What can teachers do?
Recent studies in Australia and five other countries (Rigby & Johnson, 2006) have shown that the greatest influence on young people's bystander behaviour is what they think their friends expect of them (not what their teacher or parents think).
Teachers and schools can play an crucial role in supporting young people to take a stand against bullying – not by telling students what to do, but through devising ways in which positive peer influence can make itself felt.
Classroom reflective questioning
Carefully chosen stimulus materials and structured discussion questions encourage students to share with honesty their own concerns about bullying situations and build support for reducing the incidence of bullying. When students are able to be honest about their beliefs and feelings they often find that their peers are also uncomfortable with abuses of power.
As a starting point, Ken Rigby has provided a questionnaire
and discussion questions he has developed for use in upper primary and
secondary classrooms.
This process has been found to be effective in encouraging better bystander behaviour and reducing bullying. Similar approaches have been successfully undertaken in relation to adolescent attitudes to violence against women (Berkowitz, 2004).
Action research
Research is important because it engages students, provides local data about significant issues and trends, and provides the basis for proactive preventative approaches and practices and evaluation of their effectiveness.
Action research underpins community of inquiry / philosophy or critical literacy approaches, within all learning areas. These approaches foster understanding, empathy and the courage that risks social disapproval - 'the courage of the non-conformist' by addressing:
- Aspects of values formation
- Beliefs about behaviour and relationships
- Commonalities and diversity of human experience, needs and desires
- Cultural dynamics and peer group affiliations
- How individuals and systems may be framing, perpetuating and justifying bullying and violence
- The construction of gender
- Conformist behaviour and the benefits of complicity with the dominant group
- Power, privilege, and the policing of social hierarchies
- Social justice, civil responsibility, leadership, and cultural change issues.
For more Bullying. No way! information and resources on this topic
Information sheet about the value of participatory action research and other approaches that engage participants in monitoring and improving school community needs (with links to school case studies)
Questionnaire
and classroom reflective questioning activity
Ken Rigby provides a questionnaire and classroom reflective questioning activity.
Ken Rigby interview on bystander behaviour with links to some of his articles.
Information sheet about broad issues, approaches and skills to help students challenge bullying and harassment and support targeted students (with links to school case studies).
For a bystander program to make an impact, educators must persist with it. A one-off session with a class is not likely to be effective. We strongly recommend that students be asked to report back to the class on their experiences, good and bad, after they have acted to discourage bullying. In this way the teacher, as well as the children learn about what can be done to translate good intentions into effective action.
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