How teachers address cases of bullying in schools: a comparison of five reactive approaches

Abstract

According to student surveys conducted cross-nationally, a substantial proportion of students continue to be bullied at school after they have sought help from teachers. This article examines a range of strategies that teachers employ in dealing with bully/victim cases. The most commonly used strategy is Direct Sanctions: the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on the person or persons identified as responsible for the bullying. Some other strategies seek to engage students more actively in resolving the problem. These include Restorative Practice, Mediation (including peer mediation), the Support Group Method and the Method of Shared Concern. This article describes and discusses the application of each of the strategies and the extent to which students may become creatively engaged in producing a solution. Available evidence suggests that the use of Direct Sanctions is no more successful than alternative strategies in addressing cases of school bullying and may result in less sustainable outcomes.

Keywords:

• bullying
• creative engagement
• intervention methods
• counselling
• schools