| In the past decade, violence in schools has dramatically increased. The prevalence of bullying behaviors and emotional abuse has been very high (Orpinas, Home, & Staniszewski, 2003). Approximately 160,000 students stay home from school each day because they are afraid of being bullied (Vail, 1999). Research (Crawford, 2002; Limber & Nation, 1998) has shown that cooperative learning strategies are the most effective means of diffusing the bullying cycle and creating a safer learning environment. However, many teachers are not incorporating cooperative learning into the curriculum for the purpose of alleviating bullying.;Therefore, the purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the impact of cooperative learning skills on the bullying behaviors of fifth-grade students within three Catholic elementary school classrooms in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, (b) to explore how three fifth grade teachers within the Archdiocese of San Francisco incorporated the instruction of interpersonal skills into cooperative learning strategies, and (c) to examine the perception of fifth grade teachers and students within three schools in the Archdiocese of San Francisco on bullying behaviors.;In this qualitative study, the researcher observed students and teachers for 10 consecutive school days at each site. The researcher also interviewed each teacher, and conducted two focus group interviews with students at each school.;Two of the teachers postulated that name-calling and cruel criticism occurred most frequently, but researcher observation determined that physical contact was the most prevalent bullying behavior. The third teacher perceived that the only bullying behavior was physical contact; observations revealed that taking of property and cruel criticism occurred frequently as well. The teachers were fairly equal in their implementation of interpersonal skills into their curricula. Of the observed skills, working for a common goal, staying with the group, and using eye contact occurred most often while encouraging, disagreeing without criticism, and caring for one another occurred less frequently.;Two teachers recognized that cooperative learning had an effect on bullying. However, one teacher believed that cooperative learning was helpful in how students dealt with bullying situations but did not cause the bullying to stop. Overall, the students perceived that there was a positive effect of cooperative learning on bullying behaviors. |
