Abstract
GATE‐BULL is an Erasmus+ funded project aiming to develop a whole‐school intervention against prejudice‐based bullying for children aged between 10 and 12. The intervention is comprised of three key elements: a serious game, an intercultural curriculum and an online training course for teachers. GATE‐BULL is funded for two and a half years, from September 2017, and is being led by the University of the West of Scotland with the participation of the Open University (Netherlands), University of Patras (Greece) and University of Nitra (Slovakia).
This report presents the findings from the GATE‐BULL user needs analysis phase. The methodology included a literature review of recent research on bystander intervention in bullying and prejudice‐based bullying situations, a face‐to‐face pupil survey, a series of focus groups with pupils and a focus group with teachers.
Key Outcomes
The user requirement analysis identified 6 requirements that need to be met for the intervention to be successful.
1. The intervention should aim to reduce stereotypes and outgroup bias (via game and especially intercultural curriculum) by encouraging empathy, perspective taking, and “imagining counter‐stereotypic examples” (McBride, 2015). Children should be allowed to voice their often‐conflicting viewpoints openly in a safe environment.
2. The game should provide opportunities for collaborative working with members of minority groups under the conditions identified by Intergroup Contact Theory.
3. The intervention should aim to reduce moral disengagement attitudes (via game).
4. The intervention should aim to increase bystanders’ sense of personal responsibility especially in the context of group norms that do not favour intervention in bullying situations (via game).
5. The intervention should aim to increase bystanders’ self‐efficacy (via game).
6. Learning should be experiential and not instructional.
This report presents the findings from the GATE‐BULL user needs analysis phase. The methodology included a literature review of recent research on bystander intervention in bullying and prejudice‐based bullying situations, a face‐to‐face pupil survey, a series of focus groups with pupils and a focus group with teachers.
Key Outcomes
The user requirement analysis identified 6 requirements that need to be met for the intervention to be successful.
1. The intervention should aim to reduce stereotypes and outgroup bias (via game and especially intercultural curriculum) by encouraging empathy, perspective taking, and “imagining counter‐stereotypic examples” (McBride, 2015). Children should be allowed to voice their often‐conflicting viewpoints openly in a safe environment.
2. The game should provide opportunities for collaborative working with members of minority groups under the conditions identified by Intergroup Contact Theory.
3. The intervention should aim to reduce moral disengagement attitudes (via game).
4. The intervention should aim to increase bystanders’ sense of personal responsibility especially in the context of group norms that do not favour intervention in bullying situations (via game).
5. The intervention should aim to increase bystanders’ self‐efficacy (via game).
6. Learning should be experiential and not instructional.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | University of the West of Scotland |
| Commissioning body | European Commission |
| Number of pages | 29 |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
