Teachers experience one of the highest levels of workplace bullying - new ABC research

New research from the Anti-Bullying Centre at Dublin City University has found that over one-third of teachers and senior management have been targets of bullying at least every ‘now and then’ by other teachers and staff members, with exclusion and being ignored the most common experiences. 

The research also finds that almost half of participants reported occasionally witnessing colleagues being bullied by other staff members, highlighting education as one of the sectors with the highest levels of workplace bullying.

In the survey of 630 teachers and senior management teams in both primary and secondary schools across Ireland, the study looks at the experiences of targets, bystanders and perpetrators of bullying at work. It also investigates the role of empathy in teachers and school leaders' experiences.

The most common bullying behaviours taking place in schools involve staff members being ignored, excluded, or facing a hostile reaction when approaching colleagues at work, with 33% of respondents reporting to have experienced the latter ‘now and then’. Other reported behaviours include withholding of information that affects people's performance, persistent criticism of people's work and the spreading of gossip and rumours.

Being a target and witnessing bullying were found to be more common in post-primary schools as compared to primary schools, and teachers were more likely to witness bullying victimisation as compared to members of senior management teams.

The research also found that respondents with higher levels of empathy were less likely to bully others and empathy training was highlighted as a potentially effective strategy to help school staff to recognise and prevent bullying at work.

Speaking about the importance of this research, lead author Dr Angela Mazzone, Postdoctoral Researcher at DCU’s Anti-Bullying Centre, said:

“Workplace bullying among school staff has a negative impact on a victim’s mental health. It  can also affect the school climate and have a negative effect on teaching while acting as a barrier to student learning.  

It is extremely important for us to investigate workplace bullying within the education sector so that we can develop and implement adequate prevention and intervention strategies. 

Speaking about how empathy could play a role in tackling the issue in schools, Dr Mazzone added: “We feel empathy training for school personnel may help school staff to recognise and prevent bullying at work. This type of training could also help with creating better relationships among school staff.” 

Key findings:

• One-third experienced different bullying victimisation behaviours at least every ‘now and then’
• On average, 6% of respondents reported enduring bullying at work either weekly or daily
• Almost half of participants reported occasionally witnessing colleagues being bullied, with 12% reported having witnessed bullying either weekly or daily
• 0.5% admitted that they perpetrated bullying at work either weekly or daily
• Being ignored and excluded was one of the most common victimisation experiences with 37% reporting this occurring “now and then”
• Being targeted and witnessing bullying were more common in post-primary schools
• 33% reported facing a hostile reaction when approaching others at work “now and then”
• About 40% reported someone withholding information which affected their performance every “now and then”
• 35% reported having gossip and rumours spread about them ‘now and then’