Proefschrift Elements Contributing to Teachers' Role in Bullying Danelien van Aalst

Elementen die bijdragen aan leerkrachtinterventies bij pesten

In dit proefschrift is de rol van de leerkracht bij pesten onderzocht. Pesten heeft verregaande negatieve gevolgen voor alle betrokkenen en komt in vrijwel elke school voor (Arseneault, 2017). De definitie van pesten behelst vier componenten; pesten is schadelijk, intentioneel gedrag dat herhaaldelijk plaatsvindt waarbij er sprake is van een machtsverschil tussen pester(s) en slachtoffer (Olweus, 1993a; Volk et al., 2014). Pesten gebeurt op diverse plekken in en om de school, veelal ook buiten het zicht van leerkrachten, bijvoorbeeld op het schoolplein en online (Dake et al., 2004; Veenstra et al., 2014). Dat maakt het extra belangrijk dat wanneer leerkrachten zien of vernemen dat er wordt gepest, zij ingrijpen en dat dit ook op een effectieve manier gebeurt zodat leerkrachten verdere escalatie voorkomen of reduceren (Olweus, 1993a; Smith et al., 2004). Leerkrachten vinden het vaak echter moeilijk om in te grijpen of missen zelfvertrouwen om een pestsituatie aan te pakken (Bradshaw et al., 2013; Yoon & Kerber, 2003). Tevens is er een grote variatie in de mate waarin leerkrachten ingrijpen in pesten, hoe effectief ze daarin zijn, en in hoeverre ze anti-pest lessen uitvoeren (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Pelletier, 2008; Yoon & Kerber, 2003). Bij aanvang van dit promotieonderzoek bleek er een grote variëteit te zijn in de voorspellers en uitkomsten in onderzoek naar de rol van leerkrachten bij het tegengaan van pesten. Ook ontbrak een theoretisch fundament dat kon dienen om voorgaande studies te integreren en toekomstig onderzoek richting te geven. Het doel van dit proefschrift was dan ook allereerst om al het onderzoek naar leerkrachten in relatie tot pesten in kaart te brengen, en te integreren in een theoretisch raamwerk, dat vervolgens als uitgangspunt kon dienen voor het toetsen van individuele en omgevingskenmerken die van invloed zijn op de neiging van leerkrachten om in te grijpen bij pesten.

Belang van de leerkracht voor het zelfvertrouwen van leerlingen

Hoewel het hoofddoel van dit proefschrift gericht was op het ontwikkelen en toetsen van een theoretisch model van leerkrachtkenmerken in relatie tot hun (neiging tot) ingrijpen, is het uiteraard ook van belang om te kijken naar de mate waarin het handelen van leerkrachten van belang is voor hun leerlingen. Eerder onderzoek liet zien dat zowel pesters als slachtoffers een lager zelfvertrouwen hebben dan hun medeleerlingen (Hawker & Boulton, 2000; van Geel et al., 2018), en het zou kunnen dat leerkrachten een deel van de negatieve invloed van pesten op zelfvertrouwen van leerlingen kunnen opvangen.

In Hoofdstuk 5 is daarom op twee manieren gekeken naar de wijze waarop leerkrachten hun leerlingen kunnen ondersteunen. Ten eerste kunnen leerkrachten met zelfvertrouwen voor de klas staan en uitstralen dat ze effectief kunnen ingrijpen bij pesten. Dit refereert aan het zelfvertrouwen uit het theoretisch model, en toetst dus één van de vier elementen in relatie tot een leerling-uitkomst. Ten tweede kan een goede relatie tussen leerkrachten en leerlingen van belang zijn. Om deze effecten te toetsen zijn gegevens gebruikt van 59 leerkrachten en hun 1,490 leerlingen, afkomstig van 41 Nederlandse basisscholen. Leerlingen zijn gevraagd om te rapporteren over hun zelfvertrouwen, de mate waarin ze werden gepest of zelf anderen pestten, en hun relatie met de leerkracht. Leerkrachten rapporteerden over hun zelfvertrouwen in het ingrijpen in pestsituaties. De resultaten toonden geen verband tussen het zelfvertrouwen en het ingrijpen van leerkrachten. Pesters hadden een lager zelfvertrouwen wanneer zij een leerkracht hadden die veel zelfvertrouwen had in het ingrijpen bij pesten. Een goede leerling-leerkracht relatie had een positieve relatie met zelfvertrouwen voor alle leerlingen, en vormde tevens een buffer voor het zelfvertrouwen van slachtoffers; slachtoffers met een goede relatie met hun leerkracht bleken een hoger zelfvertrouwen te hebben in vergelijking met leerlingen zonder goede band met hun leerkracht. Ten slotte relateerde een betere leerkracht-leerling relatie aan een lager zelfvertrouwen bij pesters, in vergelijking met pesters zonder een goede relatie met de leerkracht.

Pesters die een leerkracht hebben met veel zelfvertrouwen, en pesters die een goede relatie met de leerkracht hebben, blijken een lager zelfvertrouwen te hebben. Een mogelijke verklaring voor beide negatieve associaties zou ten eerste kunnen zijn dat leerkrachten met veel zelfvertrouwen sterker geneigd zijn in te grijpen en dat pesters dus vaker worden bestraft of terecht gewezen, waardoor hun zelfvertrouwen lager is. Ten tweede kan het zijn dat pesters die een goede band hebben met hun leerkracht een grotere kans hebben dat deze band schade oploopt, wat hun zelfvertrouwen beschadigt, of waardoor de verhoging in zelfvertrouwen die ze middels pesten wilden bewerkstelligen, niet plaatsvindt. Het verschil in zelfvertrouwen tussen slachtoffers met en zonder goede band met de leerkracht, suggereert dat leerkrachten een belangrijke rol hebben bij het bufferen van het beschadigde zelfvertrouwen van slachtoffers, en dat het dus belangrijk is om met elke leerling een goede band op te bouwen en te behouden, en zeker met leerlingen die slachtoffer zijn van pesten. Met deze cross-sectionele data valt echter niet te zeggen wat de volgorde van deze relatie is. Het kan ook zo zijn dat leerlingen met meer zelfvertrouwen gemakkelijker een goede band met de leerkracht onderhouden.

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Download full research paper Testing how teachers’ self-efficacy and student-teacher relationships moderate the association between bullying, victimization, and student self-esteem Danelien A.E. van Aalst 2021

Teachers play a key role in tackling bullying, but also indicate that they experience difficulties in intervening and lack the self-confidence to intervene effectively in bullying situations. The aim of this dissertation was to develop a theoretical framework to integrate the literature and to test the proposed framework empirically. This framework may serve as a theoretical funda- ment for future data collection and research. lt may also contribute to the development of anti-bullying and teacher-training programs that further increase teachers' effectiveness in tackling bullying. This dissertation found positive associations of teachers' likelihood to intervene with their anti-bullying attitudes, the extent to which they take bullying seriously, and their internal attributions. The teacher-student relationship was also important for students' and in particular victims' self-esteem. Finally, the findings revealed that the perceived school culture was more positive and constructive among primary than among secondary school teachers.
Danelien van Aalst (1991) studied Sociology and did the Research Master Sociology and Social Research at Utrecht University. She obtained her PhD at the Department of Sociology at the University of Groningen as a member of the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS).

van Aalst, D. (2022). Elements Contributing to Teachers' Role in Bullying. University of Groningen. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.214084697

Elements Contributing to Teachers’ Role in Bullying

This dissertation focused on examining elements that could contribute to teachers’ likelihood to intervene in bullying. Bullying has detrimental consequences for all those who are involved, and occurs in every school. Since teachers play a crucial role in preventing and tackling bullying, it is alarming that teachers indicate having difficulties with intervening in bullying or lack the confidence to do so. Previous research also showed differences among teachers in the extent to which they intervene, and to which they execute anti-bullying lessons. At the start of this dissertation, there appeared to be great variety in predictor and outcome variables examined in previous research. In addition, a theoretical framework was lacking, which could be used to integrate existing research and serve as a fundament for future studies and data collection. The goal of this dissertation was therefore to create an overview of existing literature and develop a theoretical framework to integrate existing studies, and to serve as a starting point for the examination of individual and contextual elements contributing to teachers’ likelihood to intervene in bullying. Results showed a positive association between teachers’ likelihood to intervene, and their attitudes as well as their internal attribution styles. The relationship with their students was positively associated with their students’ self-esteem, in particular victims’ self-esteem. Finally, the context in which teachers’ operated was examined, showing clear differences between primary and secondary school teachers in perceived school culture, which could affect the implementation of anti-bullying programs and strategies used to tackle bullying in schools.

Discussion

The aim of this study was to investigate the association of teacher characteristics with students’ self-esteem, and teachers’ potential buffering role for the self-esteem of bullies and victims. The results were consistent with our expectations that efficacious teachers and a positive student-teacher relationship relate positively to students’ self-esteem. The findings further indicated that only bullies’ self-esteem was negatively related to TSE at the class level. A positive student-teacher relationship at the individual level was related to higher levels of self-esteem for children who reported more victimization, but related to lower levels of self-esteem for children who reported more bullying.

Higher teacher-reported levels of self-efficacy were related to lower self-esteem when self-reported bullying was high. If teachers act decisively, bullies may become more aware that their behaviour is not tolerated, and this may be related to lower self-esteem. We expected that higher teacher-reported levels of self-efficacy would protect victims from further damage to their self-esteem. However, we did not find a moderation effect of TSE on the association between victimization and students’ self-esteem. Whereas teachers with high self-efficacy act decisively towards bullies, this does not have a direct effect on victims’ feelings. Perhaps general teacher self-efficacy does not give individual victims the feeling of being supported, which seems a necessary element to influence students’ self-esteem (Tsaousis, 2016). A second reason for the absence of a buffering teacher effect on the negative consequences of victimization may be that TSE was measured using teachers’ perceptions, which can differ from students’ perceptions. There can be discrepancies between students’ and teachers’ perceptions of how teachers handle a bullying situation (Bradshaw et al., 2007). Teachers’ self-reported efficacy might thus be less beneficial for victims in countering the negative consequences of victimization.

At the relationship level, a positive relationship with teachers was expected to matter for bullies’ and victims’ self-esteem. The findings suggested the better the relationship with the teacher, the stronger the negative association between bullying and self-esteem. Although speculative, our belief is that when students display bullying behaviour they jeopardize the relationship they have with their teacher, which can relate to lower levels of self-esteem. Good student-teacher relationships buffer students from the consequences of internalizing behaviour problems (O’Connor et al., 2011), and bullying by students might reduce this buffering effect.

That bullies with a positive student-teacher relationship are worse off in terms of lower self-esteem can be seen as an adverse outcome, especially because it has been found that lower student self-esteem amplifies externalizing behaviour such as aggression (Doumen et al., 2011). A positive student-teacher relationship can help in communicating alternative behavioural strategies to aggressive children (Doumen et al., 2008). Therefore, it might matter how teachers approach bullies in relation to their bullying behaviour. Bullies are more likely to change if the teacher condemns the bullying or attempts to raise empathy for the victim, than if the teacher blames the bullies (Garandeau et al., 2016). Our study could not distinguish between the ways in which teachers supported and approached students, but future research would benefit from further investigating differences in teacher support for different groups.

The results also demonstrated a moderation effect of a positive student-teacher relationship on victims’ self-esteem. Victims’ self-esteem was higher (or less low) when they had a more positive student-teacher relationship. The positive relationship with the teacher was positively related to students’ self-esteem, and may give a positive signal to peers which could potentially improve victims’ social position in the peer group.

Strengths and limitations

Our study provides insight into the role of teachers in promoting students’ self-esteem, and the findings indicate that teachers’ characteristics are associated with students’ self-esteem in general, and more specifically with the negative consequences of low self-esteem that bullies and victims experience. Owing to the cross-sectional nature of our data, we were unable to draw conclusions on the causality of the associations between TSE, student-teacher relationship, and students’ self-esteem. Especially the findings showing a positive student-teacher relationship related to lower self-esteem in bullies would benefit from further research using longitudinal data to investigate the causal directions. Perhaps bullies who have a positive relationship with their teacher continue the bullying, and experience a deterioration in the relationship with their teacher which negatively affects their self-esteem. It is also possible that bullies have low self-esteem despite having a positive relationship with their teacher, and therefore still perceive bullying as a way of improving their self-perceptions.

Data used for this study come from grade 5, where students are mostly taught by one teacher throughout the academic year. The following school year, students often move to a new classroom with a different teacher, and in secondary schools, students even have different teachers for different subjects throughout the day or week. This could lessen the impact of the teachers, but it is also possible that a positive relationship with one or two teachers is enough to buffer the negative impact of victimization on victims’ self-esteem. Longitudinal data following a cohort of peers over a number of years with different teachers could provide further insight into the role of teachers.

A limitation of our study concerns the measurement of teachers’ self-efficacy, which was measured using general items concerning the reduction of aggressive behaviour, fostering cooperation between students, and facilitating friendships. Perhaps measuring teachers’ self-efficacy using items measuring more specifically the reduction of bullying and the support of victims (e.g., Fischer & Bilz, 2019) would have led to stronger conclusions. Another measurement limitation concerns the one-item questions on bullying and victimization. Students were asked to report on a five-point rating scale to what extent they bullied others and were bullied by others, but they did not receive a definition of bullying beforehand. This might limit the validity of the measurement, as these 10-year-olds might vary in their understanding of bullying and might not always distinguish between bullying and teasing (Espelage & Holt, 2013; Kert et al., 2010)

Despite these limitations, the findings of this study show that teachers can have an impact on students’ self-evaluations. The role of teachers’ self-efficacy needs further research to investigate how it affects students’ self-esteem. Teachers’ positive relationships with victimized students might prevent these students from ending up in the vicious circle of having reduced self-esteem as a result of being victimized, leading to increasing risks of persistent victimization.

Original language English: Qualification Doctor of Philosophy

Awarding Institution: University of Groningen

Supervisors/Advisors