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The Bullying of Teachers Is Slowly Entering the National Spotlight. How Will Your School Respond?

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The Bullying of Teachers Is Slowly Entering the National Spotlight. How Will Your School Respond? UNDER ATTACK The bullying of teachers is slowly entering the national spotlight. How will your school respond? BY ADRIENNE VAN DER VALK ON NOVEMBER !, "#!$, Teaching Tolerance (TT) posted a blog by an anonymous contributor titled “Teachers Can Be Bullied Too.” The author describes being screamed at by her department head in front of colleagues and kids and having her employment repeatedly threatened. She also tells of the depres- sion and anxiety that plagued her fol- lowing each incident. To be honest, we debated posting it. “Was this really a TT issue?” we asked ourselves. Would our readers care about the misfortune of one teacher? How common was this experience anyway? The answer became apparent the next day when the comments section exploded. A popular TT blog might elicit a dozen or so total comments; readers of this blog left dozens upon dozens of long, personal comments every day—and they contin- ued to do so. “It happened to me,” “It’s !"!TEACHING TOLERANCE ILLUSTRATION BY BYRON EGGENSCHWILER happening to me,” “It’s happening in my for the Prevention of Teacher Abuse repeatedly videotaping the target’s class department. I don’t know how to stop it.” (NAPTA). Based on over a decade of without explanation and suspending the This outpouring was a surprise, but it work supporting bullied teachers, she target for insubordination if she attempts shouldn’t have been. A quick Web search asserts that the motives behind teacher to report the situation. revealed that educators report being abuse fall into two camps. Another strong theme among work- bullied at higher rates than profession- “[Some people] are doing it because place bullying experts is the acute need als in almost any other field. (Nursing is they’re power hungry and they like the to reduce the amount of harm and col- also at the top.) A second search put us feeling that they can come in there lateral damage to the target that’s in touch with the Workplace Bullying … and torment a bunch of people. It inherent in any bullying situation. Institute (WBI) and its cofounder, Gary makes them feel good,” she says. “Some First, there is the professional harm. Namie, who for years has worked with of them are doing it because they’re Workplace bullying is among the top rea- teachers seeking support and relief from making a lot of money.” sons trained professionals leave educa- bullying. Namie and WBI o!er a theory Horwitz believes that a significant tion. Walking away from any job is not a for the high concentration of bullying in percentage of teacher bullying is related decision most people can make without education and nursing. to school reform or privatization agen- emotional or financial consequences “The professionals who get into these das (forcing out teachers who “won’t and, in many communities, finding fields [have] a pro-social orientation,” he play ball”) and to attempts to cover up another teaching position may be prohib- says. “They’re helpers, right? For teach- financial impropriety, a phenomenon itively di"cult. On top of that, education ers, they’re really development special- she calls “white chalk crime” (also the degrees aren’t particularly flexible, mak- ists. … They’re not political animals. title of her book). Low-income commu- ing career changes harder to pursue. They have their back turned to the pol- nities and communities of color, she Then, there are the physical symp- itics, which of course, then opens them says, are particularly vulnerable. toms. According to Matt Spencer, a for- up to this attack. Because of their good- “That o!ends me more than anything,” mer superintendent and author of the ness in a way, because of their motiva- Horwitz says. “That they would take these book Exploiting Children: School Board tion. This is why they get targeted.” really good, solid … teachers and abuse Members Who Cross the Line, victims Namie’s description of who gets tar- them out of teaching when those kids need of bullying might experience anxiety geted matches up with the identity of our them more than anything.” attacks, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, anonymous blogger and with many of the While experts may debate the motives, throwing up before work, inability to commenters: veteran or high-achieving one thing is clear: The hierarchical struc- focus, depression and post-traumatic teachers who cultivate strong relation- ture of many schools and districts com- stress disorder. “[The symptoms] are ships with students and families. So why bined with the isolation many teachers very, very real,” Spencer says. these teachers, we asked? Wouldn’t they experience due to the nature of the job And, sadly, teachers are not the only be the ones colleagues and administra- can create an environment where bullying ones who su!er when bullying behav- tors would want to keep around? behavior can easily go unchecked—with ior happens between adults. devastating consequences for the target “[Adults who bully] are modeling Motives of the behavior and for the kids they teach. the behavior for [student] bullies,” says “Bully targets are threatening to a per- Namie. “They are actually undermining petrator. They pose a threat in some Tactics and E!ects any moral authority to stop the child way, usually because of teaching excel- According to the numerous experts we bully when the principal comes in and lence or focus on children, or adher- spoke with and many of the comment- berates the teacher in front of the class- ence to the mission or their principles,” ers on our blog, the experiences of tar- room. … That teacher now cannot tell a Namie explains. “This just agitates the geted teachers are, to use Namie’s words, bully to knock it o!, because the bully crap out of somebody who is unscrupu- “almost prototypical.” The teacher-bully can say, ‘Yeah, well, you couldn’t stop lous and sadistic. They can’t stand it.” relationship is often a new relationship Mr. Smith, why should I listen to you?’” Karen Horwitz was an award-win- or one that experienced a recent shift ning English teacher who experienced a in power dynamics. The more powerful Responses stress-related health crisis and left edu- individual may single out the targeted It was clear from the many personal cation after su!ering alleged bullying by teacher for ridicule in meetings or belit- accounts we researched that attempting her principal. After fighting an extended tle her in front of students or parents. to expose or stop a bullying co-worker court battle (her case went all the way Other tactics include sending confron- was never easy and rarely e!ective. But to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was tational or accusatory emails, writing up it wasn’t entirely clear why—until we dismissed), Horwitz founded an organi- the target for violating vague or undoc- looked closely at the types of protec- zation called the National Association umented rules, “icing out” the target, tions and policies most schools have SUMMER !"#$%!" in place. It is true that an words, to quote the WBI’s increasing number of schools website, the HWB “plugs the have anti-bullying policies, gaps in current state and fed- but they apply almost exclu- eral civil rights protections.” sively to students. Workplace “The bill is drafted in a way harassment policies seem like to incentivize employers to they should protect targets, take voluntary action that they but most can only be enforced don’t do now,” Namie explains. when the harassing behavior is “We’re saying, if [a school] linked to discrimination based want[s] to escape vicarious lia- on gender or race. If the target bility as an employer, what you is not a member of a protected need to do is you need to take class or is unable to draw the reasonable steps. … Create a pol- line between discriminatory icy and procedures and enforce intent and behavior, “dis- them. Make them available. crimination and harassment If you’ve done all of that, then policies are just not the right only the individual [who bullies] mechanism to use with work- The Workplace Bullying Institute can be held liable.” To date, 29 place bullying,” according to Spencer. defines workplace bullying as repeated, states and two territories have introduced As an educator who was targeted health-harming mistreatment of the target the HWB; 10 states introduced it in 2015 himself, Spencer is all too familiar that is: threatening, humiliating or intim- alone. Although it has yet to pass, encour- with how limited protections for bul- idating; disruptive of the target’s work; aging developments in Utah (which now lied teachers really are. and verbally abusive. mandates abuse-prevention trainings “When you look at an action as per- for state workers) and Minnesota (which petrated by a workplace bully, you can passed a statewide workplace bullying pol- see that it just doesn’t fit in the harass- Preliminary discussions should focus icy under pressure from the state employ- ment law. The HR person who wit- on identifying a range of behaviors that ees’ union) are pushing the issue into the nesses these kinds of behaviors … and is are considered noncollegial—under- spotlight, paving the way, Namie hopes, for trying to use the lenses of harassments standing that the list will include gray more states to take action. and discrimination [might say], ‘Yeah, areas that will require discussion. Eighteen months after we published they’re mean and rude and nasty and Through this discussion, McEvoy sug- “Teachers Can Be Bullied Too,” the uncivil but they’re not … discriminating gests capturing descriptions and state- still-growing string of comments indi- against you.
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