The study is concerned with the ways early adolescent males understand and experience bullying within a hetero-normative school context. The research focuses on the ways in which bullying occurs, and how it relates to identity development amongst young boys. Key theoretical constructs include multiple masculinities, social dominance theory, and social constructionism. The researcher adopted an ethnographic approach. Constructs were explored through the use of four focus groups and one individual interview with 20 Grade 8 learners at a co-educational high school. Three dominant themes emerged from the discussions. The Embodied Self explores the expression and development of gender identity through the construction of the physical and performative male body. Displaced Masculinities explores the gradual shift in power that young men have experienced in terms of current representations of gender, race and technology. The third theme, Recovering Power, identifies subtle subversion strategies that young males reproduce to recover social power. Bullying is normalised within the school context and is understood as a physical and psychological process that differentiates desirable and undesirable masculinities. Masculinities are actively policed by peers, forcing boys to position themselves against the ideal hegemonic masculinity underpinning feelings of uncertainty and instability. Recommendations include continued opportunities for discussion of gender issues at a formative school level, focused policy development addressing the abuse of communication technologies, and translation of gender research into policy and legislation to recognise the role and responsibilities of men, with the major aim of reducing inequality. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study explores the phenomenon of gendered harassment in secondary schools from the teachers' perspectives. The few studies that address the biased behaviors that are linked under the concept of gendered harassment (sexual harassment, homophobic harassment, and harassment for gender non-conformity) indicate that teachers are less likely to intervene in these incidents. This dissertation explores how teachers understand and respond to (hetero)sexist and homophobic behaviors when they occur. / Six teachers in one urban school board participated in a series of three open-ended in-depth interviews where they spoke about the many factors that influenced how they saw and intervened in various forms of bullying and harassment in their schools. Interview data were analyzed using contextual and thematic codes to locate similarities, differences, and stories in the data. This study is informed by critical, feminist and queer theories. The findings have been organized in a conceptual framework that emerged from the research. / Findings indicate that there are both external and internal influences that shape how teachers view and respond to gendered harassment in schools. The external factors, also described as school culture, include both structural-formal and structural-informal influences. Formal influences include policies, training, curriculum and contracts. Informal influences refer to leadership style, relationships with colleagues, policy implementation, and community values. Internal influences that shape teachers' perceptions and responses include: educational biography, teaching philosophy, and personal identities. / The implications of this study for research and practice can have impacts on the fields of school policy, teacher education, curriculum, and educational leadership. It provides a framework for understanding how school cultures interact with teachers' identities and shape how policies and curricula are implemented. It also offers suggestions for scholars, advocates, and educational leaders to proactively address the negative impacts of gendered harassment by transforming teacher education, educational leadership programs, and in turn, school cultures.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Elementary Education

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-68). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2009. / Title from title screen (site viewed February 25, 2010). PDF text: 140 p. : ill. ; 1 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3386561. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-93). Also available in print.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Leadership, 2006. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-84).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [77]-85)