Speakers
Description
Identity-based bullying, also known as bias-based and stigma-based bullying, is bullying that occurs due to a real or perceived social identity. Youth from equity-deserving communities, such as transgender and gender diverse youth, are more likely to experience both general bullying victimization as well as identity-based bullying victimization. Teachers play a critical role in addressing bullying in school contexts (Colpin et al, 2021). Teacher attitudes and interventions can be influenced by a variety of factors including individual characteristics such as gender and ethnicity (Fischer et al., 2021), how they perceive the bullying interaction, and school climate (Kollerova et al., 2021). This symposium consists of five papers representing research from four countries examining teacher, student and school factors related to responding to identity-based bullying. The research papers broadly investigate the school context (climate, diversity, socioeconomic status, teacher training and school support), teachers’ perceptions and characteristics (prior training, personal experience with harassment, gender, LGBTQ+, ethnical/cultural minority, ethnic/cultural similarity to students), and attitudes and how it influences their responses to identity-based bullying. In addition, effects of these teacher responses on student cognitions are addressed. The symposium has a developmental lens examining both preservice and inservice teachers, as well as their experiences in elementary and high school. The results of this research have implication for teacher training programs, as well as continued education for inservice teachers on create a safe, accepting and inclusive classrooms and schools.
Keywords
Teachers, identity-based bullying, intervention
Additional field for symposia
Title: Examining Factors that Influence Preservice and In-service Teachers’ Intention to Intervene in Gender and Sexual Minority Identity-based Harassment
Authors:
Natalie Spadafora, Brock University
Wendy Craig, Queen’s University
Alexa Martin-Storey, Université de Sherbrooke
Laura Lambe, St. Francis Xavier University
Ann Farrell, Brock University
Abstract:
Teachers can play a fundamental role in the reduction of peer harassment between students (e.g., Lucas‐Molina et al., 2015). Gender and sexual minority students experience higher levels of Bullying at school, and therefore it may be particularly important for teachers to intervene in this type of behavior. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship among school climate and educator experiences (prior training, personal experience with harassment), and attitudes (homophobia and transgender knowledge) with intention to intervene in gender/sexual harassment of students. We also tested for indirect effects of educator attitudes on intention to intervene. We examined all associations in both a pre-service (n = 416 between the ages of 18 and 50 (M = 22.40; SD = 3.98)) and in-service teacher sample (n = 931 between the ages of 23 and 50 (M = 42.05; SD = 8.14)). For in-service teachers, higher transgender knowledge, lower homophobia, and having previously experienced harassment was associated with greater intention to intervene. Having prior training was associated with greater transgender knowledge and greater intention to intervene. For the pre-service teachers, there was a significant association between lower homophobia and being gender diverse and greater intention to intervene. In both samples, perceiving more barriers in the school climate was associated greater transgender knowledge and lower homophobia. Our results highlight the importance of ensuring teachers receive continued education of diverse gender and sexual identities, and effective training in how to intervene in peer harassment.
Title: Effects of teacher responses to gender-based bullying on pupils’ cognitions
Authors: Manon Deryckere, Karlien Demol, Hilde Colpin (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Abstract: Identity-based bullying (IBB) occurs when individuals are targeted based on identity characteristics like gender or ethnicity. Although teachers can play a critical role in reducing IBB, research remains limited. Furthermore, most IBB research focuses on adolescents. However, children internalize stereotypical conceptions from an early age and these conceptions often translate into subtle or explicit forms of bullying. Gender is a prominent identity characteristic in early childhood; research demonstrated that, as early as preschool, children show awareness of certain gender stereotypes.
This study addresses these two gaps by examining the effects of teacher responses to gender-based bullying on pupils’ cognitions using an experimental vignette design. Children aged 4 to 12 years (N= +-700) are randomly assigned to one of eight (2x4) conditions/vignettes. Each vignette describes one hypothetical bullying scenario (victim is a 1. gender non-conforming boy, 2. gender non-conforming girl) and one teacher response (1. non-response, 2. comforting victim/confronting bully, 3. comforting victim/confronting bully plus counter stereotypical message, 4. expressing understanding to the bully). Afterwards the pupils receive questions about their perceptions of the bullying incident, the teachers’ response, and their gender-stereotypical thoughts. We hypothesize that children will perceive the situation, the teachers’ response and the gender-nonconforming child as more positive and will show less gender stereotypical thoughts when the teacher actively comforts the victim and confronts the bully, especially when combined with a counter stereotypical message. The opposite results are expected when there is a non-response, or even more so when the teacher expresses understanding to the bully. Data collection is ongoing.
Title: How social inequality, identity and diversity at teacher and school level affect teacher responses to identity-based bullying in the UK
Authors: Anke Görzig (1); Lucy R. Betts (2); Rachel Maunder (3); Claire Monks(1); Leyla De Amicis (4) & Samuel Bennett (4)
1) University of Greenwich, 2) Nottingham Trent University, 3) University of Northampton, 4) University of Glasgow
Abstract: Teachers play a key role in preventing and responding to school bullying. Identity-based social exclusion, where children are excluded by peers due to their stigmatised identities, is a distinct form of bullying that can be particularly challenging for teachers to address. This study investigates teachers’ responses to identity-based peer exclusion accounting for social identity, inequality, and diversity at teacher and school levels. As part of a wider international study across 13+ countries using an online survey design, educators from UK primary and secondary schools (N=422) were randomly allocated to an identity-based social exclusion vignette targeting different identities (i.e., ethnicity, appearance, disability, gender expression/sexuality) and asked about their responses (i.e., victim-blaming, perceived seriousness, empathy, self-efficacy, responsibility, intervention likelihood). Characteristics of teachers’ (gender, LGBTQ+, ethnical/cultural minority, ethnic/cultural similarity to students) and their schools (diversity, socioeconomic status, teacher training and school support) were also assessed. Regression analyses showed significant effects of teacher and school characteristics on teachers’ responses to the vignettes, and ANOVAs revealed some differences in teachers’ responses by type of school and targeted identity. The findings highlight some of the teacher and school level characteristics that contribute to how teachers in the UK respond to different types of identity-based bullying amongst students. Practical implications for teacher training and school-level conditions will be discussed.
Title: Teachers’ perceptions and likelihood of intervening in identity-based bullying: Examining the effects of teacher ethnicity
Authors:
Wendy Craig, Queen’s University
Natalie Spadafora, Brock University
Karla Dhungana-Sainju, Ontario Tech University
Abstract: Research indicates that teachers’ demographic characteristics influences their perceptions and responses to bullying. Identity-based bullying (IBB) victimizes someone based on their identity such as their gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, however, there is limited information on how teachers’ demographic characteristics impact their responses to IBB. This study adds to this gap by examining the effects of teachers’ minority status, how similar their ethnic background is to their students, and ethnic similarity to other teachers at their school on their perceptions and likelihood of intervening in IBB scenarios. A path analysis using Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation was conducted on data from 1005 Canadian teachers and several key findings emerged. Greater teacher-student ethnic similarity was associated with teachers rating the IBB situation as more serious and having greater responsibility and self-efficacy. Teachers who self-identified as an ethnic minority were more likely to blame the victim, while those who were not an ethnic minority had higher perceptions for importance of responding, higher empathy, and were more likely to intervene in IBB situations. Greater teacher ethnicity similarity to other teachers was associated with greater likelihood to intervene, and higher teacher empathy. Lastly, those with more teaching experience viewed the situation as more serious and important, and had higher empathy and responsibility, whereas those with less experience were more likely to victim blame. These findings will be discussed in the context of teacher in-group and out-group characteristics, social power dynamics, and how this influences teachers’ perceptions and likelihood of intervening in IBB scenarios.
Title: Key predictors of intention to intervene against bias-based bullying: A comparison between primary and secondary school teachers
Author list: Prestera, G., Bisagno, E., Cadamuro, A., Vezzali, L., Camodeca, M., Palladino, B.E., Menesini, E. & Brighi, A.
Abstract:
While research intensively studied the variables that influence teachers’ likelihood of intervening against interpersonal bullying in schools (e.g., van Aalst et al., 2024), recent literature is focusing on bias-based bullying, in which individuals are targeted due to stigmatized identities (Ramirez et al., 2023). Although some intervening variables, such as teachers’ empathy (Wolgast et al., 2022), self-efficacy (Nappa et al., 2018), and school support (Mulvey et al., 2018) have been highlighted, questions remain: What is the concurrent role of the main psychological and environmental variables in predicting teachers’ intention to intervene against bias-based bullying? Are there differences between primary and secondary school teachers? To answer these questions, we conducted a study with 462 Italian teachers (83% females), of which 164 were primary school teachers. Using multigroup structural equation modelling, we investigated the impact of individual characteristics (empathy, self-efficacy, perceived responsibility) and personal attitudes (perceived seriousness, victim blaming), as well as environmental variables (experience, training) on teachers’ intentions to address bullying incidents, comparing primary and secondary school teachers. The findings revealed that both empathy and victim-blaming significantly affect perceived seriousness, though differently. Secondary teachers show a stronger connection between empathy and perceived seriousness, whereas elementary teachers are more influenced by victim-blaming. Furthermore, self-confidence and responsibility are crucial for both groups, with secondary teachers showing greater responsiveness to training and school support in shaping their attitudes. At the practical level, these results suggest training teachers at different school orders on diverse skills and draw attention to the role of schools in offering support.
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
|---|---|
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
