Master thesis Yorrin Olaf Timo Kootstra (S1384538) Crisis and Security Management - Universiteit Leiden Supervisor: Dr. Joery Matthys
Second reader: Dr. Marieke Liem
Word count: 22.370 words (excl. acknowledgements content & references)
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Acknowledgements
Firstly I would like to thank a few people who made this thesis possible. I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. Joery Matthys for his wisdom and patience. I would to thank second reader Dr. Marieke Liem for her advice. I would like to thank my parents, André Kootstra and Irma Lindemans for their unconditional support during my career as a student, without their support, I would have never made it this far. I would like to thank Adrienne van de Nieuwegiessen for her English language guidance and her support throughout my graduation process. I would like to thank Michelle van Koert for joining me in the library while writing this thesis and for her wisdom as well at moments I needed it the most. And last but not least I would like to thank all the teachers that I interviewed for their willingness to talk about internet safety.
2 Content Acknowledgements ... 1 1. Introduction ... 4 1.1. Background ... 4 1.2. Scope ... 4 1.3. Societal Relevance ... 5 1.4. Academic relevance ... 6 1.5. Outline ... 7 2. Theoretical background ... 7 2.1 Internet safety ... 7
2.1.1 Risks of being harmed ... 8
2.2 Effective e-safety education ... 9
2.2.1 Critical thinking ... 9
2.2.2 Differences between pupils ... 10
2.2.3 Educators’ digital skills ... 11
2.2.4 School-based social networking sites ... 12
2.2.5 Parents ... 13 2.3 Perception of effectiveness ... 15 2.3.1 Effectiveness ... 15 2.3.2 Effectiveness in education ... 15 2.3.3 Perception ... 16 2.3.4 Perception of effectiveness ... 16 3 Methodology ... 17 3.1 Research design ... 17
3.1.1 Dependent variable: perceived effectiveness ... 17
3.1.2 Independent variables: factors (best practices) ... 17
3.1.3 Case study ... 18
3.2 Data collection ... 20
3.3 Data analysis ... 22
3.4 Operationalization ... 23
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3.4.2 Provide self-management ... 23
3.4.3 Note pupil differences ... 24
3.4.4 Educators’ digital skills ... 24
3.4.5 Use school-based social networking sites ... 25
3.4.6 Involve parents ... 25
3.5 Validity and reliability ... 26
3.5.1 Validity ... 26 3.5.2 Reliability ... 26 4 Analysis ... 27 4.1 School A ... 27 4.1.1 Perceived effectiveness ... 27 4.1.2 Provide self-management ... 27
4.1.3 Note pupils differences ... 30
4.1.4 Educators’ digital skills ... 32
4.1.5 Use school-based SNS ... 34
4.1.6 Involve parents ... 36
4.2 School B ... 39
4.2.1 Perceived effectiveness ... 39
4.2.2 Provide self-management ... 40
4.2.3 Note pupils differences ... 42
4.2.4 Educators’ digital skills ... 43
4.2.5 Use school-based SNS ... 46
4.2.6 Involve parents ... 47
5 Comparative analyses ... 50
5.1 Perceived effectiveness ... 50
5.2 Provide self-management ... 51
5.3 Note pupil differences ... 52
5.4 Educators’ digital skills ... 53
5.5 Use school-based SNS ... 54
5.6 Involve parents ... 55
6 Conclusion ... 55
4 6.2 Discussion ... 57 6.3 Limitations ... 58 7 References ... 59
1. Introduction
1.1. BackgroundSince the internet plays a big role in contemporary life (Livingstone, Davidson, Bryce & Batool, 2017: 5), it comes with opportunities and dangers for both adults and children. On the plus side it offers several opportunities: internet can be used to educate children in new ways using tablet apps to practice math’s for instance (Livingstone et al. 2017). However internet can also cause dangerous situations for children. They can face aggression when they are exposed to bullying, harassment and stalking, they can get in touch with sexual content like pornography or they can be the victim of grooming or sexual harassment. Furthermore they can come across hateful content or ideological beliefs and they can be approached by commercial parties that want to sell products or that are advertising for gambling activities amongst other things (Livingstone, Davidson, & Bryce, 2017).
The responsibility for the safety of children online lies with the parents of the children involved. Although as research (Barbosa, 2014; ITU, 2013; Livingstone and Byrne, 2015; Hill, 2017) proves: parents do not always have the skills to protect their children when they visit the internet. They lack time, resources, awareness, willingness, competence and understanding. According to Livingstone et al. (2011) parents would prefer to get information on internet safety from their childs’ school. Thus they want the schools to play a big role in internet safety. Since the internet became much more personalized, the role of parents and teachers got more difficult. The industry also has a great responsibility in making sure children are safe online. Social networking sites for instance should protect children against online risks, partly because parents and teachers are often not internet savvy.
1.2. Scope
This research will focus on the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education that children between the ages of 9 and 12 get and the factors that affect the effectiveness. This specific age group is chosen because research shows that children at this age start with using a smart phone,
5 thus a mobile phone with internet access and possibilities for installing social media applications. Under the age of nine only few children are able to visit the internet without supervision. From the age of nine and onwards children start with using smartphones to a greater extent and will therefore have less supervision (Livingstone, 2017: 6).
Since research shows that parents are insufficiently able to protect their children online and that they need information and support supplied by schools, a great amount of responsibility lies with teachers at primary schools. Therefore this research will focus on education that teachers provide to prevent children from being harmed online.
This thesis will try to map how teachers cope with their pupils going online and will try to collect the perception of effectiveness that teachers have regarding e-safety education and will research whether five identified best practices are integrated in e-safety education and whether these have an effect on the perceived effectiveness. These best practices came forward after studying prior research. These five best practices are used to see whether theorical concepts are helpful in practice to achieve perceived effective e-safety education.
This perception of effectiveness is researched using a comparative case study design zooming in on two primary schools. Within these schools several teachers will be interviewed to collect their perceptions of effectiveness regarding the implementation of e-safety education and the application of best practices that might have an effect on the perception of effectiveness. The interviews will be analyzed using process tracing methods.
For this thesis the following research question will be used:
What factors have a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness of internet safety education in primary schools?
The research question is a relation question. This thesis tries to determine whether there is a relationship between the variables ´internet safety education’ and ‘perception of effectiveness’. Thus we try to find out whether the theoretical best way to educate children on internet safety is connected to the teachers perception of what is the best way to educate on e-safety. So whether the perceived effectiveness is related to the five theoretical best practices.
1.3. Societal Relevance
The amount in which internet is used, is increasing rapidly (Livingstone, 2017: 9). In 2007, children between the ages of 5 and 15 used the internet for 7 hours per week, while in 2016
6 they used it for 15 hours a week. Because the usage of internet amongst children still increases, it is important to keep researching how children are educated on how to use internet wisely. Besides, the impact the internet has on our lives is still increasing. And it looks as if the internet is going to play an even greater role in the future. Not only devices such as smartphones and computers, of which the usage keeps growing as stated earlier, will use the internet in the near future, but, because of the invention of the internet of things, also devices such as fridges, dish washers and even garage doors will use the internet (Samad, Abbasi, Memon, Aziz & Rahman, 2018: 13). Thus knowledge on e-safety education, is of great relevance for the future. The internet will make up a great part of the lives of children and therefore they will rely on it to a great extent (Livingstone, 2017: 93).
Furthermore, research shows that children face different risks when using the internet and they do not always have the skills to counter these risks and to recognize them when they occur. Researchers recommend adults and in particular educators to assist children with their online activities (Verdurmen et al.; 2016, Symons et al.; 2017, Livingstone et al.; 2017, Symons et al.; 2017, Haddon et al.; 2017, Marshall et al,; 2016). This research aims to enrich the knowledge regarding e-safety education.
1.4. Academic relevance
During the literature study prior to this thesis, two gaps within the knowledge body were found. Firstly no research has been conducted on the methods and strategies teachers use to educate their children on the topic of internet safety.
Some research on teachers’ perspectives on internet safety for children has been conducted (for instance Aston and Brzyska, 2012). And some research is dedicated to tips and tricks concerning the education on internet safety (for instance Smahel & Wright, 2014 and Ditch the Label, 2013). But more research should be done on how primary school teachers cope with the topic of internet safety.
The second knowledge gap that was found concerns the knowledge about the methods of Dutch teachers in particular. Some articles were devoted to teachers’ perspectives on children’s online safety (Such as Dönmez, Odabaşi, Yurdakul, et al., 2017). But no research has zoomed in on the Dutch education on internet safety of children.
7 According to Sharkings, Newton, Albaiz and Ernest (2015) there is a lack of knowledge concerning the perceptions of caregivers such as parents and teachers when it comes to the use of digital technologies by children.
It is important to zoom in on the Dutch education on e-safety since research (Livingstone, 2011) proved that differences between countries are significant. The usage of internet differs from country to country, as well as the perception of risks and the numbers of victims of internet crimes.
Furthermore, as stated before, teachers are an important subject of research since a large part of responsibility regarding e-safety is on their shoulders. Parents are not capable of passing on enough e-safety knowledge and they need help from pedagogical professionals such as teachers.
1.5. Outline
This thesis will start with a chapter devoted to the theoretical background of the subject. This chapter will outline how internet safety is conceptualized within this thesis and it will outline what the best practices are regarding e-safety education.
Next the research design and research methodology will be outlined and explained. This chapter will include the way in which the research question will be answered. Followed by the analysis, which is divided into three parts: school A, school B and a comparative analysis, after which the conclusion is drawn.
2. Theoretical background
2.1 Internet safety
Two types of processes can lead to risks for children (Nikken, 2013). Firstly the amount of time that children spend online, including the risks of getting addicted to certain applications. Secondly the content of the applications that children use online, thus whether the children can be damaged by certain content or not.
The first process does not only potentially lead to addiction to certain applications, but it also means that children may not always spend enough time on other activities because they are spending too much time behind screens. This problem is not new, a few decades ago educators already complained about children spending too much time watching television. But the problem became bigger thanks to the internet since children are capable of watching screens
8 the whole day without feeling the need to do anything else. The great amount of ´screen time´ can result in habituation as well as health risks such as eye problems (Nikken, 2013).
American pediatricians have conducted much research on young children (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). Their advice is to have children under 13 use television or other screens for only two hours a day. Using too much screens is scientifically related to problems such as ADHD, aggression, obesity, language deficiency, sleep problems, insufficient school results, premature sexual interests, and so forth. The American pediatricians do not associate media usage for educational purposes as being a risk to the development of children, but only the usage for amusement purposes.
2.1.1 Risks of being harmed
The second process that can lead to risks, is content that children come across online. This content can lead to risks of being harmed. Since the access and availability of internet applications increased, the possibility of children facing risks online has increased as well (Nikken, 2013).
The risks of being harmed as a child know two dimensions. Firstly the category of risk and secondly the role of the child. The risks that children face online are categorized in four types: aggression and violence, sexual harms to children, problems associated with inappropriate or damaging values and lastly commercial and/or persuasive risks (Livingstone, Davidson, & Bryce, 2017).
According to Livingstone et al. (2017) a child can have three roles when it comes to online risks.
Receiver of mass productions, thus for instance when a child reads/watches violent content spread by a terroristic organization.
Participant of adult-initiated activity, for instance when an adult tries to get in contact with a child online in order to have a sexual relationship.
Conductor as a perpetrator or victim: for instance when a child is bullied by peers or when a child is bullying others.
The following table gives an overview of the categorized potential risks children face online. Table 1: Classification of online risks to children
9 CONTENT (CHILD AS RECEIVER) CONTACT (CHILD AS PARTICIPANT) CONDUCT (CHILD AS ACTOR) AGGRESSIVE Violent/gory content Harassment, stalking Bullying, hostile
peer activity SEXUAL Pornographic content ‘Grooming’, sexual
abuse and meeting strangers
Sexual harassment, ‘sexting’
VALUES Racist/hateful content Ideological persuasion
Potentially harmful user-generated content
COMMERCIAL Advertising embedded marketing Personal data exploitation and misuse Gambling, copyright infringement
Source: Livingstone, S., Davidson, J., & Bryce, J. (2017).
2.2 Effective e-safety education
The following five best practices are extracted from prior research and are identified as five academically recommended measures to improve e-safety education. Applying these five best practices will, theoretically, lead to effectiveness of e-safety education. These are five main tools that would be helpful for teachers while educating children (aged 9 to 12) on e-safety and are therefore factors that might have an effect on the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education. Effectiveness is reached when the school is successful in implementing strategies that produce the desired outcome.1 The perception is “The way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.”2 Thus the perception indicates what the teachers’ view is on something. The perception of effectiveness represents the view that teachers have on the successfulness of implementation of e-safety education strategies by their schools.
2.2.1 Critical thinking
In general, schools should try to provide broad e-safety advice and offer forms of support. Schools should highlight the good points about the internet and should not create moral panic by framing the internet as unsafe and misleading (Livingstone, 2017: 70). The e-safety strategy
1 Oxford. (2018). Effective. Retrieved November 16, 2018, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/effective 2 Oxford. (2018). Perception. Retrieved November 16, 2018, from
10 of schools should be up-dated regularly to make sure it can keep up with the speed in which internet development takes place (Shipton, 2011).
Shipton (2011) conducted qualitative research zooming in on two primary schools. They found that the schools would rather try to develop the critical capabilities of the pupils than try to stop the pupils visiting ‘wrong’ websites by building a firewall. Shipton concluded that creating awareness and critical thinking would help pupils to manage with internet risks themselves. Livingstone, Haddon, Görzig and Ólafsson (2012) and Livingstone et al. (2011) also concluded that schools should aim to create self-management of online content and behavior. That should result in critical thinking and in awareness of the benefits and risks that come to play with using the internet and with posting content on SNS (Social Networking Sites) in particular. But teaching e-safety skills should never be focused on scare tactics (Palfrey, 2010).
Best practice: schools should provide self-management
Since researchers claim that applying self-management strategies is an effective strategy to help improving e-safety education, we expect that applying this strategy will affect the perception of effectiveness of the teachers.
Expectation: applying the best practice ‘provide self-management’ has a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education.
2.2.2 Differences between pupils
Not all pupils act at the same level and not every pupil is as mature as another (Shipton, 2011). Pupils differ in age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES) and parental involvement too. The difference in age is most striking. Nearly all children have internet access at home, but young children are less likely to use it (Livingstone et al, 2017). Teenagers are four times more likely to have seen pornography than 9 year old’s. But on the other hand the older teenagers are less likely to be upset by the pornographic images. Overall, older children encounter more internet risks, but they are also better equipped to deal with them (Livingstone et al., 2011).
Internet usage amongst girls and boys also differs. Not the access to the internet, but the usage is different. Boys tend to use the internet more often and they play more videogames than girls, but the differences in gender are not very significant (Livingstone et al., 2011 and Livingstone et al., 2017).
Children from high income families tend to have more access to the internet than children from low-income families. They more often have smartphones and the overall access to the internet
11 at home is greater. But the SES does not affect the time children spend online on an average day or the age at which the children start using the internet (Livingstone et al., 2011 and Livingstone et al., 2017).
Schools should provide special programs that aim at including those who have less or no internet access outside school in order to make sure these children do not miss out on any digital skills and knowledge (Livingstone, 2011).
The skills that children have on the internet also depends on the extent in which they are guided by their parents. The more parents guide their children with installing and using digital media, the better the digital skills of the children (Stichting Kennisnet, 2017).
Best practice: note pupil differences.
Since researchers advice teachers to note pupils’ differences, we expect that applying this strategy will have an effect on the perceived effectiveness of teachers regarding e-safety education.
Expectation: applying the best practice of ‘note pupils differences’ will have a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness of the teachers.
2.2.3 Educators’ digital skills
Teachers should be up to date when it comes to SNS. They should know which websites and applications are currently used, how they are used and in what ways children could possibly face risks online. It is important for teachers to know how social media applications work in order to be able to educate about safety on these platforms (Richards, Caldwell & Go, 2015). Livingstone et al. (2017) stress that it does not make sense for a school to facilitate hardware and connectivity without investing is digital skills for the educators as well. Thus with improving the hardware (computers, touch screens, smart boards, etc.), the digital skills of the educator should be improved as well.
Livingstone et al. (2011) stress that it takes special skills to educate, especially young, children on internet safety. Training is necessary to equip teachers with enough digital skills to educate children that are new or relatively new to using the internet and facing risks. They should be alert to the risks of online bullying and they should be able to respond to this bullying in an appropriate way.
12 According to the Byron Review (2008), the government should provide e-safety. It should implement legislation that ensures teachers and workforce of education on how to teach children to be safe online. Teachers should have enough knowledge about the internet to be able to provide lessons about internet safety.
A National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) by Aston and Brzyska (2012) found that 77% of primary school teachers felt that they have had enough e-safety training to educate children on the topic. Thanks to these trainings teachers felt confident in supporting their pupils on e-safety, but not on SNS safety in particular.
It might be worrying that teachers do not feel experienced enough when it comes to the use of SNS. Especially since many teachers report that pupils at their schools suffer from types of cyberbullying with the use of SNS accounts such as Facebook and WhatsApp (Aston and Brzyska, 2012). Also worrying is the fact that in the EU only 7% of children between the ages of 9 and 16 who had been bullied online went to their teachers to talk about it. Teachers should be more aware of the risks of being bullied online and should invest in the quality of their response on this matter (Livingstone, Haddon, Görzig and Ólafsson, 2012).
Best practice: keep educators’ digital skills up to date.
Since researchers advice teachers and schools to invest in teachers’ digital skills, we expect that investing in digital skills affects the perceived effectiveness regarding e-safety education. Expectation: Investing in educators’ digital skills has a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness of the teachers.
2.2.4 School-based social networking sites
Children can benefit from practicing social behavior online within a safe, confined school-based social media environment. It also enables teachers to have a better overview of what is being communicated by the children and it is an easy way to spot inappropriate acts. A school-based social networking site could help children to learn how to act appropriate online (Shipton, 2011).
These social networking sites can also extend when and where children learn. With the use of school-based social networking sites children are no longer bound to the classroom for making exercises within an online environment. The sites can help children to access school materials at home much easier and it makes it easier for teachers to check the homework (Krutka & Carpenter, 2016).
13 Furthermore it is adviced to help pupils to learn how the internet and social media can either enrich or diminish their lives. Whether it is seen as a benefit or not: children are using social media and teachers can try to guide pupils by offering advices that enables pupils to use the social media tools critically, wisely and creatively (Krutka & Carpenter, 2016).
Best practice: use school-based social media networking sites
Since researchers advice schools to use school-based social media sites, we expect the application of this best practice to be of influence on the perceived effectiveness of teachers regarding e-safety education.
Expectation: Using school-based SNS will have a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness.
2.2.5 Parents
It is very important to involve parents in e-safety education. It makes sure children receive consistent messages about the subject. Involving parents can be done in a variety of ways. Schools could send e-safety policy via newsletters, the school website and the prospectus. It is also possible drawing up a contract that both children and parents need to sign containing rules for safe internet usage. Furthermore schools could provide information sessions and training sessions in which parents receive information or take part in discussions concerning internet safety for children (Shipton, 2011).
Livingstone et al. (2011) also stress that schools need to provide parental mediation. They should strengthen home-school initiatives. This could be training sessions but also information gatherings.
Parents are primarily responsible for their children’s internet usage, but the internet is too extensive for parents alone to guide their children. They need professional assistance (Hill, 2017).
Parents do not feel capable of educating their kids on internet safety, but still it is important that teachers involve parents. It helps to communicate a consistent message to the children. If teachers and parents do not align their messages on this subject, children will probably hear conflicting stories about internet safety. But schools may find it difficult to cooperate with parents since parents sometimes have very different opinions when it comes to internet usage. Some parents may for example help their children to create a Facebook account with a fake date of birth while other parents completely prohibit the use of social media (Shipton, 2011).
14 The influence that parents have on their children’s behavior online and the fact that parents rely on the efforts of teachers regarding the education of children on online safety might have an impact on the way teachers educate the children. Teachers might for instance advice parents on certain matters regarding internet safety or might try to involve parents in the education of children.
Children are not likely to tell their parents or, especially, their teachers about things that went wrong while being online. When a child faces an online problem, they tend to believe that adults would not understand the nature of their problem and that the adults would probably overreact and would panic (Haddon & Livingstone, 2017).
Children are very often warned for the dangers of the internet. But the message does not always come across because children are not always able to make sense of the message they receive. The extent in which the message comes across depends on how well the message illuminates their own experiences. Children could for instance doubt adult advice when it contradicts with the offline world. Adults tend to warn children for sexual content and for rudeness in communication, while sexual content and swearing is readily available while watching tv for instance or listening to an average discussion between two adults (Haddon & Livingstone, 2017).
A study of Schilder, Brusselaers and Bogaerts (2015) on the effects of a school-based intervention on online risk awareness and behavior concluded that even a very brief school-based intervention of about 10 minutes can raise risk awareness for up to 4 months after the intervention. This awareness was associated with less risky behavior online within the researched group of children.
Best practice: involve parents in e-safety education
Since researchers advice schools to involve parents in e-safety education, we expect that applying this strategy will have an effect on the perceived effectiveness of teachers regarding e-safety education.
Expectation: involving parents in e-safety education will have a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness.
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2.3 Perception of effectiveness
2.3.1 Effectiveness
Scientists in general interpret effectiveness as goal achievement. Thus whether certain goals are achieved with the instruments that are used. In the economy for instance effectiveness is used to determine whether a product is capable of bringing the desired outcome, usually a profit (De Boer, Brouwers & Koetzier, 2011).
In other sciences the concept of effectiveness is usually used to measure whether certain methods are suitable to reach certain goals. In health care it is used to measure whether certain methods are useful to cure hernia (Mushalla, Schwarz & Bittner, 2016) and to measure whether obesity has any effect on the effectiveness of kidney stone treatments (Dančík, Kuldan & Baron, 2015). Shortly effectiveness is used in science to determine whether a certain method has a positive effect on the outcome.
2.3.2 Effectiveness in education
James Stronge (2018) conceptualizes effectiveness in education using six categories in which effective teaching is explained. With mastering these six elements, the biggest impact can be reached regarding student achievement.
The teacher as a person refers to the way in which the teachers presents him/herself to the class of pupils. But it entails the way the teacher communicates with parents and colleagues as well. Shortly Stronge (2018) states that the personality of the teacher affects the achievements of his/her pupils.
Classroom management and organization refers to the way in which the classroom is organized. A well-organized environment should enable pupils to improve their learning curve. Books should be easily accessible and the learning environment should promote interactions between pupils (Stronge 2018; Porter 2015).
Organizing and orienting for instruction refers to the way a teacher plans his work in advance. A good education plan enables a teacher to improve his/her teaching quality. The education plan should be easy to follow for outsiders and should accommodate for different learning styles. A good plan does not guarantee high quality education, but it does offer a guideline (Stronge 2018; Scott & Marzano, 2014).
Implementing instruction refers to the way in which teachers are presenting their education. It entails whether teachers implement interactivity and use a variety of activities in order to engage
16 students. “Implementing instruction is like opening night at the theater where all the behind-the-scenes work is hidden and only the magic is seen by the audience”, (Stronge, 2018; Scott & Marzano, 2014).
Monitoring student progress and potential refers to the extent in which teachers have a sense of how each student is performing in class. Good teachers use a variety of instruments in order to measure students performances. If a student is falling behind a teachers should offer a remedy to fill in the knowledge gap (Stronge, 2018; Porter, 2015).
Professionalism refers to the extent in which a teachers takes his/her job seriously. A good teacher communicates with other actors like students, colleagues and parents and a good teacher masters questioning and instructing in class (Stronge, 2018; Porter, 2015).
2.3.3 Perception
The concept of perception is explained as a phenomenon which matches opinions with incentives. Thus with observing manifestations, people form opinions. Perceptions of people change with the use of changeable concepts such as objects, events or phenomena (Yurdakul, 2015). Paul Slovic (2016) used the word perception to refer to various kinds of attitudes and judgements.
In science perception is used to measure what opinions people develop regarding certain phenomena. In security studies perception is used for instance to measure how people perceive the risks in society (Slovik, 2016). Perception is used as well by scientists to express their views on certain scientific concepts such as causality (Michotte, 2017).
But perception is most often used to express how certain groups in society perceive certain phenomena. H. Rosenberg, McDonald and J. Rosenberg (2016) researched for instance how the perception of emotion changed after traumatic brain injury and Hamlyn (2017) researched how perception and understanding of children work.
2.3.4 Perception of effectiveness
The concept of perception of effectiveness is a mix between the two concepts explained above. Effectiveness in education is conceptualized by using six factors that are necessary to reach effectiveness in teaching. the perception is conceptualized as the meaning that people give to certain incentives. Perception of effectiveness therefore represents the meaning that teachers give to the incentives they receive regarding the effectiveness of e-safety education.
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3 Methodology
3.1 Research design
The research question of this thesis is: What factors have a positive effect on the perceived
effectiveness of internet safety education in primary schools?
3.1.1 Dependent variable: perceived effectiveness
Part of the research is to determine what the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education is. Teachers will be asked whether they consider the strategy for e-safety education of their schools as effective or not.
We expect that the perceived effectiveness is affected by the independent variable ‘factors’ that consist of the best practices that came forward in the chapter ‘theoretical background’. As stated before we expect that the extent in which the five best practices are applied, determine the extent in which teachers perceive their e-safety education as effective.
3.1.2 Independent variables: factors (best practices)
These theory driven best practices are collected using prior research on the topic of e-safety education. Within this thesis five best practices are used to see if they are applied by teachers and whether they form affecting factors on the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education.
18 3.1.3 Case study
Case study: “The in-depth examination of a single instance of some social phenomenon, such as a village, a family, or a juvenile gang (Babbie, 2011).”
This research uses case study design. Two cases are combined to expand the knowledge on the perceived effectiveness regarding e-safety education. A case study is chosen because it is an effective way to see whether the theories of e-safety education are applied in practice. A case study fits the research since case studies are used to research a specific place at a specific time. For this research we are looking at two specific places: school A and school B, at a specific time: currently. A research design like the cross-sectional design is not looking at a specific time or place and is therefore less suitable for this thesis. Cross-sectional designs generate statements that apply regardless place and time (Bryman, 2012).
Yin (2009) makes a distinction between five types of case studies. The two cases that are selected for this research are representative cases. They are not selected because they are extreme or unique or because they are critical, but because they are representative of primary schools in general. Yin (2009) stated the following about representative cases: “the objective is to capture the circumstances and conditions of an everyday or commonplace situation” (Bryman, 2012).
A case study offers the opportunity to see whether the best practices that come forward, are perceived as factors that have a positive effect on the effectiveness of e-safety education by teachers within the two researched cases. A case study will not provide generalizable conclusions as stated later on, but it helps to test the theories and therefore helps to extent the knowledge of e-safety education and to strengthen or weaken these theories. Furthermore a case study provides very detailed information that can, while noting the limitations, add valuable information to the theory.
A case study is needed when a research project aims at examining a contemporary phenomenon in a real life context (Yin, 2013). Thus within this research the phenomenon of e-safety education is examined within the real life context of primary schools. Conclusions are drawn from a small group of cases (two cases). A multiple-case design fits a research project when the phenomenon is expected to arise within multiple situations. A multiple-case design does fit this research project, since the need for e-safety education applies to all Dutch primary schools.
19 Two cases are selected to make sure the research design fits the bounded time and possibilities of this master thesis. More cases and more interviews would offer even more data, but would not fit the time frame and would therefore not be feasible.
Part of the analyses is a comparison between the two cases. This comparison is made to see whether a connection can be spotted between the perceived effectiveness and the application of different best practices. If one school for instance applies three out of five best practices and perceives their effectiveness as low and the other one applies four out of five best practices and perceives their effectiveness as high, we can conclude that applying less best practices is a possible explanation for the difference in perceived effectiveness and that the school that applies less best practices might benefit from applying all five best practices or at least one more. Using a comparative element within this thesis might improve theory building. It offers the opportunity to have a better overview on situations in which the theory will hold or will not hold (Bryman, 2012). In other words: using a comparative element enables us to see if any differences occur when the setting is changed, since the schools differ in characteristics. Within the two cases teachers are interviewed that educate children between the ages of 9 and 12. We interview teachers who specifically teach this age group because children between 9 and 12 are most likely to become owners of a smartphone. With the possession of a smartphone comes the possibility arises to go online whenever and wherever possible (Livingstone, 2017; 10). Furthermore children within this age frame are more likely to conduct risky behavior and to be harmed by that behavior as well (Martellozzo, 2012).
In The Netherlands children between the ages of 9 and 12 are often, but not always, joined in the ‘bovenbouw’. The teachers that teach at the bovenbouw are often exchanged between different classes of children within the researched age frame from one year to another.
The interviewees are contacted through snowball sampling. Snowball sampling: “A non-probability sample in which the researcher makes initial contact with a small group of people who are relevant to the research topic and then uses these to establish contacts with others (Bryman, 2012: 716).”
The researcher of this project used his own network as a starting point for the snowball. Within his network contains several teachers working at primary schools. These teachers were asked to help search for extra interviewees, thus colleagues or people within their network that are also teaching children between the ages of 9 and 12.
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3.2 Data collection
The data has been collected through qualitative semi-structured interviewing. Since the research is qualitative, it is not a problem for the interviews to go slightly different than planned. If necessary it is possible to ask some additional, spontaneous questions to have a better understanding of what the interviewee is actually saying. Qualitative interviews tend to be more flexible than interviews for quantitative research. The aim of the interview is to get rich, detailed answers to the questions, which also fits the case study design (Bryman, 2012: 470).
Qualitative interviewing is used in research because its ability to show how people´s actions and experiences appear. It enables a researcher to find out how certain phenomena are applied and how something is perceived by the interviewees. Through quantitative interviewing it is not possible to extract how things are done and how things are perceived. Since we are looking for experiences of teachers, qualitative interviewing is an effective way of getting the research question answered (Brinkmann, 2013).
Three types of qualitative interviewing are mentioned by Bryman (2012): unstructured, semi-structured and semi-structured interviewing. Unsemi-structured interviewing is mostly used when the researcher is concerned about the ability of an interview guide to extract the desired data, thus when an interview guide will most likely compromise the world views of members of a social setting or of people sharing common attributes. Structured interviews are mostly used in quantitative research projects or in research projects where more than one person is conducting the interviews. Since this research is qualitative, the interviews are conducted by one person only and since it is important to have some structure in the interviews in order to have the teachers discuss all five best practices, semi-structured interviewing is the most suitable method for this research.
The questions that were asked are all related to the theoretical framework. They were ordered per subject, thus per best practice. “Within deductive research the interview questions will relate to the operationalized variables within the theoretical framework (without using jargon)”, (Thiel, 2015). Therefore the questions needed to be relating to the theory, but contained language that is understandable for people that are not involved in e-safety research. The questions offered a guideline through at least all the best practices and the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education. But, as stated before, since semi-structured interviewing is applied, additional, spontaneous questions were asked during the interviews to make sure all
21 desired data was collected and to make sure the interviewer fully comprehended all statements made.
Interviews were conducted with teachers of two different schools in The Hague. The data gathered through the interviews was used to gain new knowledge about e-safety education and was made to make a comparison between the different schools in the end. But, as already noticed in the conducted interviews: schools do not only differ from each other, but the teachers differ significantly in their perception of effectiveness as well. Both in their e-safety education and in their application of best practices of e-safety education. Thus not only differences between the schools will be highlighted, but differences between teachers´ perceptions will be highlighted as well, should they appear.
The first school that is analysed is school A in The Hague. Within this school three interviews were conducted. This school was selected because the head of the school, Interviewee 1, was motivated to take part in the research. To have the head of the school interviewed is a valuable addition to the research since he is not only a teacher of children between 4 and 12 years old, but he also has a great overview of all the themes that are relevant to this thesis. He is able to share his perceptions on e-safety from his own perspective as a teacher and from the perspectives of other teachers of which he becomes acquainted with his position as headmaster. Interviewee 1 will be interviewed two times. Firstly to have a broad conversation about e-safety education at his school and secondly to discuss the best practices in more detail.
School A provided a second interviewee: interviewee 2. He teaches children of the groups 6 to 8. His pupils are mostly 10 to 12 years old, sometimes 9 years old. He was able to add information to back up the insights of interviewee 1 and was able to elaborate on the perspective of teachers regarding e-safety.
The second school that was chosen to be researched is school B in The Hague. This school was chosen because one of the schools’ teachers, teacher X, was willing to help find interviewees amongst her colleagues and provided a practical way to collect a lot of data for to research. She found three colleagues willing to participate.
The first interviewee of school B is interviewee 3, she teaches group 4. The children in her group are 7,8 and 9 years old. She has a recent history of teaching children in group 5 and 6 those children are between 9 and 11 years old.
22 The second interviewee is interviewee 5, she teaches group 8. The children in group 8 are 11 or 12 years old. Interviewee 5 was interviewed twice to make sure all the best practices were discussed sufficiently.
The third interviewee is interviewee 4, she teaches group 5, which means that she educates children of 8, 9 and 10 years old. She has a recent history of teaching children of 11 and 12 years old as well, while she taught groups 6, 7 and 8 at another primary school.
All teachers were informed on the usage of the data gained. They were told that the information they shared, was about to be used in a master thesis and would be uploaded to an online database. They know that their names are shared with the thesis supervisor and the second reader, but will be anonymized in order to post the thesis on the University’s database. All teachers agreed to these conditions.
3.3 Data analysis
To analyse the data gathered through the qualitative semi-structured interviewing, theory testing process tracing is used. This method is very useful to see whether certain theory driven hypotheses occur or not. Thus, regarding this thesis, whether best practices of e-safety education are perceived as affecting positive factors to the effectiveness of e-safety education by primary school teachers or not. The theory testing process tracing is divided in three steps (Beach and Pedersen, 2011). The first step is conceptualizing, the second step is operationalizing and the last step is collecting evidence.
Firstly the theory is split in concepts, these concepts can be found in the theoretical background. These concepts are the best practices of e-safety education, perceived effectiveness and internet safety. Five hypotheses (best practices) are formed with the use of these concepts.
In the operationalization part of the research, observable manifestations are formed. Thus the concepts that are collected within the theoretical background, are formed into observable manifestations (visible evidence). In other words: a method is formed to measure the perceived effectiveness and the application of different best practices and their effect of the perceived effectiveness.
Lastly the evidence will be collected. As stated before, the evidence, or data, will be collected through semi-structured interviewing. With the use of the observable manifestations the collected evidence will be compared to the hypotheses to see whether and how the concepts arise in the cases that are researched within this thesis.
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3.4 Operationalization
The operationalization is the process in which is explained how different concepts are measured within this thesis. Thus whether certain concepts appear within the cases. The semi-structured interviews will be turned into transcripts and will be coded into different categories structured by concept. Thus the interviews will be separated in parts that help to identify the application of different best practices of e-safety education and whether these best practices are factors that have a positive effect on the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education
The concepts that come forward through the theoretical framework are listed below. With every concept comes an explanation of how the appearance of the best practice will be identified. Thus whether the best practice (concept) is measured in the specific case or not. In other words: below it is explained how we can be certain that different best practices are applied within the schools (cases) that are researched or not. Below every best practice it is explained how it is to be measured whether teachers perceive best practices affecting on the perceived effectiveness of e-safety education.
3.4.1 Perceived effectiveness
The perceived effectiveness indicates whether teachers perceive the e-safety education strategies of their schools as effective. If teachers perceive their strategy as effective, they think that their school is applying the right strategies to teach e-safety lessons.
The perception of the teachers entails the professional point of view of the teachers. Teachers, with their professional experiences are able to judge whether e-safety education, as applied at their school is effective or not.
Fictional example of a perceived effectiveness: The school is, as perceived by the teacher in question, applying the right strategies for e-safety education and is therefore successful in producing the desired outcome.
Fictional example of a teacher that does not perceive the strategy of her school as effective: the school is, as perceived by the teacher involved, not applying the right strategies for e-safety education and is therefore not successful in producing the desired outcome.
3.4.2 Provide self-management
Teachers provide self-management when they teach children to think for themselves to be critical. Key is that teachers help children to judge themselves whether websites are safe to visit
24 instead of prohibiting them to visit certain websites. Thus shortly: providing self-management is stimulating save behaviour instead of prohibiting risky behaviour
Examples of providing self-management: providing in lessons about what fake news is and what reliable news is, providing in lessons about ‘good behaviour’ within WhatsApp groups, enabling children to judge whether they act risky or safe and providing in lessons to guide children with finding reliable sources for their papers.
Examples of not providing self-management: blocking websites that are providing fake news, having the teacher as administrator of the class’ WhatsApp group and blocking Wikipedia.
3.4.3 Note pupil differences
Children differ in their usage of internet. They differ because of their age, their SES, their gender and the involvement of their parents. Teachers who note these differences and make efforts to minimalize the difference between the children are applying this particular best practice.
Examples of noting pupil differences: teaching pupils separately that need some extra attention regarding internet usage, providing extra lessons for pupils that have insufficient internet access at home and trying to adjust e-safety lessons to a level that is understandable for all pupils and not only for pupils with much e-safety knowledge.
Examples of not noting pupil differences: providing e-safety lessons only classical, not providing extra lessons for pupils that have fallen behind and not adjusting the learning material when the level of the pupils is lower or higher than foreseen.
3.4.4 Educators’ digital skills
Teachers should know about the latest developments concerning social media. Therefore schools should educate teachers regarding social media or teachers should conduct self-research.
Examples of educators with digital skills: teachers received digital skills training, teachers have conducted self-research, thus they are active on Facebook themselves for instance and teachers perceive they are well equipped to educate children on e-safety.
Examples of educators with insufficient digital skills: teachers did not receive any digital skills training, teachers are not experienced in using social media sites and did not conduct self-research and teachers perceive they are unequipped for e-safety education.
25 3.4.5 Use school-based social networking sites
School-based social networking sites can help children develop digital skills in a safe manner. It also makes it easier for teachers to have a better overview on children’s communication online.
Examples of school-based social networking sites: the school uses tools that enable children to practice social media behavior with supervision of teachers or organize a Facebook page or WhatsApp group only accessible for classmates, with the teacher being involved.
Examples of not using based social networking sites: schools do not provide any school-based social network environment and do intervene in WhatsApp groups or Facebook pages.
3.4.6 Involve parents
Consistent messages are important to children. Therefore parental involvement is advised. Examples of involving parents: keeping contact with parents, organizing information sessions and training sessions for parents, sending e-safety newsletters and posting information on the school website with tips and tricks regarding e-safety.
Examples of not involving parents: not providing any form of information exchange, not involving parents with personal experiences of pupils and not offering parents any support. Table 2: operationalization and indicators
VARIABLES/INDICATORS POSITIVE INDICATORS NEGATIVE INDICATORS PERCEPTION OF
EFFECTIVENESS
School is successful in
producing the desired e-safety education
school is not successful in producing the desired e-safety education
PROVIDE SELF-MANAGEMENT
Investing in self-defense online Keeping children out of danger
NOTE PUPIL DIFFERENCES
Paying extra attention to individuals when needed
Only providing in classical e-safety lessons
EDUCATORS’ DIGITAL SKILLS
Schools invest in digital skills for teachers
Schools do not invest in digital skills for teachers USE SCHOOL-BASED
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
School provides school-based social networking sites
Schools do not provide school-based social networking sites INVOLVING PARENTS Making efforts to involve,
inform and support parents
Schools and parents having a separate approach to e-safety lessons
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3.5 Validity and reliability
3.5.1 Validity
3.5.1.1 External validity
It is difficult to generalize the findings of this thesis beyond this study. The teachers that are interviewed are all living in The Hague and their perceptions may be not the same as the perceptions of teachers living elsewhere in The Netherlands or in other countries.
Not just the location of the schools influence the results, the characteristics of the schools can also influence how teachers perceive the effectiveness of e-safety education. The schools in this thesis have very different characteristics; one is a Montessori school, the other a public school. It cannot be ruled out that teachers working at schools with such different school systems have different perceptions on the effectiveness of e-safety education.
The number of respondents also makes generalizing difficult. For this thesis two schools are researched, which is probably not enough to capture all perceptions of teachers within a certain area. Therefore it is not possible to generalize results beyond the two schools.
3.5.1.2 Internal validity
For this thesis qualitative interviews are conducted to collect teachers’ perceptions and to research whether different best practices are used and whether these have an effect on the perceived effectiveness. The semi-structured interviews are the best way to gain these perceptions. It is difficult to get a good overview of perceptions via quantitative interviewing (for example surveys) since the teachers would not be able to express their perception in a elaborative manner. Qualitative interviews offer the opportunity to teachers to express their perceptions with much detail and therefore make it easier. Briefly: qualitative semi-structured interviews are the best way to collect perceptions.
3.5.2 Reliability
With semi-structured qualitative interviewing it is difficult to conduct the interview a second time while collecting the same data. One of the characteristics of semi-structured interviewing is spontaneity. Part of the interview is structured, and for this structured part, comparable answers can be expected. But for the part that is spontaneous and not following the interview guide, one cannot expect comparable data when conducting the interviews for a second time.
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4 Analysis
In this chapter we are going to see whether the best practices are used by the teachers interviewed and whether these best practices of e-safety education are perceived as effective or not. The analyses will be divided into five sub-chapters. Every sub-chapter features one of the five best practices. Every best practice will be analyzed using both the data of case 1 ( School A) and case 2 (School B ). These two cases will firstly be analyzed separately but the outcomes of the analysis will later be combined to make a comparison.
4.1 School A
4.1.1 Perceived effectiveness
Interviewee 1 of school A (personal communication, November 19th 2018) perceives his schools e-safety strategy as effective. He explains that he is helping children explore the possibilities of the internet and he shows children the risks of the internet. If a situations appears that is exceptional and requires spontaneous action, then he will come to the rescue and he will use the situation as a case later on to teach other children a lesson as well.
Interviewee 1 states that this strategy ensures him that he is capable of reacting to every situation that arises at his school. He thinks that by executing this strategy of both showing the plus sides and the down sides of the internet and improvising when needed, is an effective strategy and he is satisfied with the outcome.
Interviewee 2 agrees with interviewee 1 but adds that it is rather difficult to measure effectiveness. But he states that the effectiveness is visible since he does not experience any, or at least few, internet related problems. “I think that the e-safety strategy we use is sufficient to counter internet problems, but it is hard to measure” (personal communication, November 16th 2018).
Both interviewee’s from school A state that they perceive their e-safety education as effective. 4.1.2 Provide self-management
This chapter will highlight whether the schools use strategies that encourage self-management of pupils regarding e-safety. Using the data collected during interviews with teachers of both schools, we will analyze whether the teachers apply strategies that encourage self-management or not and why they are using it or not.
28 As stated in the indicators chapter, teachers apply self-management strategies if they invest in self-defense. Investments in firewalls and other protection instruments indicates that teachers are not using self-management strategies.
One of the key elements of Montessori education is creating an inner voice within the children. Interviewee 1 of school A (personal communication, April 10th 2018) explains that the school tries help children make wise decisions. He thinks that it is not possible for teachers to orchestrate the internet behavior of children. It is still possible for children to watch pornography or ISIL beheadings if they want to. Interviewee 1 perceives that it is both impossible and unwanted to prevent this behavior. This already indicates that the school implements self-management strategies for e-safety education. It indicates as well that Interviewee 1 perceives self-management as the best way forward regarding e-safety education. Shortly his strategy enables children to make their own choices, because they are able of breaking all possible rules when they want to, since it is not possible to control children’s internet usage.
The school does not want to have a firewall. Interviewee 1 considers having a firewall the beginning of the end. He states that some children are sometimes exploring the internet in an unsafe manner, but he does not really mind. He will have a word with the children if needed, but he thinks that children will still act similarly if they want to. Interviewee 1 hopes that he is able to teach children to make smart choices on critical moments (Personal communication, October 5th 2018). Not using a firewall indicates that the school does not want to protect children from the dangers of the internet, but the schools wants children to learn for themselves whether it is wise to visit certain websites or not. This proves that Interviewee 1 does encourage self-management.
At school A the teachers are trying to create critical thinking without blocking certain websites by installing firewalls. Interviewee 1 explains that the school tries to educate the children in how they should position themselves on social media: “We try to explain to the children that it could be problematic to share social media passwords with friends and to share photos with friends. Because one day the friendship might end and that might become tricky. We try to create awareness about the dangers of sharing information and hope to create critical thinking”, (personal communication, April 10th 2018). Interviewee 1 is thus trying to stimulate critical thinking rather than blocking ‘wrong behavior’. He does not lockout the risks, but he offers children knowledge in order to be able to assess risks themselves.
29 Sometimes children need some assistance in putting their knowledge into practice. According to Interviewee 1 most of the children already know what sort of information is dangerous to share. But they need some guidance to understand that sharing a photo for instance, sometimes means sharing more than only a photo. By guiding children with using social media, Interviewee 1 stimulates safe usage of social media, without trying to scare them. “Some people share on Facebook that they are on holiday and are surprised to come home to an empty house. The children might say: people are so stupid to do so. But they do not realize that they share that sort of information themselves when they post a photo while on vacation with their parents”, (Personal communication, October 5th 2018).
The education strategy of Interviewee 2, teacher of group 6, 7 and 8 (bovenbouw) at School A is similar to the strategy of Interviewee 1. He explains that he tries to create some awareness by stimulating critical thinking during his lessons, which indicates that the school tries to help children with making decisions of their own. He says that he does not educate on social behavior online in particular. But he tries to teach children what kind of behavior is desired. “I think that it is inherent to Montessori schooling to teach children how to be a good citizen. That whole subject is mentioned regularly. We treat the online world in a similar way to the offline world. We always involve both worlds in our education. If there is a situation that needs to be mentioned in class, then we will mention it. We just encourage desired behavior”, (personal communication, April 13th 2018).
Interviewee 2 tries to discuss in class what is considered to be appropriate behavior when a situation occurs. He does this by performing a role play. By doing so he tries to teach children how to behave in a social online environment and stimulates interactions between children. He presents a case and shows children examples of real life situations and asks them how they would react (personal communication, April 13th 2018). The practice of role play indicates that the school makes an effort to help children manage real life situations, by practicing them in class.
Interviewee 2 agrees with Palfrey (2010) that scare tactics should not be applied. He thinks that children should not learn that the internet is dangerous without the indications that it is. He thinks that children should only be educated on dangers when they are likely to face them. But we should not give children more information then they need or try to scare them of dangers they are not immediately facing”, (personal communication, April 13th 2018).
30 As this chapter shows clear indications are found that the school applies self-management in order to achieve higher effectiveness of e-safety education. It is therefore likely that the best practice of self-management has an effect on the perceived effectiveness of the teachers of school A.
4.1.3 Note pupils differences
In this chapter we will analyze whether the schools note the differences between children during their education on e-safety. Children might differ in age, SES, gender and parental involvement. These differences may influence their learning curve.
When teachers note the differences between their pupils, they will make efforts to minimalize these differences. If they do not note the differences, they will provide e-safety education without making efforts to help children that are falling behind or to offer extra challenges to children that already gained sufficient skills and knowledge.
Interviewee 1, principal of School A notes differences between children. He perceives that some children are already searching for adult content online, whilst others do not. “This difference between children demands a different approach,” (personal communication, April 10th 2018). At School A the differences between children appear partly because the school combines groups 6, 7 and 8 in a single class. This means that the children in one class are aged 9, 10, 11 and 12. Some older children might therefore have more experience and knowledge of the online world than younger classmates, as Interviewee 1 explains: “It is important to think carefully about when to start educating on certain possibilities the internet provides. If we start at the end of the year, the youngest children have probably gained some more knowledge. But what we usually try to do is have the older children take some responsibility for the younger ones. We say to them: if you see something that is not going well, inform your teacher,” (personal communication, April 10th 2018). By adjusting the moment to start with e-safety education, school A is noting the differences between children and classes. The school tries to minimize the differences by having children help each other when needed as well.
Despite the differences between pupils, School A offers the same internet education to all children. “We offer all children a similar package of information, some children turn out to be quick learners while others will need more time. Some children are internet savvy and we cannot offer them much more to learn. They might be able to educate us on possibilities of the internet”, (personal communication, October 5th 2018).
31 To keep stimulating these children to develop themselves, Interviewee 1 tries to give them some new challenges. Interviewee 1 perceives that children do not take him seriously if he offers them simple assignments. He needs to adjust his strategy to include all children. He perceives that it is challenging to challenge all children since some are already experienced in programming and other IT-possibilities. Interviewee 1 tries to use this experience of the children in his advantage by having the experienced children share their knowledge with other pupils. “But I need to be careful with that, I still need to feed the development needs of each child. Otherwise I might be limiting them, maybe I am already limiting some of them every now and then, but that is just how things are”, (personal communication, October 5th 2018). Interviewee 1 thinks that he is not able to offer every child a challenge and therefore thinks that children that are very experienced should try to challenge themselves outside the school. Thus Interviewee 1 notes the differences between pupils and makes an effort to minimize them. But he claims that it is not always possible to keep challenging pupils when they are already very experienced.
According to Interviewee 1, all children that enter his school already have digital skills to a certain degree. “No child enters without any knowledge, they all have certain capabilities. Sometimes it surprises me that children from low income families still know how to use an iPad,” (personal communication, October 5th 2018). This indicates that according to the experiences of interviewee 1 children from lower income families still have internet skills and that income does not have a significant effect on differences between children as perceived by interviewee 1.
When a child does not have enough skills to keep up with other children, Interviewee 1 lends them a hand and tries to help them where necessary. He states that no child will leave his school without sufficient digital skills. “That is no longer an option nowadays. All the computers we use in this school have programs to help children with fewer skills. The children in my school are all quite skilled,” (personal commination, October 5th 2018). Interviewee 1 indicates that the differences between his pupils are not forming a problem, but still he claims that he helps children when they are falling behind.
Interviewee 2, teacher of the bovenbouw of School A takes pupils differences into account too. He says that he constantly considers whether it is best to educate matters using a classical approach or an individual approach. Thus if he is educating on a subject of which the knowledge of children differs a lot, he might choose to discuss it in an individual setting. Furthermore he states that it is important not to forget that the children have significant differences in
