The Ecology of Teachers’ Experiences with Violence and Lack of Administrative Support

Abstract

Teacher-directed violence is a common, yet understudied, phenomenon. Perpetrators of violence against teachers include not just students, but also administrators, parents, and colleagues. Administrators are key stakeholders when it comes to shaping school climate and safety that can reduce or increase the negative impact of violence against teachers. In this study, 237 teachers' qualitative responses from a larger sample of 2,431 anonymous, online survey responses were examined to better understand their experiences with incidents of violence and how administrators played a role in these experiences. Results reveal that lack of administrator support negatively impacts teachers at multiple levels, including teachers' feelings (individual); challenges associated with addressing issues related to students, parents, and other perpetrators (interpersonal); and school systems and policies (organizational). This study highlights the importance of administrative support and illustrates how administrators' actions and inactions can have ripple effects at each level of the school microcosm. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Nonphysical Workplace Violence in a State‐Based Cohort of Education Workers*

“…On the basis of our findings, a high percentage of education workers felt they did not receive an adequate response from administration after the event was reported. Fear of repercussion from parents, protection of the school's reputation, a lack of a consistent and effective discipline policy, and a poor relationship with administrators have been identified as some possible explanations for the lack of adequate response from administration . Consistent with previous studies, we also found that a lack of an adequate leadership response to incidents of WPV can impact education workers negatively, which then results in lower job satisfaction, burnout, teacher turnover, and professional disengagement .…”

“…Fear of repercussion from parents, protection of the school's reputation, a lack of a consistent and effective discipline policy, and a poor relationship with administrators have been identified as some possible explanations for the lack of adequate response from administration . Consistent with previous studies, we also found that a lack of an adequate leadership response to incidents of WPV can impact education workers negatively, which then results in lower job satisfaction, burnout, teacher turnover, and professional disengagement . Conversely, employees who felt supported by school administration reported greater well‐being, were more likely to remain in their school, and were less exposed to violence .…”

“…Regardless of occupation, management support is important to workers. Administrators can support education workers in terms of WPV prevention by developing polices that address violence directed against education workers not just by students, but also by coworkers, parents and others; increasing enforcement of school policies; providing training on verbal de‐escalation techniques during confrontations with students; providing a means of reporting; encouraging mutual support among colleagues; and providing support to colleagues following incidents of victimization …”

“…School administration should ensure that policies related to student conduct and procedures on addressing and reporting of violence are clear to all education workers . When staff are well‐trained on these disciplinary policies and practices, it is less likely that staff will be psychologically vulnerable and experience some level of violence from students …”

Physical aggression toward teachers: Antecedents, behaviors, and consequences

“…Effective principals encourage collaboration, create a positive school climate, and support and motivate their teachers (e.g., Astor et al, ). When teachers do not feel adequate support from administrators following a violent incident, they may feel blamed, unsafe, or disempowered (McMahon et al, ), and less administrative support is associated with higher levels of multiple victimization (Martinez et al, ). Inaction may also suggest school leaders’ limited interest or training in generating effective solutions for aggressive incidents, which may make these issues more likely to reoccur.…”