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Uncovering teachers' bystander behaviors in bullying: A qualitative study

Karlien Demol, KU Leuven; Karine Verschueren, KU Leuven; Christina Salmivalli, University of Turku; Hilde Colpin, KU Leuven

Bullying is a prevalent problem in upper elementary school that is related to various negative outcomes especially for victims. The participant role approach and bullying circle describe students' bystander behaviors in the group process of bullying. As teachers are an integral part of students' social context, they may (unwittingly) participate in this group process. However, examining teachers' responses to bullying using a bystander framework has never been done before. Additionally, evidence regarding how teachers respond to actual bullying incidents is limited. Inappropriate active teacher responses have been a blind spot and alternative appropriate responses may have been overlooked. This qualitative study aims to increase insight into helpful and harmful teacher responses to bullying and to develop a new conceptualization of teacher responses. Purposive sampling will be used to recruit students and teachers for participation in semi-structured interviews. The sample size will depend on theoretical sufficiency. Applied thematic analysis will be used to uncover responses, to understand how responses fit into a bystander framework, and to examine whether students and teachers report similar responses and bystander behaviors. We expect to find a wide variety of teachers' responses to bullying, resulting in a more complete and accurate picture of these responses. Examining teachers as bystanders in bullying will result in a new conceptualization of teachers' responses to bullying, enabling to examine these responses in a more comprehensive and differentiated way. Teachers' bystander behaviors might reflect students' behaviors, but they might also be unique as teachers have different power, responsibilities and knowledge regarding bullying compared to students. These insights will benefit both scientific knowledge and educational practice. Future studies can build on this study by examining predictors and outcomes of teachers' bystander behaviors.

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