Journal of Educational Practice and Research

School Counselor’s Guidance Strategies for Bullying Victims in Middle Schools: A Multidimensional Rasch Model Approach

Kuan-Ming Chen & Li-Ming Chen*

The need for school counselor intervention is crucial for victims of bullying. However, fews studies focus on guidance strategies used by school counselors. The present study aims to explore the frequency and perceived effectiveness of various guidance strategies from the perspective of school counselors. A total of 164 school counselors from northern, central, southern, and eastern Taiwan participated in the study by completing the paper surveys, while 53 school counselors completed online surveys. The results of multidimensional Rasch analysis identified: seven common and effective strategies, including learning to seek help, using body language, expressing thoughts and feelings, discussing problems, and recognizing and accepting emotions; five common yet ineffective strategies, including understanding the impact of bullying, practicing communication skills, maintaining physical boundaries, saying “no” to bullies, and focusing on the present; seven rare but effective strategies, including understanding definition and causes of bullying, empathic listening, staying calm, speaking assertively, recognizing behavioral pattern, and progressive muscle relaxation; six rare and ineffective strategies, such as identifying types of bullying, maintaining suitable posture, setting counseling goals, strategizng against bullying, exploring new approaches to handling bullying, and cognitive regulation. These results contribute to the evaluation of the effectiveness of different guidance strategies. For practical application, it is recommended that councelors remain conscious of their intentions and actions, tailoring their approach based on the needs of the victim. Counselors can refer to the results of this research to adapt and apply various strategies flexibly.

Experience of an Elementary School Teacher’s Inner Journey in Implementing a School as a Learning Community through Hermeneutic Phenomenology

Ming-Yi Wang*

This study examines the challenges and experiences an elementary school teacher encountered while implementing the concept of school as a learning community. In this study, teaching scenes and the inner journey were analyzed and inspected with the approach of hermeneutic phenomenology.

The teacher’s inner journey unfolded through several phases: “Self-awareness: Silence before dawn, prelude to the transformation of teachingˮ, “Awareness: The first light of morning, deciding the path towards the school as learning communityˮ, “Awareness: The first light of dawn, ‘experiencing’ the school as school as learning communityˮ, “Awakening: The morning glow filling the sky, the change of the teacher’s beliefs”, and “Enlightenment: The sunrise in the east, implementing theories related to school as a learning community.ˮ

Throughout this study, the researcher shows how she became acquainted with the concept of school as a learning community, observed teaching scenes in Japan, and integrated the key events into her own teaching practice. The process of adopting the school as a learning community concept was documented through self-narration from a holistic to a detailed content perspective. The composition of categories and content, along with reflection on pivotal events, was achieved through the analyzation of hermeneutic phenomenology.

The researcher’s goal was to leverage narrative accounts of stories and experiences from teacher-student interactions to guide elementary school teachers toward becoming listeners during teacher-student co-learning, bridges for student-teacher collaborative learning, learners through self-reflection, and organizers of cooperative learning among students. This approach aims to provide elementary school teachers with effective suggestions for future student-teacher interactions in the classroom.

Reflective Insights and Future Directions in Mindfulness Education in Taiwan: A Comparative Study of the Buddhist “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” and Kabat-Zinn’s Practices

Fa-Zhao Shi*& An Kang

Since its inception by Dr. Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has led to various mindfulness interventions and gained positive feedback in many fields. This paper extracts the shared mindfulness mechanisms emphasized by Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR and the Buddhist “Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” assesses their applicability to mindfulness education, and compares their differences in objectives and skills, serving as a reference for the future development of mindfulness education in Taiwan. The study finds that mindfulness education in Taiwan mainly follows Kabat-Zinn’s guidance, focusing on basic practices of “body, feelings, and mind,” with less involvement in higher-level psychological insights. In the aspect of “dharmas,” Kabat-Zinn incorporated Zen concepts, a practice that has seen limited attention and utilization in Taiwan, which also rarely addresses goal-oriented elements. This paper suggests that mindfulness education in Taiwan should emphasize the guidance of “impermanence and non-self” and the systematic thinking of “dharmas,” striving to present these concepts in accessible language to mitigate concerns over religiosity. To enhance mindfulness education in Taiwan, two key areas should be addressed: first, the scope of mindfulness research and practice should expand to include “higher-level psychological qualities”; second, government authorities should consolidate resources to establish a mindfulness research and teacher training center, aiming to develop a comprehensive and practical pedagogical framework. Only with solid academic research and institutional support can mindfulness education in Taiwan be truly strengthened, thereby enhancing public well-being and promoting holistic development.

A Preliminary Study on p-Hacking in Quantitative Educational Research: Definitions, Impacts, and Preventions

Chien Chou*& Jiun-Yu Wu

In the 1920s, the statistician Ronald Fisher introduced a statistical theory system based on probability calculations and evaluations. Fisher coined the term “p-value” to denote the probability of observing the obtained results, assuming that the independent variable is not influenced or manipulated. This calculation helps evaluate the likelihood of such results within the research context. Later, Neyman and Pearson proposed the concepts of null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis, advocating for the inclusion of both in the hypothesis testing. While the two approaches to testing statistical hypotheses were different, these approaches were later integrated into what is now known as null hypothesis significance testing, with the p-value as a standardized measure for statistical analysis. In recent years, however, the academic community has identified a concerning trend known as “p-hacking,” where researchers misuse or abuse data analysis to achieve misleading statistical significance. Then, researchers claim to have speciously successful experiments and publish the implausible research results in journals. This paper focuses on p-hacking within quantitative educational research, exploring its origins, definition, technique, impact, and how journals prevent the manipulation of p-hacking. Finally, this paper reinstates the correct perception of p-value with recommendations for preventing p-hacking, including providing evidence of practical significance while presenting statistical significance, ensuring replicability of research results, stating the structure and details of statistical analysis, and judicious selection of appropriate analytical techniques.