THE “SAFE SCHOOL” PERCEPTION OF CLASS PRESIDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

• Main Author: Mehmet Metin Arslan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Informascope 2018-04-01
• Series: International Online Journal of Education and Teaching
• Online Access: http://www.iojet.org/index.php/IOJET/article/view/408

The aim of this research is to reveal the “safe school” perceptions of secondary class presidents. The sample of the study, which is a qualitative research and figured as “phenomenology design”, is constituted by eight class president students in vocational and technical secondary schools. The data were collected with a semi-structured interview form consisting of three open-ended questions to determine the opinions of the class presidents. The responses of participants to questions in writing were analyzed by descriptive analysis. In the study, the “school safety” perception was examined with the perspective of the class presidents in high schools. Some of the remarkable results of the research can be summarized as follows: The participants reply the question “To what extent is a safe school environment important for you?” such that they generally consider the school’s physical, social and psychological environment as problematic. They indicate the importance of solving the problems of these environments in creating a safe school climate. Participants point out to the parent-school cooperation for the question regarding the duties of the school management, staff and students. Some of the participants emphasized the risks arising from the school environment.