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Understanding School Change to Facilitate Prevention: A Study of Change in a Secondary School

Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
September 1994

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the benefits of employing grounded theory in facilitating primary prevention in schools. In order to do this, we review the main tenets of grounded theory, illustrate how its methodology works, and offer a research example of its application to the study of school change. The research example describes an investigation of the dynamics of change within a high school as perceived by members of the school's community. The information gathered from interview/focus group participants was combined with the work of a school-based committee and the relevant literature to generate a grounded theory of successful school change. The theory integrates a number of factors under three superordinate categories of school change: (a) community ownership, (b) attention to human factors, and (c) proper implementation.

Résumé

Le but principal de cet article est de rendre compte des avantages d'utiliser la théorie ancrée (grounded theory) pour étudier les facteurs facilitant la prévention primaire dans les écoles. Pour ce faire, nous évaluons les principaux éléments de la théorie ancrée, illustrons comment fonctionne cette méthodologie et en présentons une application dans l'étude du changement è l'école. L'exemple de recherche choisi est une étude sur la dynamique de changement produit dans une école secondaire, tel que perçu par les membres de la communauté scolaire. L'information recueillie par des entrevues et des groupes centrés (focus group), les résultats du travail d'un comité d'école, et une revue de la littérature pertinente permettent de générer une «théorie ancrée» du changement scolaire réussi. La théorie repose sur un certain nombre de facteurs regroupés sous trois catégories centrales relatives au changement scolaire: (a) l'appropriation communautaire, (b) le respect des facteurs humains, et (c) un processus d'implantation adéquat.

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cover image Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 13Number 2September 1994
Pages: 127 - 143

History

Version of record online: 4 May 2009

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Leslea Peirson
Wilfrid Laurier University
Isaac Prilleltensky
Wilfrid Laurier University

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