Up to date literature suggests that there is a very serious education practice issue: teachers are more and more frequently targets of violence committed by students and their parents. School violence on teachers is a globally significant concern: large-scale studies in United States, South Korea, Canada, Israel, and Slovakia. These studies have shown that teacher-directed violence is a critical and underresearched concern that has yet to be consistently defined. In the United States, 80% of teachers reported at least one form of violence during the same or previous year in which they completed the research survey. Looking at the international literature, there are data indicating that violence negatively impacted teachers’ well-being and their quality of teaching. Teachers’ victimization may hinder the possibility to assist the students and to create a positive educational atmosphere in the school. Across the globe, teachers are expected to be role models for students. They are responsible for protecting students and for establishing a caring relationship with students, these are central goals of teaching, and not meeting them are likely to contribute to stress and to harm teachers’ well-being. After all, students’ misbehavior and aggression has been found to make teachers feel rejected and to impede them from building positive relationships with students. As the literature shows, student misbehavior or aggression are the major stressors for teachers at work and they are the factors that reduce occupational well-being. Teachers’ well-being is a multidimensional construct, that comprises emotional, psychological and social well-being based on positive relationships in work environment. We assume that research on violence against teachers could profit from considering the protective effect of well-being, that encompasses job satisfaction and social support. In the research literature, teacher job satisfaction is regarded as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job. So, we conceptualize teacher job satisfaction as teachers’ affective reaction to their work or to their teaching role. Social support incorporates different social interactions and positive relationship with relatives and family, friends, colleagues and superiors. In particular, social support from colleagues and supervisors is characterized by respect, warmth, cooperation and trust. Several studies have shown that social support appears necessary for teachers to improve their quality of teaching. Therefore, according to these assumptions, we assume that experiences of violence against teachers can be counteracted by a capacity to build positive relationships and to find social support. To test our assumptions, the present study used data from teachers from primary and secondary schools in North-East Italy. A total 635 teachers completed an online questionnaire. The results indicate that social support and job satisfaction can exert a protective effect against teacher-directed violence and make the school systems safer and more effective.
Violence against Teachers: the protective effect of well-being and social support
Berlanda sabrina;federica de cordova
2019-01-01
Abstract
Up to date literature suggests that there is a very serious education practice issue: teachers are more and more frequently targets of violence committed by students and their parents. School violence on teachers is a globally significant concern: large-scale studies in United States, South Korea, Canada, Israel, and Slovakia. These studies have shown that teacher-directed violence is a critical and underresearched concern that has yet to be consistently defined. In the United States, 80% of teachers reported at least one form of violence during the same or previous year in which they completed the research survey. Looking at the international literature, there are data indicating that violence negatively impacted teachers’ well-being and their quality of teaching. Teachers’ victimization may hinder the possibility to assist the students and to create a positive educational atmosphere in the school. Across the globe, teachers are expected to be role models for students. They are responsible for protecting students and for establishing a caring relationship with students, these are central goals of teaching, and not meeting them are likely to contribute to stress and to harm teachers’ well-being. After all, students’ misbehavior and aggression has been found to make teachers feel rejected and to impede them from building positive relationships with students. As the literature shows, student misbehavior or aggression are the major stressors for teachers at work and they are the factors that reduce occupational well-being. Teachers’ well-being is a multidimensional construct, that comprises emotional, psychological and social well-being based on positive relationships in work environment. We assume that research on violence against teachers could profit from considering the protective effect of well-being, that encompasses job satisfaction and social support. In the research literature, teacher job satisfaction is regarded as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job. So, we conceptualize teacher job satisfaction as teachers’ affective reaction to their work or to their teaching role. Social support incorporates different social interactions and positive relationship with relatives and family, friends, colleagues and superiors. In particular, social support from colleagues and supervisors is characterized by respect, warmth, cooperation and trust. Several studies have shown that social support appears necessary for teachers to improve their quality of teaching. Therefore, according to these assumptions, we assume that experiences of violence against teachers can be counteracted by a capacity to build positive relationships and to find social support. To test our assumptions, the present study used data from teachers from primary and secondary schools in North-East Italy. A total 635 teachers completed an online questionnaire. The results indicate that social support and job satisfaction can exert a protective effect against teacher-directed violence and make the school systems safer and more effective.
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