of the quality of school work, which is assessed
during school self-evaluation and external evaluation. As teachers play a central role in shaping a positive
school environment, this study aimed to explore their viewpoints and assess the extent to which the
perception of school climate varies based on specific personal factors, including gender, ethnic
background, professional experience and development. Participants were 385 teachers (Mage = 47.5;
66.5% female; 63.6% identified as Serbian (ethnic majority), 10.3% as ethnic minority, 11.4% as mixed
ethnic background) from 19 secondary schools. In order to capture school climate as a multidimensional
construct we used the Delaware School Climate Scale (DSCS) which consist of 9 subscales
Teacher–Student Relations, Student–Student Relations, Clarity of Expectations, Fairness of Rules, School
Safety, Student Engagement, Bullying, Teacher-Home Communications and Staff Relation. Teachers
assessed each aspect of school climate on a 4-point Likert type scale. For determining personal variables a
multiple-choice question was used. Beside descriptive statistics, t-test (for gender differences) and a
one-way ANOVA was applied for comparing different groups of participants. Results show that teachers
perceived overall school climate as relatively satisfactory (M = 3.2, SD = .42). The most positively rated
aspect of school climate was teacher-student relation (M = 3.5, SD = .44), while the most negatively rated
aspect was bullying (M = 1.9, SD = .60). Female teachers perceived student-student relation, school
safety and student engagement more positively than male teachers. Additionally, novice teachers
perceived teacher-student relation and staff relation more positively compared to highly experienced
teachers, while experienced teachers perceived the presence of bullying to a greater extent. Teachers who
received more professional training had higher scores on Bullying and lower scores on Expectations
subscales. Serbian teachers had lower scores on Student engagement subscale than teachers of minority
and mixed backgrounds. These results are relevant for school improvement and indicate that schools need
to devote greater attention to important areas of school climate, including student-student relations,
engagements and prevention of bullying.

Keywords: School climate, teachers, professional experience, professional development, ethnicity.

1. Introduction

School climate is a construct that has a long tradition of research in educational psychology due
to its recognized importance for various educational outcomes, raging from enhancing student
achievement to reducing problem behaviors, such as delinquency, bullying and victimization (e.g. Brand
et al., 2003; Gottfredson et al., 2005; McEvoy & Welker, 2000; Welsh, 2000).
Initial studies of school climate relied on instruments, theory, and methods from both
organizational climate and school effects research paradigms (Anderson, 1982). Overtime, school climate
was distinguished as a separate area of inquiry and other theoretical frameworks were used for studying
school climate, such as Bio-ecological theory, Attachment theory, Social cognitive theory, Social control
theory, etc. (for overview see Wang & Degol, 2015). As a result, multiple domains were included into the
research of school climate.
Today it is clear that school climate represents a multidimensional construct that encompasses
almost every aspect of the school experience, including the quality of teaching and learning, school
organization, and the institutional and structural features of the school environment, as well as, most
importantly, positive interpersonal relationships among school participants (Gonzálvez, Bacon,
& Kearney, 2023; Grazia & Molinari, 2021; Thapa et al, 2013; Wang & Degol, 2015). Therefore, it is not

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surprising that school climate has been conceptualized differently over the years, depending on which
aspect or dimension of school climate was the research focus. For example, school climate is defined as
‘‘the quality and consistency of interpersonal interactions within the school community that influence
children’s cognitive, social, and psychological development’’ (Haynes, Emmons & Ben-Avie, 1997, p.
322) or as “the quality and character of school life”, based on patterns of students, parents and school
personnel’s experiences with the school that affect their sense of social, emotional, and physical safety
(Cohen et al., 2009, p. 182). Other researchers conceptualize school climate as shared norms, values,
beliefs and attitudes that shape interactions and relations among students, parents and school personnel’s,
setting parameters of acceptable behavior in the school (Brookover et al., 1978; Esposito, 1999)
Although there is not a single list of factors that shape the quality and character of school life,
over the last three decades educators and researchers have recognized that complex sets of elements make
up school climate. For example, a review of research, practitioner, and scholarly writings (Cohen et al.,
2009) suggests that there are four major areas that clearly shape school climate: safety, relationships,
teaching/learning and the (external) environment. According to Wang and Degol literature review (2015),
the multidimensionality of school climate is represented by following four dimensions: academic climate
(overall quality of the academic atmosphere, including curricula, instruction, teacher training, and
professional development), community (quality of interpersonal relationships within the school), safety
(degree of physical and emotional security provided by the school, as well as the presence of effective,
consistent and fair disciplinary practices), and institutional environment (reflects the organizational or
structural features of the school environment). Beside relationships and safety, Bear et al. (2016)
distinguished social support and structure as important dimensions of school climate. Social support
refers to the extent to which adults and peers are responsive to children’s social and emotional needs,
exhibited by relationship-building qualities such as warmth, acceptance and caring, while structure refers
to the extent to which adults present clear behavioral expectations and fair rules, enforce them
consistently, and provide the supervision and monitoring needed to ensure the safety of students.

2. Objectives

As teachers play a central role in shaping a positive school environment, this study aimed to
explore their viewpoints and assess the extent to which the perception of different aspects of school
climate varies in relation to specific personal factors, including gender, ethnic background, professional
experience and development.

3. Methods

To assess school climate, we utilized the Delaware School Climate Scale (DSCS), an instrument
designed to evaluate various dimensions of school climate from different perspectives, including students,
teachers, and parents (Bear et al. 2011, Bear et al. 2014a; Bear et al. 2014b). In this study, we used
teachers’ version of the DSCS consisting of 38 items in total and 9 subscales (Bear et al. 2016): (1)
Teacher – Student Relations subscale assesses the extent to which teachers and other adults in the school
are responsive to the emotional needs of students, as reflected in them caring about and listening to
students when they have problems (e.g. Teachers listen to students when they have problems); (2)
Student–Student Relations assesses the quality of student interactions, as reflected in students exhibiting
respect, caring, friendliness and cooperation among one another (e.g. Students get along with one
another) ; (3) Clarity of Expectations assesses the extent to which the school’s behavioral expectations
and rules are made clear to students (e.g. Students know how they are expected to act); (4) Fairness of
Rules assesses the extent to which school rules and their consequences are viewed as fair (e.g. The
consequences of breaking school rules are fair); (5) School Safety assesses the degree to which the school
is viewed as safe by teachers/staff and students (e.g. Students feel safe in this school); (6) Student
Engagement assess the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dimensions of school engagement (e.g. Most
students pay attention in class); (7) Bullying assesses school-wide bullying as a part of student-student
relationships; (8) Teacher–Home Communications assesses the quality of teachers’ communications with
the parents/guardians of students, as seen in listening to their concerns, showing respect, and working
with them to help to prevent and address student misbehavior (e.g. Teachers work closely with parents to
help students when they have problems); (9) Staff Relation (e.g. Teachers, staff, and administrators
function as a good team. Participants respond by indicating the degree of agreement to a given statement
on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = Disagree a lot, to 4 = Agree a lot). To obtain a comprehensive view of the
school climate, the total school climate score is derived by combining scores across all subscales. The
DSCS demonstrates high reliability for the total sum of raw scores, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.90
across grade levels, gender, and racial-ethnic groups.

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To assess personal variables: gender, ethnic background, professional experience and

professional development we utilized a multiple-choice question.
Participants were 385 teachers (Mage = 47.5; 66.5% female; 63.6% identified as Serbian (ethnic
majority), 10.3% as ethnic minority, 11.4% as mixed ethnic background) from 19 secondary schools. The
schools were selected from multiethnic regions with attention to the geographical distribution of schools,
school size and educational profile, to ensure sample diversity. Teachers’ participation in the survey was
on a voluntary basis.
After performing descriptive statistics, we compared different groups of participants by using an
independent sample t-test (for gender differences) or one-way ANOVA (for differences in professional
experience, professional development and ethnicity). For multiple comparisons, the Tukey post hoc tests
were applied.

4. Results

Descriptive statistics (Table 1) show that teachers perceived overall school climate as relatively
satisfactory (M = 3.2, SD = .42) with highest satisfaction with teacher-student relation (M = 3.5,
SD = .44) and clarity of expectation (M = 3.4, SD = .54). Teachers were less satisfied with
student-student relation (M = 2.9, SD = .50), student engagement (M = 2.6, SD = .49), and especially
bullying (M = 1.9, SD = .60).

Table 1. Perception of school climate – descriptives.

n Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Teacher-Student Relation 385 2.00 4.00 3.46 .45
Student-Student Relation 383 1.20 4.00 2.86 .50
Clarity of Expectations 382 1.00 4.00 3.39 .54
Fairness of Rules 384 1.25 4.00 3.20 .58
School Safety 383 1.67 4.00 3.24 .51
Student Engagement 385 1.00 4.00 2.63 .49
Bullying 384 1.00 4.00 1.95 .60
Teacher- Home Communication 385 1.75 4.00 3.31 .51
Staff Relation 385 1.00 4.00 3.14 .72
Total school climate score 377 1.79 4.00 3.23 .42

The t-test (Table 2) reveals that male teacher have significantly higher scores on subscales
student-student relation (t(365)=3.12, p < .01), school safety (t(366)= 2.493, p < .01) and student
engagement (t(367)= 2.172, p < .05), while gender differences were not determined regarding other
aspects of school climate.

Table 2. Gender and perception of school climate.

Gender n M SD t df p
Student-Student Relation Male 111 2.98 .54 3.12 365 .01
Female 256 2.81 .48
School Safety Male 113 3.34 .50 2.49 366 .01
Female 255 3.20 .51
Student Engagement Male 113 2.72 .46 2.17 367 .05
Female 256 2.60 .50

ANOVA with Tukey post hoc tests (Table 3) shows that novice teachers (up to five years of
professional experience) perceive teacher-student relation (F(3)= 3.063, p < .05) and staff relation
(F(3)= 2.960, p < .05) more positively, while the most experienced teachers (over 25 years of professional
experience) perceive the presence of bullying to a greater extent (F(3)= 3.734 , p < .01).
Additionally, ANOVA with Tukey post hoc tests shows (Table 4) that teachers who receive
more professional training have higher scores on Bullying (F(2)= 9.075, p < .001) and lower scores on
Expectations subscale (F(2)= 4.352, p < .01).

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Table 3. Professional experience and perception of school climate.

Professional n M SD df F p
experience
Teacher-Student Relation Up to 5 76 3.54 .44 3 3.06 .05
6 -15 118 3.51 .42
16 - 24 126 3.39 .45
Over 26 63 3.39 .46
Bullying Up to 5 76 1.94 .65 3 3.73 .01
6 -15 118 1.88 .58
16 - 24 125 1.90 .58
Over 26 63 2.17 .55
Staff Relation Up to 5 76 3.32 .63 3 2.96 .05
6 -15 118 3.19 .70
16 - 24 126 3.05 .77
Over 26 63 3.03 .70

Table 4. Professional development and perception of school climate.

Professional n M SD df F p
development
Clarity of Expectations 0 108 3.40 .51 2 4.35 .01
1-24 142 3.46 .49
Over 24 109 3.25 .62
Bullying 0 109 1.78 .58 2 9.07 .000
1-24 142 1.97 .54
Over 24 110 2.12 .63

Ethnic differences were determined regarding only one aspect of school climate (Table 5).
ANOVA with Tukey post hoc tests showed that Serbian teachers assess student engagement as lower than
teachers of minority and mixed background (F(2)= 4.352, p < .01).

Table 5. Ethnicity and perception of school climate.

Ethnicity n M SD df F p
Student Engagement Minority 40 2.85 .41 2 9.28 .000
Serbs 245 2.58 .49
Mixed 44 2.83 .43

5. Discussion and conclusions

Examining the school climate is important because it can indicate the aspects that need to be
improved in order to provide an environment conducive to learning. In this research, we found that
teachers are relatively satisfied with the entire school climate, but that the presence of bullying is a key
aspect of the school climate that needs to be acted upon. This result is not surprising because teachers are
more sensitive to notice the elements of peer violence in schools and to react to it. It was also found that
teachers who receive more professional training or who have the most professional experience have
higher scores on the Bullying subscale. It is possible that due to their knowledge and experience thay
better notice and perceive what bullying is all about. One of the ways to prevent bullying is to improve
peer relations, which is also an aspect of the school climate with which teachers are less satisfied.
Additionally, from the teacher's point of view, another aspect of the school climate that should be
improved is the engagement of students, which is in line with the generally widespread opinion of
teachers that some students are insufficiently motivated for school learning.
The results show that female teachers have a more positive outlook on certain aspects of the
school climate, such as relationships among students, student engagement and school safety, which
should be further investigated.
When interpreting results obtained in this study, it should be kept in mind that teachers often
report more favorable perceptions of learning environments and school climates than students, especially
with respect to teacher–student relationships (Bear et al. 2016). It seems that this tendency is particularly
pronounced among novice teachers who evaluate teacher-student relations (as well as staff relations)
much more positively than experienced teachers. However, another possibility is that younger teachers
actually establish better relationships both with students and colleagues.

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In order to overcome some of the limitations of this study, it is necessary to examine the school
climate from the perspective of both students and parents, not only teachers. Using the student, teacher
and parent’s surveys jointly will allow contrasting these different perspectives and increasing the validity
of school climate assessment.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, Grant number 1518, Project
title “Narrativization of ethnic identities of adolescents from culturally dominant and minority
backgrounds, and the role of the school context” (-NIdEA) within the programme IDENTITIES.

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