Developing social responsibility in middle school students

Abstract

An exploratory methods design was used to investigate the strategies used and barriers encountered as reported by middle school teachers when developing social responsibility with their students. Participating teachers (N=11) at three middle schools in one school district provided this information by filling out an open-ended questionnaire. Results were analyzed for common themes. As reported by the teachers, the top three strategies being used were classroom discussions, helping charitable or community groups and modelling of socially responsible behaviour by the teacher. The top three barriers reported by these teachers were student attitudes, parent attitudes, and time and resources. The findings of this study act as a resource for teachers who are motivated to develop socially responsible young adults and as a springboard for more indepth research into the use of social responsibility strategies in the classroom.