Bullying within educational environment: survey of school staff

Abstract

Teachers' and school administration's behavior is known to affect the dynamics of school bullying. Generally, this influence is formalized through school climate, which largely determines frequency and dynamics of potentially dangerous situations including bullying and cyberbullying. In Russia the school climate is poorly studied at the level of educational system. This article isaimed to survey the educational organizations' workers from different regions of Russia. In particular, we focused on the frequency of school bullying episodes, features of psychological climate and the contribution made to psychological climate by staffand administration.The online survey included214 respondents.Three waysof the school climatedescription were identified: positive, tense and disconnected. The most common strategies towards bullying situations were specified (i.e. bullying prevention and termination of bullying situations). Several responses were indicative of neglector aggravation in situations of bullying by school administration. Formal or undifferentiated description of the respondents' behavior was also present.Dataanalysis showed significantly lower frequencyof bullying in schoolswith positive climate compared to thosewith the tenseclimate. Also, the frequency of bullying was significantly higher in schools where, according to the respondents, the administrationignored bullying incidents, demonstrated destructive behavior and avoided preventive activities.No relationshipwas found between the estimatedfrequency of bullying,school climate andthe respondents' actions. This pilot study identified the problematics of bullying and teachers' reaction to it in Russian schools and stressed the need for further research.