1. A Qualitative Investigation on Teachers' Motivation to Combat Bullying
- Author
-
Okten, Merve
- Subjects
- Education, Psychology, School bullying, teacher motivation, school culture, school climate, urban bilingual schools
- Abstract
School bullying has become a global concern due to its detrimental consequences on children's well-being. In the prevention and intervention of school bullying, teachers play a critical role, especially in detecting the signals of bullying, being aware of its consequences, and effectively responding to bullying incidents (Bradshaw et al., 2013; Horne et al., 2003). The current study aimed to explore teachers' personal and professional experiences of bullying, perceived school culture and climate, and motivation to combat bullying. A qualitative approach, a collective case study, was deemed appropriate to investigate these concepts through in-depth interviews. The participants of this study consisted of the regular education teachers (n =8) of a bilingual urban elementary school in the Midwest, United States. The results revealed that participants value anti-bullying practices and are intrinsically motivated to combat bullying. Their extrinsic motivation appeared to be negatively affected by the high workload and a lack of support systems available. Despite these concerns contributing to a lack of extrinsic motivation, the positive school culture and climate were significant external motivators. Teachers' experiences with bullying and perceptions of the school culture and climate are further interpreted to provide a holistic view of their motivation to combat bullying. Recommendations for future research and field practices are also discussed.
- Published
- 2021