Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

EDUC 4213
Peer, Relationships and Health
Case Study - John

Dear Principal,

Hello, I am Johns’ new teacher this year and just wanted to introduce myself and the teaching
strategies that I am proposing to use within this coming year. These will be used in order to
improve Johns’ peer relationships and learning outcomes. I will be teaching John in a year 4/5
class this year, which will focus a lot on individual needs of each child and ways they can express
themselves through learning in order for it to be more engaging and motivating. I am currently
well educated on behaviour management, literacy, information technology and emotional
disadvantage as well as my major focus being educating Aboriginal students.

This year, I have an interest in one student specifically, John. He is in year 5 and has struggled
with many challenges both mentally and physically throughout his life. Being aware of these
challenges, I am motivated to help John and find new approaches and techniques that will help
him grow as a person and change his perspective on learning. John is of Aboriginal background,
and is from a family that is disjointed, which has a major impact on not only his home life but
his school. Due to John’s reaction when finding out he was placed in my class, I am worried that
this will impact his learning environment negatively, therefore I will use different teaching
strategies to change this perspective.

John faces many issues throughout his life; such as attachment, gender differences, friendships:
acceptance and rejection, social skills and social competence, the self and resilience, loneliness
and shyness, conformity and non-compliance: peer pressure and influence, aggression, child and
youth suicide and improving peer relationships plus many more issues that affects Johns ability
to grow as not only a student, but a person too. However, I will only be outlining and discussing
four of these key areas for the focus of this report. This includes attachment, aggression,
friendships: acceptance and rejection and conformity and non-compliance in relation to peer
pressure and peer influences. These key areas were chosen due to the high relevance to Johns
 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

needs in relation to schooling and learning which will receive a positive outcome of growth for
John.

Due to Johns culture, I will integrate this into the majority and forefront of my teaching in order
to connect Johns personal life to his learning within the classroom.

Attachment

There are numerous different definitions of attachment that shows the importance it has on
child development, however, Main, Hesse and Hesse (2011, p. 437) defines attachment as a bond
that an individual has to another individual which connects them through time and space.
Attachment begins in the early years of life, around infancy and continues to develop throughout
adolescence becoming more challenging as relationships continue to change and adapt (Dwyer
2005, p. 156). John does have a strong connection to his family however, due to the complexity
of the relationships he has with family members, his got different attachment styles with
different members.

As I mentioned above, John is an Aboriginal student which means that there are a number of
attachment difficulties. Yeo (2003, p. 292) supports the idea that attachment is to do with the
bonding that is shared between a child and their parent as well as studies the attachment that
Aboriginal children face. Aboriginals have a strong connection to their land and their relationships
with family and their community (Behrendt 1995, p. 15), therefore, their attachment to family and
the community varies due to western culture. Aboriginals are often cared for by multiple
individuals. (Yeo 2003, p. 299), which differs to the western culture where children are cared for
by immediate family, mother and fathers during infancy years.

Due to John’s mother Carol, being his primary caregiver and being a key figure in his life, I will
discuss his attachment towards her in further in-depth than others. There are three categories
of attachment that falls under the ‘strange situation’ that have crucial importance to the
attachment of young children (Ainsworth 1979, p. 932), This includes secure, avoidant and
ambivalent. These categories have been understood by Ainsworth and her assessments. Through
understanding John and his relationship with Carol, it has been made evident that he has an
insecure attachment, however this does not fall into the outlined categories mentioned above.
The classification that this attachment style falls under is disorganised, which was developed by
 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

Main and Solomon (1986, p. 932) as an additional classification for those that do not for any of
the classifications of Ainsworth’s types of attachment. I believe John falls under this category
due to his aggressive behavioural issues, as this portrays the same characteristics as a
disorganised attachment. John lacks the needs for safety and security due to being a witness to
domestic violence within his household, which has a major influence in the disorganised
attachment to his mother.

Carol is a constant figure throughout John life which has caused many negative circumstances
for John in regards to his attachment issues. This is because Carol is a local drug dealer meaning
he may constantly have people going in and out of his home. She is in a relationship where
domestic violence puts not only her but John at risk. This however, does suggest that at times
Carol may have a secure attachment to John. When John was three he and his brother were
both taken by Family Services, which meant he was taken away from his mother. Allen at al.
(2005, p. 64) states that separation from an attachment figure in threatening environment can
cause a unexpected distress, anxiety and or fear. This traumatic event in Johns life could have
influenced his possessive and controlling behaviour towards his mother, for reassurance that his
mother will not leave again.

As John is my student, I will make it my goal to ensure that he is building secure attachments
therefore, as John’s teacher, I will use their experiences to help In moving forward towards a
secure attachment. I will give Carol the opportunity to work with the school community to help in
building a greater attachment that is safe and secure for John. For example creating a school
newsletter or organising workshops.

Aggression

Lochman et al. (2012, p. 27) defines aggression as an act that is designed to be harmful to
others, it has the goal purpose of harming others emotionally, verbally or physically, this is not a
new phenomenon. The world is changing, and it has changed dramatically in the last few years in
regards to how we as teachers handle aggression. Alvarez (2007, p. 1113) states, that in average 5-
10% of children show some form of aggression and within today’s society, media is becoming an
increasing concern for the behaviour of children. The games they play, peer influences, the way
 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

they communicate to others is concerning and as Johns teacher, I feel like this can be harmful
and influence Johns behaviour with his peers and family.

John has been through so much as a child and he is only in year 5. As his teacher, I want to be
able to help him bring out the best in himself. John has an aggressive nature, which is clearly
evident from his home life. According to Lundy and Grossman (2005, cited in Holt & Whelan
2008, p. 801), one-third of children who are exposed to domestic violence within their household,
may develop behavioural problems later in life. Research also shows that mothers that are
victims to domestic violence, lack the control they should have over family members (Holt &
Whelan 2008, p. 801). I believe this is evident in the behaviour John exhibits at home towards
Carol as he is in control, to the extent that she asks him for permission to go out while he is at
school. Therefore, there is a connection between the aggression towards his mother and his own
aggressive behaviour.

I’m am quite concerned about Johns behaviour as it is not only evident in his home life, it has
also been exposed at school through his peer relationships. He is verbally abusive towards his
past teachers and harasses other students in the school, physically and verbally. John is outlined
to be a bully-victim due to his low classroom status, his negative social skills, academic difficulty,
low-self control and through the need to take his anger out on classmates, these are all reasons
that fall under the bully-victim classification by Hymel and Swearer (2015, p. 296). This is evident
through his relationship with Dean, John often bullies him which results in Johns inability to
form close friendships with others. This is mainly due to his aggression and lack of social skills in
peer relationships which has caused others to be afraid of John and his need to take revenge on
others. This all supports the reason as to why John is a bully-victim.

As John new teacher this year, I want to provide John with ample opportunities for him to grow
emotionally and educationally as well as improving his peer relationships with his classmates
through lessening his aggression. There are a number of different interventions that I will
implement into my classroom for John to provide a safe and calming environment in which John
will want to learn. John has an interest in Information Technology and therefore I will encourage
the use of technology as this may prevent and reduce his behaviour at times. Within my
schedule for the day, I will ensure I have enough time for relaxation which will teach children
how to calm themselves down. This is targeted to the individual needs of each student where
they face a great deal of stress, therefore, must learn coping mechanisms where they are able
 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

to stop and reflect (Matthews & Justice 1983).. Bandura (1973), showed that children were much
less likely to copy an adult behaving aggressively if they had seen them be punished for their
actions., therefore, when John does become aggressive it is important to realise that
consequences are important. Furthermore, I aim to build my relationship with John through using
different methods of communication to develop a positive teacher relationship which is proven to
reduce aggression (Meehan, Hughes & Cavill 2003, p.1145).

Friendship

There is a lot of research behind friendships, beginning from early years all the way to
adolescents, and how beneficial they are for children to have a positive development (Sebanc
2003, p. 249). Sebanc (2003) refers to friendship as a mutual liking between two people, which
creates positive influence in an individuals life. Friendships in the early years open up
opportunities for skill learning, knowledge about others and selves, and emotional and cognitive
resources in times of need (Sebanc 2003, p. 249). John unfortunately has negative peer
relationships with his classmates and has not close friends within his school. Therefore, a goal
that i set for John is to improve his ability to make positive friendships within the class, and
around the school.

John does not have many friendships, however, it is evident that Dean is someone that John
likes to spend time with. It may seem that these two are friends, but Dean is constantly a victim
to John’s bullying, which is an interesting way to treat friends. The behaviour that he portrays
towards Dean is the same controlling and aggressive behaviour that he shows towards Carol. I
am aware that the school identified this problem last year and that it would be more beneficial
to keep Dean and John separated. Through a range of strategies, I am going to help John In
eliminating the bullying towards Dean and strengthening the relationship they have to be more
positive and develop an emotional bond towards each other (Sebanc 2003, p. 253).

At this current time at school, John lacks friendships due to a number of different causes, which
has is a result of his aggressive behaviour. As stated above, I mentioned how a lot of Johns
classmates fear John due to his behaviour towards other students. Lancelotta and Vaughn (1989,
p. 86) recognised that boys with a socio-metric status that is low, are regularly anti-social and
hold a need for aggression, or can cause substance use later in life (Erwin 1998, p. 105). A socio-
 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

metric status is a good way to measure the friendships within the classroom and the acceptance
of others. Therefore, I will give my students the opportunity to do a socio-metric status
questionnaire to determine the relationships within the classroom. I believe that throughout
undertaking this test, John will be described as rejected due to his low social status.

As John may be the rejected classmate, I will overcome this through teaching the class social
skills in order for John to gain the skills that are important for developing friendships. Some key
social skills that will be taught will be smiling, group communication, eye contact and friendly
nature (Johnson & Johnson 1990, p. 30). In order for the children to develop and apply these
skills it is important to teach them what each of the skills looks like in order to show what
positive social behaviour is. These strategies will provide students with the opportunities to assist
self-confidence. Another strategy I will implement throughout the year is group work. Getting
John to work with others, he will practice vital skills that will increase his chance of developing
friendships. The aim for my classroom is to create a supportive learning environment for the
children to accept and help others as well as building strong bonds with one another.

Conformity and Non-Compliance: Peer Pressure and Peer Influence

Peer influence is when external factors trigger a change in an individual. It highly involves a
change in behaviour, actions or a perspective that someone has on something. Peer relationships
are very important for children to develop and can cause many negative or positive situations. As
such, these children often shift to conformity, modifying and adapting their attitudes or values to
gain acceptance with a peer or community (Simply Psychology 2016). In order to explain John’s
attitudes towards his peers, the words, peer pressure and peer Influence will be addressed, this
will be discussed with reference to Johns relationships with his family and his peers.

John has a strong and positive relationship with his brother, and Sam usually takes the protective
role and looks out for John whenever he can. The relationship between siblings has been
recognised as having an extremely important role in family life, this has led to John questionable
behaviour, however, shows that John is able to have some connection and relationship with
someone. Sam introduced John to his group of gang like friends, where they contribute to
dubious actions which influences Johns behaviours. Although I cannot determine if John was
being pressured into this behaviour, he would have been influenced by them. There is a finding
 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

that suggests that children are being influenced by the reaction of their peers which is showing
through Johns situation as he is afraid that Sams friends will act negatively and not accept John
if he does not conform (Burns & Darling 2002, p. 4). This then shows the impact of being friends
with Sam and his mates as he is afraid of being pushed out of the group, therefore, John Is
changing himself to fit in.

John does struggle a lot through his peer relationships at school which is a necessity for positive
development. He often hangs around with the wrong crowd as the group often gets into trouble.
While John does display bad behaviour throughout his school day he does not influence anyone
else behaviour as he does not have any close peer relationships with anyone. As we work together
throughout the year and John gains a better understanding about peer relationships, I hope that
his behavioural issue decrease in order to not negatively Impact the peers around him.

Throughout my approach for John, in order to reduce his conformity, peer pressure and peer
influence I will create an environment that is positive, through having a room that is inviting,
caring and encourages children and gives them learning environments that encourage socialising.
This creates a space that is giving each student the opportunity to express their individuality.
Through creating this environment John will have the chance to develop a strong understanding
about developing peer relationships. John will feel more comfortable as his classmates will treat
each other respectfully and allow him to join in their peer groups.

Conclusion

I have stated all of my concerns that I have for John and how I as his teacher this year, is
going to implement all these ideas into my teaching. John has a range of different areas In
which I would love to work on through this school year specifically, attachment, aggression,
friendship and conformity and non-compliance: peer pressure and peer influence. I have
identified a number of key strategies that i will employ, creating a positive class climate, building
my relationship with John as a teacher-student, Involving his mother through classroom events
and community, and targeting John’s aggression. I have great confidence that these approaches
will allow John to grow as an Individual and support him in every aspect. Giving John the idea
that someone in Johns life believes in him and wants him to succeed.

Yours sincerely, Georgia Duncan

 Georgia Duncan | 110230636 Tutor: Peter Arnold

Reference List

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Simply Psychology 2016, What is Conformity? Simply Psychology, viewed 22 February 2017, <
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