On the approaches to the defining and operationalization of the concept of school safety

The paper looks at different approaches to the defining and operationalization of the concept of school safety, with the aim of identifying the fundamental conceptual and operational dilemmas and problems, as well as highlighting the importance of the concept and of its adequate definition, in view of the implications it has for understanding the phenomenon, for research, and for the creation of school policy. The fundamental question which is the focus of the paper is examined in terms of the conceptual definition of school safety, the problem of operationalization and the problem of research. As part of this question, we have sought to define the concept of school safety, pointing to the broader and narrower definitions of the concept itself, and its relationship with other, related concepts and the conceptual dilemmas arising from this. The problem of the operationalization of this concept is represented through three approaches in the identification of school safety dimensions: the risk management approach; the approach linked to school violence; and the approach of creating a learning-focused school environment. In the last section - the research question - the difficulties identified by researchers while conducting research into school safety are presented. The conclusion states that only a clearly defined and well-founded conceptual framework, the defining of research objectives, that is, the selection of the range of behaviors and experiences relevant to the topic, and the evaluation of the characteristics of the cultural environment and the respondents' age, can lead to the adequate selection and determination of indicators of school safety, as well as the removal of difficulties in its operationalization and measurement.