Content analysis of documents evaluating behaviour of children in re-education centre 1. What is the name of the document for evaluating children? 2. What aim is the document to fulfil? 3. What is the extent and the year of the document's update? 4. How is the text of the document structured?
Research sample and method The basic research sample consisted of 13 internal documents of state special educational facilities – re-education centres. The documents were sent by the directors of the re-education centres upon telephone request. The collection of documents was preceded by a search for documents on the facilities' websites. In one centre, it was publicly available in the same wording as it was sent. One facility presented it in full as part of its school rules. The directors of some facilities (N=4) did not wish the document to be published and the re-education centre to be assigned to it. For this reason, we do not state the specific locations of the re-education centres. The designation of the re-education centres 1 to 13 in the table is random. The collection of documents took place from September 2019 to February 2020. The research method chosen was the content analysis of written documents, which has a qualitative and quantitative aspect of the descriptive description of the thirteen internal evaluation systems of the re-education centres, which are analysed by means of formal characteristics. Each of the thirteen documents was studied in the context of the research aim and the research questions. The description of the documents is described and made clear in a table. Results The following part of the study aims to present the results of the analysis of the documents that evaluate children's behaviour in re-education facilities and to compare them with one another. Attention is paid to the formal characteristics of the documents, which are the name, the aim of the document – or rather what the respondents pursue with the document – its extent, validity and text structure. Formal characteristics of the documents Our study describes and analyses thirteen documents whose purpose is to declare in written form the evaluation of children's behaviour in re-education conditions. The document is part of the internal regulations. Its compilers are the centre's pedagogical council. After approval by the council, the document becomes binding for all employees as well as children. The collected data were incorporated into a table. The first research question was to analyse the name of the document for evaluating children. The name of the document was defined on the opening page of the document; it was highlighted in bold and large type. The document had various names. Most often, i.e. in nine centres, the document name Evaluation System (evaluation of pupils, internal evaluation system, evaluation rules) was used. The evaluation system contained further sub-names, Scoring System (scoring rules, point evaluation system), which was defined as a sub-name. In two centres, the document was named Disciplinary Rules. In one centre the disciplinary rules were part of the scoring rules, and in another part of the evaluation system. In one facility the name is a combination of the names Evaluation of Pupils, Disciplinary and Scoring Rules. The names of the documents used key words, which were: system, evaluation, scoring, discipline, rules. The second research question: What aim is the document to fulfil? The criterion was the occurrence of the word aim, or rather purpose. We did not record multiple occurrences of this word in the texts. Of the thirteen documents, in two we did not analyse the word aim either in the introduction or in the text. In the others, we found it at the beginning of the document, or in the point evaluation section. The aim is an expression of what the document is to fulfil, what purpose is to be achieved by it. In the understanding of the compilers, the document is a motivator, is a condition for managing the learning process, for implementing rewards and punishments, it sets the boundaries of behaviour, monitors the success of the application of re-education and corrective procedures, has a normative form, and objectivises evaluation. The specification of the aim in relation to the child is expressed in six documents as the improvement of self-reflection, self-control, responsibility, conscious discipline, respect for work, self-criticism, activity, and the elimination of negative norms in behaviour. The definition of the aim in relation to the group of children is expressed in the words: it determines the manner of coexistence, leads to healthy competitiveness, to appropriate communication, creates conditions for collective life, and sets the boundaries of coexistence. An aim defined in this way was given in four documents. What is the extent and the year of the document's update? For this research question we first sought an answer in the documents. Of the 13, the information on the update was given in four documents. We searched for the document's update via the websites of the re-education centres in the school rules, and we analysed the information in three sets of rules. If this information was not available, we contacted the centre's management by telephone. However, we were not always successful. In these three cases we indicate the validity of the document with the number 0. In one case each, the document was one updated since the year 2013, 2014. Since 2017, 4 documents were updated, and in 4 re-education centres the documents were updated in 2019. The extent of the documents ranged from 6 pages to 30 pages. In two cases we found the full wording of the document on the facilities' websites, as part of the school rules. For this reason, the numbers of the text's division are authentic (re-education centre under number 11 and 13). With the fourth research question we wanted to find out how the text of the document is structured. Headings and some paragraphs were highlighted in bold. The documents in each re-education centre have their own unique extent and differently structured text. The document of the first re-education centre, in its introduction, delimited and defined the basic concept – the scoring system – and named the abbreviations that were used in the document, such as re-education centre, pupils' council, semi-open group of pupils, open group of pupils, education outside teaching, individual re-education programme and educational group. In this it differed from the other documents. In two documents, the rights and obligations of children are stated in the introduction. In 12 documents, the scoring system is also part of the evaluation. In their introduction there is a methodological guideline for awarding points for behaviour. These points are sorted into the school section and the extracurricular activity (education) section. The points are sorted into average, above-average and below-average (minor offences, serious offences, most serious offences). For the number of points obtained, forms of rewards, or rather punishments, are defined. In the point systems, the possibility of obtaining an extraordinary reward is stated. On the basis of points, in four documents the possibility of being placed into a group is also stated. Possibilities of placing children into groups:
- Pupils' council, semi-open group, open group;
- Group a+, group a, group b, group c, group d;
- Adaptation level (first), second level, third level;
- Gold band, yellow band, green band, red band, black band.
In one document, a separate section is devoted to the unauthorised violation of the stay. In two documents, the conclusion states the rules for the use of one's own clothing and the overall appearance that is tolerated in the re-education centre. Given the various structures of the documents, we may say that in the evaluation systems of the documents we find the line: aim, or rather purpose, the methodological procedure for evaluating behaviour in the school and extracurricular activity sections, forms of point evaluation, rewards, punishments, placement into a group according to the points obtained, special educational measures (use of one's own clothing, appearance, characteristics of running away). A comparison of the formal characteristics of the documents evaluating children's behaviour in the thirteen re-education centres is clearly summarised in the following table Formal characteristics of the document (PDF, 630 kB). Conclusion The presented study aims to show the basic parameters of the document on the evaluation of children's behaviour in the re-education centre. The analysis of the documents showed that the document for the evaluation of behaviour has various formal forms. Despite the diversity of the division of the text, we find common features. It is a document evaluating children's behaviour in the re-education centre, which uses a combined form of evaluation, such as verbal and point evaluation. The text of the document defines the procedure and manner of evaluating positive and inappropriate behaviour, represented in positive or minus points. Part of the document may be the statement of the rights and obligations of children and the particularities of evaluation. The diversity of the defined aims may predict the importance of the requirements placed on the target group of children. This assertion of ours requires further investigation. From the analysis we state that the aims are directed mostly at the document itself, less at the target group, namely at the individual or the group. The topicality of the document may indicate to us when the last modification of the content of the evaluation system was carried out by the pedagogical council of the re-education centre. In all cases, the special educators had freedom in compiling the evaluation system. We conclude that such freedom will place emphasis on the expertise of the document's creators and their flexibility in responding to the composition of the target group of children. On the basis of what we have learned, we propose a basic formal line of the evaluation system for a verbal-point system of behaviour evaluation. Definition of the aim (what is to be achieved by evaluating the child's behaviour) – the methodological procedure for evaluating behaviour in the defined social sections (school, education, behaviour at night, holidays) – point evaluation – forms of rewards, punishments (extraordinary rewards) – the methodological procedure for placement into a group – special measures (rights and obligations of the child, evaluation of behaviour in isolation, in the protective room, during a stay outside the centre) – the date of approval of the document by the pedagogical council. The established line of the document's text is intended to contribute to the discussion on the quality of the intervention provided to children who are placed in a special educational facility. Author: Mgr. 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