A Systematic Review on Primary School Teachers’ Characteristics and Behaviors in Identifying, Preventing, and Reducing Bullying

Abstract

Despite the expanding body of research on school bullying and interventions, knowledge is limited on what teachers should do to identify, prevent, and reduce bullying. This systematic literature review provides an overview of research on the role of primary school teachers with regard to bullying and victimization. A conceptual framework was developed in line with the Theory of Planned Pehavior, which can serve in further research to facilitate research in investigating the prevention and reduction of bullying. Different elements of this framework were distinguished in categorizing the literature: teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, perceived subjective norms, and self-efficacy, which impacted subsequently the likelihood to intervene, used strategies and programs, and ultimately the bullying prevalence in the classroom. In total, 75 studies complied to the inclusion criteria and were reviewed systematically. The Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment was used to assess the quality of each study, leading to 25 papers with an adequate research design that were discussed in more detail. The approach in this review provides a framework to combine studies on single or multiple elements of a complex theoretical model of which only some parts have been empirically investigated.

Understanding Teachers’ Likelihood of Intervention in Bullying Situations: Testing the Theory of Planned Behavior

“…We also took into account whether teachers worked in primary or secondary education. A recent study found that secondary school teachers reported lower scores on different elements representing school culture (van Aalst, 2022). For that reason, we explored whether some of the effects of our Theory of Planned Behavior framework were differently for teachers working in secondary rather than in primary education.…”

“…The conceptual framework (van Aalst et al, 2022) was based on a systematic literature review and consisted of three elements that guide human behavior: 1) teachers' attitudes toward behavior (here: anti-bullying attitudes), 2) behavioral control (e.g., teachers' self-efficacy and attribution styles), and 3) the perceived subjective norms of important others (e.g., colleagues, principal). Teachers' attitudes, behavioral control, and subjective norms may influence their likelihood of intervening in bullying situations, resulting, according to the model, in specific strategies to prevent or tackle bullying (e.g., disciplining the bully, working with the group, or ignoring the incident).…”

“…Teachers play a vital role in tackling school bullying, including through the implementation of anti-bullying interventions (De Luca et al, 2019;van Aalst et al, 2022). There is limited knowledge, however, of what affects teachers' likelihood of intervening in bullying.…”

“…There is limited knowledge, however, of what affects teachers' likelihood of intervening in bullying. In the current study, we aimed to fill this gap by empirically testing a conceptual framework (van Aalst et al, 2022) based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991(Ajzen, , 2012) that combined all potential elements contributing to teachers' likelihood of intervening in hypothetical bullying situations: teachers' anti-bullying attitudes, behavioral control, subjective norms, and knowledge about bullying. Where previous empirical studies have tested only a part of the framework, the novelty of our study lies in its simultaneous testing of these main elements as predictors of teachers' intervention behavior.…”

Comparison of Teachers’ and Social Pedagogues’ Ways of Handling School Bullying Incidents

“…In a scoping review, Gizzarelli et al (2023) described individual (perceived self-efficacy, perceived seriousness of the bullying incident, sympathy or empathy for the target, teacher's gender, years of teaching, personal experiences with bullying, and orientation) and school factors (bullying prevention, training, school policies, and organisational characteristics) that influence school staff members' responses to bullying incidents. A recent systematic review by Van Aalst et al (2022) intervene in bullying situations (which also affects the actual behaviour and intervention strategies) can be influenced by teachers' knowledge and understanding of bullying, attitudes toward bullying, perceived subjective norms, and self-efficacy. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of school bullying and how teachers and non-teaching staff members can address the issue effectively.…”