Interview Transcript – A Teacher’s Observations of Child Oppression An interview was conducted with “Ms. D,” a female, fifth-grade, veteran elementary school classroom teacher in preparation for an action research project on school bullying. The research team interviewed fourth- and fifth-grade teachers at a lower middle-class suburban school site to learn about forms of oppression they saw and heard most often among their children. As a coding and analysis exercise, review the transcript excerpt several times to become acquainted with the contents. Make jottings about passages that strike you and pre-code your initial work. Then separate the interview transcript into stanzas. Determine the most appropriate coding method(s) for the transcript to help examine the pre-action research question: What are the forms of child oppression? Also compose an analytic memo that brainstorms the types of strategies that might be taken by an action research team to lessen the amount of child oppression in a school setting. * * * I: How do children in your classroom oppress each other? MS. D: Well, they 1call each other names. I: Like, what kinds of names? MS. D: 2Oh, we’ve got a little girl in here, she looks different and she acts different, so they’ll make up some name that they call her. 3They, um, it’s the same kid, it seems like every year there’s one kid that gets picked on more than somebody else, because they’re different, because they might look different, they might act different. 4Say, for instance, she will say something or she gets very excited about something, they’ll tell her to “Sit down,” “Be quiet,” “Stop doing this,” they’re like on her case all the time.5 Then you’ve got another kid in here who, well he loses control of himself, and so he blurts stuff out or yells out, and the kids will turn around and yell back at him. And out on the playground they do tend to sometimes get pushy-shovy kinda stuff. 6Like with her [pointing to a desk] I’ve watched them actually walk by this little girl and purposely bump into her or something like that, but then even though you’re watching them, the kid’ll turn around and say, “Well, I didn’t do that” after you confront him. 7And it’s not everybody, it’s just a few, and it’s a few that have behavior problems that seek attention, and they don’t know how to get attention any other way besides a negative way. I: How do the students deal with these conflicts? MS. D: 8They come to me right away to tell me, so then I have to deal with it. I’ve told them to do it that way. 9I don’t want them taking means into their own hands, ’cause if they do then they’re causing more problems than, because they tend to get physical or it’s a taunting kind of thing that will take place all over the place. 10So if they come to me right away then I can deal with just the two people it involves and that way it doesn’t tend to get blown out of proportion. It stays right there rather than getting other kids involved in the situation. I: What kinds of oppressions might your students deal with in their home environment? MS. D: Oh, jeez. 11There’s some sad cases here. There’s this one boy who seeks attention because his mother is a drunken alcoholic. 12The mom says he’s her best buddy and works hard to get him what he wants. He’s had to meet with the school counselor. 13There was another girl who was taken away from a bad family situation in Philadelphia because of physical and verbal abuse, her mother was into witchcraft. She moved to live with some relatives here but the home situation here isn’t safe either, so the police had to be called in. But she seems to be settling in now. Her mom’s moved down here but the girl’s slowly evolving into one of the neighborhood kids. She’s the one they pick on a lot because she is a little different, but she’s had different experiences than a lot of kids, too. I: What kinds of differences do kids tend to target? MS. D: 14With this one student the kids seem to zero in because she did look different, and she … I: Clothing-wise? MS. D:15 No, just physically, she, she just, and she acted kind of strange, she would just rock back and forth in her chair, that this was a thing of the abuse, that kind of thing. 16And one of the girls said, “Stop it, stop it!” and I would have to go over to her and just put my hands on her, “Don’t do that now,” that kind of thing, and we had to have her meet with the school nurse.17And she’s the type of kid who thinks she knows everything, so that was another thing that bugged the kids, that she would, and yet she does know a lot, but they just didn’t like it, that it was her. 18You know, once they had this idea that something’s wrong with them, or they don’t like them, then when they start to interact with the kids and the kids kind of, they’re not accepting. 19But most of the other kids in this room have been together for years, so she’s brand new, the other kid with problems is brand new, and so it’s the ones, they’re kind of not fitting in because they weren’t with this group as they moved on through school. I: Like a newcomer? MS. D: 20Uh-huh, I think it is like a newcomer thing. It’s basically the new ones. 21These two new ones were pretty outgoing and were put down by the others, but another newcomer moved quietly and she was easily accepted because she didn’t stand out. 22There’s another boy who’s obnoxious and the class gets upset with him. 23The kids pick up on attitude. Their whole thing is attention: how can I get attention and bring it to myself? Acting goofy or silly is a big thing, and some of the kids’ll say, “Oh, stop acting like that.” CODES THEMES Call each other names 1…………………… Looks different and acts different Same kid, Every year there is one kid, They are different she say something, Tell her to stop, Tell her to sit down, On her case all the time Another kid, Loses control,…………………………………. Kids turn around on him Purposely bump into her something,………….. Refuses the doing Not everybody, Behavior problem,……………………………. Negative way They come to me,……………………………... I have to deal with I don’t want them to take means into their hands, Causing more problem,……………………….. They tend to get physical They come to me,……………………………... Deal with two people involved,………………. Other kids not involved One boy seeks attention, His mother is a drunken………………………. His work hard to get what he wants………….. Another girl, Taken from bad situation, Was physical and verbal abuse, Moved to relative, Not safe, She is one picked because she is little, Had different experience She did look different Just physical One girl stops it, I would have to go over to her They didn’t just like it They had idea that something is wrong, Start interact, They are not accepted She is brand new, Other kid with problem is brand new, Not fitting because were not with group Like newcomers Two newcomers were pretty outgoing Another boy upsets class He pick up attitude Get attention Bullying/teasing Short tempered provoking rude mediation responsible responsible mediation responsible responsible/hardworking