An Investigation of Middle School Teachers' Perceptions on Bullying Stewart Waters1 & Natalie Mashburn2 Abstract Introduct
Journal of Social Studies Education Research www.jsser.org Sosyal Bilgiler Eğitimi Araştırmaları Dergisi 2017: 8(1), 1-34 An Investigation of Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions on Bullying Stewart Waters1 & Natalie Mashburn2 Abstract The researchers in this study investigated rural middle school teachers’ perspectives regarding bullying. The researchers gathered information about the teachers’ definitions of bullying, where bullying occurs in their school, and how to prevent bullying. Peer-reviewed literature associated with this topic was studied in order to achieve a broader understanding of bullying and to develop a self-administered survey addressing these issues. A total of 21 teachers participated in the survey and the results of this study convey the need to recognize bullying in many forms, appropriately address bullying when it occurs, and incorporate preventive actions that will discourage bullying and encourage acceptance. Keywords: Bullying; Middle School; Teacher Preparation. Introduction Middle school can be a transformative and exciting time for students. However, during these important developmental years, bullying continues to be a persistent and serious issue. In more recent years, national and international concerns relating to the harmful effects of bullying have increased significantly (Thompson & Cohen, 2005). According to Frey and Fisher (2008), bullying has become a part of life for countless students, and can take on many forms within contemporary schools. As a result, bullying has placed a considerable amount of pressure on administrators and teachers to effectively respond to bullying (Bush, 2011). Often, teachers and administrators can be unaware of bullying, making it difficult to develop appropriate policies that are proactive instead of reactive. In 2003, Seals and Young stated that bullying is a persistent and insidious problem that affects roughly one-fourth of the students in the United States.
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