This instrumental case study reports on the unique experiences of a secondary school teacher from Gauteng who was a victim of learner cyberbullying. This teacher experienced severe emotional distress, family stress, anxiety, anger, intense humiliation and loss of dignity as a result of cyberbullying. On a professional level he felt unsupported by his teachers' union, school management team and teaching authorities. Support from his family, his community and the opportunity to share his experience with other teachers influenced his resilience positively while taking action made him feel like a role model for other teachers. This study highlights the effects of aggression in schools and raises concern about school climate and the need for social emotional competence programmes for learners.
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Orientation: A literature search for studies on the well-being of support staff of higher education institutions (HEIs) produced very little results. Appreciation was then used to identify elements that might enhance the well-being of a selected HEI’s support staff.Research purpose: The aim was to explore the strengths of a selected HEI that might serve as driving forces for enhancing its support staff’s well-being.Motivation for the study: The lack of research on the well-being of support staff motivated the study. A need was identified to explore driving forces that might enhance their well-being.Research design, approach and method: A literature review guided by theoretical perspectives and theories on staff well-being was conducted. Subsequently, a qualitative action research design involving an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) workshop with support staff of an institution was followed.Main findings: The following strengths that might serve as driving forces for enhancing the well-being of the institution’s support services staff were identified: hard-working and dedicated support staff, positive relations among colleagues, a willingness to adapt to change,good remuneration and benefits, job security and a supportive work environment. Appreciative Inquiry was found to be well suited for identifying such strengths, as opposed to methods that focus on identifying problems or weaknesses of an organisation. As a result of this study, the relevant institution might react and build on these identified strengths towards promoting the well-being of its support staff.Practical/managerial implications: Institutions should make an effort to enhance staff well being. The results of the study could also be used to encourage HEIs to use AI to establish optimal staff well-being.Contribution/value add: The study confirmed the power of appreciation to identify the strengths that might serve as driving forces for enhancing the well-being of support staff of an HEI.
Bystanders of school bullying are relatively under-researched in the literature on bullying because most studies in this area focus primarily on bullies or on the direct victims of bullying. In this study, we aimed to explore the lived experience of early adolescent bystanders who witnessed bullying in a South African school. We followed a qualitative research approach and adopted a phenomenological research design. We purposefully selected 10 early adolescent bystanders to participate in the study. We recorded the interviews that were then transcribed. We used inductive thematic analysis to analyse the qualitative data. The findings of this study revealed the various emotional and behavioural reactions of bystanders to witnessing school bullying. We recommend that anti-bullying programs be included in the curriculum so that teachers and school psychologists can emphasise the negative impacts of bullying that include psychological, educational, and emotional consequences on everyone who is exposed to it.
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