AUSTRALIAN Catholic University educational leadership expert Paul Kidson says threatening and offensive behaviour against teachers is at its highest levels and trending in the wrong direction.
ACU’s annual Principal Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellbeing survey, which surveyed 2300 participants, found that the behaviours were consistent across government, Catholic and independent schools.
He said their research showed parents and caregivers were more likely to be the perpetrators of cyberbullying, gossip and slander whereas outright violent behaviours usually came from students.
About 66 per cent of all threats of violence came from parents and caregivers, he said.
He said causes were “multiple and complex”, but underlying much of it was “a lack of basic courtesy and respect”.
“It is incomprehensible that some people still feel it is acceptable to behave this way at schools,” he said.
“It not only endangers teachers, who are generous and caring as a profession, but is an appalling example to set for children about how to deal effectively with conflict.”
He said the irony was that some parents and caregivers would be rightly appalled if educators spoke back to them the way they spoke to educators.
“If employees in just about any other setting were subjected to these behaviours, there are consequences such as removal from the location or even legal action against the offender, and with little argument,” he said.
The Queensland Government announced it was rolling out a campaign to eliminate violence against teachers on September 9.
The campaign will run on social media, YouTube, Google and a dedicated website.
Dr Kidson said the experiences teachers were having was also hurting uptake of the profession.
He said the Australian teachers’ perceptions of their work survey, a survey of nearly 5500 teachers, reported nearly 25 per cent of teachers felt unsafe, up from 19 per cent in their 2019 survey.
“Importantly, 28 per cent of participants were in faith-based or independent schools, highlighting again that this is a situation impacting teachers in Catholic schools,” he said.
Dr Kidson said schools are increasingly communicating “clear expectations to families about how best to engage with teachers, and this is welcomed”.
“A number are also including statements about email courtesy and the timeframes in which responses are likely in an endeavour to manage expectations both for teachers and families,” he said.
“Parent education seminars on how to positively engage with your child’s school are also offered in many schools.
“Again, though, this relies on families being actively involved and committed to fulfilling their obligations to these expectations.
“While many families do this, it is sadly those who don’t who often also don’t engage with these positive strategies.”
