Teacher Responses to Bullying: Self-Reports from the Front Line

Abstract

School climate research emphasizes the critical role teachers play in providing safe and supportive environments for students to learn. Despite numerous negative physical and mental health consequences related to bullying in schools, research investigating teachers' responses to reduce bullying is scarce. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 fourth through eighth grade teachers to determine their perceptions, experiences, and self-reported responses to address bullying. Results yielded a two dimensional model representing four response types: constructive-direct, constructive-indirect, punitive-direct, and punitive-indirect responses. Implications for this innovative model of teacher responses to bullying and future research agendas are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• bullying
• perceptions
• teachers
• responses
• strategies
• in-school violence

We would like to thank all of the teachers who participated in this study. Funding for this work was provided through grants from the Society for the Study of School Psychology (SSSP) and the Georgia State University College of Education Educational Research Bureau.