The attitude of school counselors and class teachers towards bullying from the perspective of the bystander intervention model

Medvrstniško nasilje se pogosto dogaja pred opazovalci, ki v večini primerov ne ukrepajo. V magistrski nalogi smo kot opazovalce vključili osnovnošolske učitelje – razrednike in šolske svetovalne delavce ter želeli preučiti njihov odnos do verbalnega in fizičnega nasilja na šoli. Teoretično smo izhajali iz intervencijskega modela opazovalcev, ki opredeljuje pet stopenj ukrepanja (zaznava dogodka, razlaga dogodka kot resnega, prevzem odgovornosti za pomoč, znanje in spretnosti za pomoč ter odločitev za pomoč in nudenje pomoči). Priredili in validirali smo pripomoček za merjenje vedenja odraslih opazovalcev na šoli. Ugotovili smo, da so zaposleni strokovni delavci v osnovnih šolah najmanj uspešni na prvi stopnji modela, pri zaznavi dogodkov nasilja. V primerjavi s fizičnim so udeleženci dogodke verbalnega nasilja v povprečju zaznali večkrat ter sebi pripisali več znanja in spretnosti za ukrepanje. Obe skupini udeležencev smo primerjali tudi med seboj in ugotovili, da šolski svetovalni delavci v pomembno večji meri usmerjajo pozornost na situacije medvrstniškega nasilja kot učitelji. Pretekle raziskave so opozorile na empatijo kot pomemben dejavnik za intervencijo, zato smo tudi v naši nalogi preučili njeno vlogo. Rezultati so pokazali, da se tako čustveni kot kognitivni vidik empatije povezujeta z večino stopenj intervencijskega modela. Preverili smo tudi vlogo drugih dejavnikov pri ukrepanju (delovno dobo, število ur na teden z učenci, leto razredništva ipd.), vendar so bile povezanosti s stopnjami intervencije nizke ali statistično nepomembne. Z raziskavo smo opozorili na pomembnost vloge učiteljev − razrednikov in šolskih svetovalnih delavcev kot opazovalcev medvrstniškega nasilja. Dobili smo vpogled v prisotnost posameznih stopenj intervencije pri medvrstniškem nasilju ter v dejavnike, ki se z njimi povezujejo. Ugotovili smo, da bi pri zaposlenih v osnovnih šolah morali spodbujati empatijo in občutljivost na medvrstniško nasilje, saj je največ možnosti za zmanjševanje tega nasilja ravno na prvi stopnji intervencije, tj. pri zaznavi nasilnih dogodkov.Bullying often takes place in front of bystanders, who in most cases do not intervene. In this master\u27s thesis, we included elementary school class teachers and school counselors as bystanders in order to examine their attitudes toward verbal and physical bullying. Theoretically, we relied on the bystander intervention model, which outlines five steps of intervention (notice the event, interpret the event as an emergency that requires help, accept responsibility for intervening, know how to intervene or provide help and implement intervention decisions). We adapted and validated a questionnaire to measure adult bystander intervention behaviors in school settings. We found that employees in Slovenian primary schools were least successful at the first step of the model, noticing bullying events. Compared to physical bullying, participants noticed verbal bullying events more often on average and attributed more knowledge and skills to themselves to take action. We also compared both groups of participants and found that school counselors paid significantly more attention to bullying situations than teachers. Previous research has highlighted empathy as an important factor in intervention, so we examined its role in our thesis as well. Results showed that both the emotional and cognitive aspects of empathy were correlated with most steps of the intervention model. We also examined the role of other factors (years of service, number of hours per week with students, length of time as a class teacher, etc.). The correlation of these factors with the intervention steps of the model was low or not statistically significant. This research highlights the importance of the role of class teachers and school counselors as bystanders of bullying. We gained insight into the presence of each intervention step for traditional bullying and the factors associated with it. The results indicate that we should promote empathy and sensitivity to bullying among employees in elementary schools, as most room for development lies in the first stage of intervention - noticing bullying events