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Workplace Bullying in Primary Schools: Teachers’ Experience of Workplace Bullying; an Organisational Response Perspective

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Workplace Bullying in Primary Schools: Teachers’ Experience of Workplace Bullying; an Organisational Response Perspective Workplace Bullying in Primary Schools: Teachers’ Experience of Workplace Bullying; an organisational response perspective Kathleen Fitzpatrick Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervised by: Professor Patricia Mannix-McNamara & Dr. Sarah MacCurtain Submitted to the University of Limerick, October 201 DECLARATION I hereby declare that: My submission as a whole is not substantially the same as any that I have previously made or am currently making, whether in published or unpublished form for a degree, diploma, or similar qualification at any university or similar institution. I am the author of this thesis. Signature: ______________________________ Kathleen Fitzpatrick i ABSTRACT The aim of this doctoral research is to contribute to the growing body of knowledge concerning workplace bullying by considering the help-seeking experiences of targets of bullying and organisational responses to their complaints. A phenomenological research design was adopted. Twenty-two Irish primary school teachers (7 male, 15 female) self-selected for interview. Data were analysed utilising an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework. All those interviewed had made complaints in accordance with the nationally agreed procedures stipulated to address workplace bullying in their schools. Redress procedures comprises several stages. All had engaged in stage one and two of the official complaints procedures; and all had availed of counselling, with most engaging with the recommended employee assistance service (formerly known as ‘Care Call’ now Medmark). Some participants had ceased engagement at stage 2, while others participants who had proceeded to stage three, ceased engagement at this juncture. Further participants proceeded to stage 4, of whom two are currently proscribed from returning to their posts due to ongoing disputes based upon retaliation for complaints, which comprised challenges to their fitness to work. It is significant that no participant expressed satisfaction with the outcome of exercising agency and engaging with redress procedures. In fact, complaints procedures served as technologies of power for bullies who launched counterattacks. This doctoral study traced the pre-action, action, response, and overall consequences for the teacher as the target of workplace bullying describing targets’ resistance within the context of complex social interactions and considered possible supportive, preventative, and resolution strategies. The resultant approach has wide-ranging implications for the present pernicious practices and it identified a number of proposals for professional practice and modifications in the way in which workplace bullying may be countered and contained. This thesis contributes to discourses of agency in workplace bullying and challenges both researchers and policy-makers to fully elucidate the various issues surrounding pathways to redress for bullying. In addition through its emphasis on the power dynamics which characterize redress it extends the limited available literature in the substantive area about the ineffectiveness of complaints procedures Moreover, despite the research limitation respecting the modest scale of the study involving self-selecting teachers, the richness of the data elicited underscores the problematic and contingent assumptions underpinning anti-bullying policies and procedures which purportedly address workplace bullying within small organisations. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge and thank everyone who helped, contributed, and supported me through to the completion of this thesis. My continuing passion is to part a curtain; that invisible shadow that falls between people, the veil of indifference to each other’s presence, each other’s wonder, each other’s human plight (Eudora Welty). I must firstly express my sincere gratitude to Professor Patricia Mannix-McNamara and Dr. Sarah MacCurtain who share my belief in raising awareness of the phenomenon of workplace bullying and oversaw my learning journey. Throughout the entire process you helped, encouraged, and guided me through times of bewilderment and uncertainty, and when it was necessary to “let go”. Your joint expertise, which helped to sharpen my focus and guide me in my pursuit of truth, was also a constant, motivating reminder of my goals to raise awareness of the issue of bullying amongst teachers, to encourage further debate on the issue, to make a contribution to the existing body of knowledge, and to carry out meaningful research in the area of the aftermath of bullying complaints. Thank you both. I am greatly indebted to the teachers who were willing to come forward; their contribution to this study is enormous. Your bravery is a crucial part of a movement to raise awareness, and to address and ultimately eliminate workplace bullying from our primary schools. You generously shared your personal insights, anguish, distress, isolation, and at times, harrowing accounts, of a lonely journey in search of redress and acknowledgement. Your passion for teaching was palpable throughout the interview data, as was your concern and regard for your students and colleagues. Your desire to prevent bullying from taking place and to improve how we deal with complaints of bullying for future generations of teachers is greatly appreciated. I fully believe that your abiding concern for those who are being bullied or may be bullied in the future, and your desire to improve conditions and support, will help to transform professional practice. I want to thank my friends, especially Paul and John, who share my sense of outrage at the phenomenon of workplace bullying, and what we regard as grave injustice, inequality, and breaches of human rights. We cannot remain silent on issues of moral and professional conscience and yet we constantly question our own autobiographies at length. Thank you for your views, deliberations, proof-reading efforts, and enlightened advice. We are well overdue a tune. I am deeply grateful to my husband Declan, my children, Kate, Sean, and Aoife, and my dad Brendan, who have loyally and lovingly supported me throughout this journey; putting up with me and all my clutter through all the ups and downs, and encouraging me to follow my dreams. You made it all possible. And, last, but never least, I dedicate this study to the memory of my wonderful mum, Rita. You made me possible. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall (Nelson Mandela). iii Table of Contents DECLARATION................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... iii CHAPTER 1....................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Background to the study .......................................................................................................................4 1.1.2 Statement of the Problem .....................................................................................................................7 1.1.3 Rationale and Justification ....................................................................................................................9 1.1.4 The Irish context ................................................................................................................................. 12 1.1.5 The Legislative framework ................................................................................................................. 21 1.2 Research Question ........................................................................................................... 27 1.2.1 Emerging questions ............................................................................................................................ 27 1.3 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................... 29 1.4. Thesis Outline ................................................................................................................. 31 CHAPTER 2......................................................................................................................34 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................34 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 34 2.1.1 Historical overview ............................................................................................................................. 35 2.1.2 Workplace Bullying ............................................................................................................................. 36 2.1.3 Proliferation of Terms......................................................................................................................... 38 2.1.4 Defining bullying ................................................................................................................................
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