Abstract |
Background: Work harassment and bullying are phenomena that have a negative impact on the well-being of workers in all sectors. The same goes for teachers who are a group of employees at high risk of being victimized in the workplace, both by students and students' parents.
Objective: The aim of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of work harassment and bullying in Primary education and to examine the role and contribution of the school nurse in it. Sub-objectives of the research are to investigate the main forms of the phenomenon, to investigate the coping strategies followed by teachers and to investigate the role of the school nurse in dealing with or preventing the phenomenon and the investigation of the role of the school nurse in dealing with the phenomena of work harassment and school bullying of teachers.
Methods: A quantitative survey was conducted using a questionnaire. The research used a sample of 86 teachers serving in public primary schools in Greece and specifically in the area of Nea Alikarnassos. Forms of school bullying were studied, including physical and verbal abuse and social manipulation and cyberbullying. The experiences of school bullying of the teachers who participated in the research and the degree of their involvement in incidents of bullying were investigated. Finally, the coping strategies preferred by teachers were investigated, in particular: Passive ones, such as discussing with colleagues or entrusting case management to a third party. Systemic strategies, such as communicating with parents and seeking intervention from the school counselor. Immediate strategies developed within the school environment, such as encouraging the victim to deal with the situation or discussing with the perpetrator the bullying behavior. Data analysis was performed with SPSS.
Results: According to the results of the research, the experience of teachers at school was generally positive (81.4%), while the degree of their involvement in bullying was found to be similarly low (4.7%). Higher incidence was found in cases of verbal abuse (58.1%) and indirect bullying and lower for cases of physical bullying (11.6%). Regarding the ways of dealing with bullying by teachers during their school years, it was found that mainly the participants in the research chose a passive attitude (ignoring incidents, trying to joke or avoid the situation). Regarding the strategies for managing and dealing with school bullying incidents that teachers are currently adopting, it was found that they mainly prefer passive strategies. Finally, regarding the importance of the role of the school nurse in dealing with the phenomena of work harassment and school bullying of teachers, it emerged to a large extent through the answers of teachers.
Conclusions: Higher incidence of school bullying was found in cases of verbal abuse and indirect bullying and lower for cases of physical bullying. Primary school teachers in order to deal with and manage bullying incidents in their school seem to prefer and apply more passive strategies, indirectly highlighting a potentially intrusive role of school nurses.
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