A Semiotic Examination of Conceptions of School Safety Data

Conceptions of school safety influence policy creation, however, those conceptions may go unexpressed thereby hiding contested ideas. Using semistructured interviews of 26 school stakeholders, this study uses semiotic analysis to probe varying conceptions of school safety. Findings include that stakeholders’ conceptions vary widely, they perceive a dissonance between their own conceptions and those of the government's, and they hold in tension both trust and skepticism regarding data collected about school safety. Policy underpinned by an explicitly expressed and considered conception of school safety that resonates with a broad audience could help inject needed nuance into the school safety discourse.