Socio-psychological climate of Novosibirsk schools: presentation and discussion of survey results
From the 29th of October to the 5th of November, the Laboratory members together with the sociology students spent a week in Novosibirsk. This was an important milestone in the Mirror Labs project, during which we not only collected data for the research, but also shared the findings of our work with schools. We would like to tell you about the results of the trip and further plans.
We would like to briefly remind you that this year we are continuing our work within the framework of the Mirror Labs project together with the Laboratory of Social and Psychological Research of the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (NSPU). In the course of our mutual research, we are exploring factors affecting the adaptation and integration of migrant children. In spring we conducted a large-scale survey of pupils in schools with a high percentage of pupils for whom Russian is not their mother tongue.
The study is longitudinal. This means that we will return to the schools several more times and survey the students to see the changes in dynamics. On our working trip to Novosibirsk in the spring of 2023, we surveyed more than 3,800 pupils from 5th to 9th grade in 14 schools in the city with a high percentage of children with a non-native Russian language.
In St. Petersburg, we had already been preparing and processing the massive data set. All paper questionnaires were digitised and compiled into one large database. The database was checked for jokers and students who filled out questionnaires unscrupulously. We could now be sure that our analyses would be accurate. Then we started the analysis and preparation of reports for schools and the Department of Education of the Novosibirsk City Administration.
The questionnaire with which we came to Novosibirsk schools included many questions. Some of them are of primary interest to us, the researchers. Another part is useful for schools, since the questionnaire included questions about aggression and friction, pupils' attitudes towards school and teachers, and understanding of school rules. We prepared an individual report for each school. For the questions that are valuable for schools, we have constructed graphs and formulated applied conclusions. In the reports we tried to show schools their strengths and weaknesses, areas of growth and demonstrate the great work being done by the teachers.
From the 30th of October to the 4th of November we visited schools in Novosibirsk every day and presented individual reports. Together with head teachers, school principals, psychologists and social pedagogues we discussed the results. It was important for us to understand how well the results correlated with the observations of school personnel and what else we could add to our reports to make them clearer and more helpful. We presented information to schools in terms of school parallels, and in some cases - in the case of bullying - in terms of specific classes. This makes the results as applied as possible, and draws attention to particular classes that need special attention.
It seems important to us to make the results of the research as comprehensible and useful as possible. Therefore, during the discussion of the reports, we collected feedback from school representatives: which graphs are difficult to understand, which conclusions lack details, or how else the report could be expanded to make it more useful. After personal discussions with school managers and teachers, we plan to improve the reports.
In addition to our work with schools, we held two meetings with colleagues from NSPU. These meetings were necessary to discuss publications, a report for the Department of Education of the Novosibirsk City Administration, and the annual report on the Mirror Labs project. We have planned a shared online seminar in December 2023, where Daniil Alexandrovich Alexandrov will tell masters of the Psychology Department of NSPU about the specifics of developing a questionnaire to study the socio-psychological climate of schools. We also plan to organise a joint seminar with colleagues from NSPU in St. Petersburg. Colleagues will talk about the specifics of psychologists-teachers' work in schools with a high percentage of children with non-native Russian language.
In order to involve students of the National Research University Higher School of Economics in the research topic, to develop interest in field work and skills in qualitative data analysis, the laboratory staff received support from the programme "Rediscovering Russia". Thanks to this, 14 students were able to participate in our field research. Students of 2-4 courses of the Sociology and Social Informatics programme collected a huge pool of information about the socio-economic specifics of the urban areas where our schools are located and studied in detail the segregation of Novosibirsk. Every day teams of 3-4 people travelled to the districts of Novosibirsk to observe the urban environment and make field diaries. During the field, expedition participants also interviewed local residents about the history, contemporary life and infrastructure of the neighbourhoods. The data obtained during the expedition will allow us to better understand the social context in which the pupils, whose life paths we are studying as part of the research, live and study.
We are grateful to our colleagues from the NSPU, to the schools that we already know very well, and to the Novosibirsk Department of Education for effective and interesting collaborative work. And the work of teachers arouses great respect and admiration.