Teaching Middle School Students Kindness

through Social Skills Interventions.

Heather Muller, M.Ed. Student

INTRODUCTION METHODS MEASURES

-Eisenberg (1986) defines kindness as “intentional behaviors that
benefit others, but not due to reward or punishment.”
-Research shows a correlation between low social competence skills
and childhood depression levels (Ross, Shochet, & Bellair, 2010).
-School connectedness is also a key factor associated with adolescent
depression (Ross, et. Al., 2010).
-School connectedness is termed as the extend that students are
accepted, respected, included, and supported by the school
environment (Goodenow, 1993).
-Cartledge (2005) believes that social skills interventions should be
taught within the original classroom, rather than a small group, so
newly acquired skills can be reinforced within the everyday location of
the students.
-Students perceptions of a positive school climate are linked directly to
their psychological well-being (Binfet, Gadermann, & Schonert, 2016).
-Kindness is identified as a construct of school climate. Perceptions of
kindness reflect how students view their school and how they engage in
prosocial acts (Binfet, et. Al., 2016).
Problem of Practice
• Students lack the social skills to display daily kindness towards peers
• Lack of peer kindness results in disruptions during classroom
instruction
• Middle school students are feeling unaccepted, excluded, and
disrespected by peers
Research Question
• How can social skills interventions improve peer kindness in
middle school students?
IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH
• Students enrolled in a 6th grade class at Cedar Bluffs
Public Schools will be asked to participate
• Both general education and special education students
will participate in the intervention group
• Ethnic background and sample size is unknown at this
time
• Research will be conduced from August till December
2018
• Social Skills lessons will be taught, focusing on the aspect
of kindness (15-20 min.)
• Kindness Topics:
• Random Acts of Kindness
• Strengthening Peer Relationships and Acceptance
• Fostering Empathy
• Developing Positive Mindsets
• The School Kindness Scale (SKS) is a 12-item
questionnaire that will measure students perceptions of
kindness within their school.
• “My classmates help each other learn. “
• “Kindness happens regularly in my classroom.”
• The instrument questions have been modified due to
focusing on peer kindness rather than the overall school
climate.
• The Kindness Measure is a 40-item questionnaire of kind
and unkind behaviors.
• This measure will indicate students perceptions of
kindness within their selves.
• “I am kind to others”
• “I do small favors for friends”
• Both measures are on a scale from 1 (never) to 5
(always).
REFERENCES
Binfet, J., Gadermann, A., & Schonert, K. (2016). Measuring kindness at school:
Psychometric properties of a school kindness scale for children and adolescents.
Psychology in School, 53(2), 111-126.
Canter, D., Youngs, D., & Yaneva, M. (2017). Personality and individual differences
towards a measure of kindness: An exploration of a neglected interpersonal trait.
Elsevier, 15-20.
Eisenberg, N. (1986). Altruistic emotion, cognition, and behavior. Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.
Cartledge, G. (2005). Learning disabilities and social skills: Reflections. Learning
Disability Quarterly, 28, 179-181.
Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among
adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the
schools, 30, 79-90.
Ross, A., Shochet, I., & Bellair., R. (2010). The role of social skills and school
connectedness in preadolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Clinical Child &
Adolescent Psychology, 39(2), 269-275.

• Research focusing on middle school peer kindness is lacking

• Increase in student kindness
• Increase in student social competence
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Social competence has social, emotional, and academic • I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Mark Gudgel and Dr. Teresa Wanser-Ernst for their
encouragement and guidance of this research project.
benefits
• I also would like to acknowledge my fellow classmates who have been a
• Decrease in negative peer related behavior in the classroom continuous support system throughout this tough journey.