Understanding Pupils ’ Sense Making of Bullying Through the Lens of the Hidden Curriculum: A Qualitative Study in Basic Schools in the Effutu Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

Bullying remains a persistent concern in basic schools, yet less attention has been given to how pupils interpret bullying within the implicit norms and everyday practices of school life. This study explored how pupils in two basic schools in the Effutu Municipality of Ghana make sense of bullying through the lens of the hidden curriculum. Guided by Symbolic Interactionism and Sense Making Theory, the study adopted an int erpretivist qualitative design using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Primary IPA data were collected from pupils through semi structured individual interviews, while complementary focus group discussions (FGD) with pupils were used to colle ct data to illuminate shared peer norms and collective meanings. The findings indicate that pupils understood bullying as a normalised part of school life and interpreted inconsistent teacher intervention, peer expectations, and the stigma attached to reporting as important signals about acceptable responses to bullying. Pupils consequently negotiated competing institutional and peer expectations and adopted silence, retaliation, avoidance, and alliance building as context sensitive strategies for managing risk and maintaining social belonging. The findings suggest that addressing bullying requires attention not only to formal policies but also to the implicit norms and practices through which pupils learn how to interpret and respond to bullying.