Effects of injustice in primary schools on students’ behavior and joy of learning

What are the long-term effects of justice and injustice in school? This longitudinal study examined the bidirectional relationships of classroom justice with students’ behavioral problems, well-being, and joy of learning. Using systematic observation on the singlechild level, teachers and external observers made high and low inference justice ratings of 245 primary school students. The justice ratings measured two aspects of classroom justice: pedagogical practices and teacher–child interactions. Results indicate that there is a bidirectional relationship between behavioral problems and classroom justice. On the one hand, behavioral problems led to a decrease in the respectfulness of teacher–child interactions as rated by the teachers. On the other hand, just pedagogical practices as rated by external observers led to decreases in the children’s behavioral problems but also in their joy of learning. There was a negative effect of justice sensitivity on joy of learning. These results might be due to teachers’ adaptiveness. Teachers might especially focus their attention and efforts on the children who seem to need them the most, for instance, children with a low joy of learning or behavioral problems. These results might be used to sensitize teachers and school developers to the importance of classroom justice.