Teachers As Bystanders: Opportunities for Collaboration Between Teachers and School Social Workers

Background and Purpose:  To keep up with the changing social context, school social workers are increasingly showing their value to schools by playing key roles in developing and implementing important school policies and prevention programs.  Complex issues, such as bullying, have brought to light the importance of expanding school social work to include interventions focused on multiple levels of practice.   Recognizing that teachers play an important role in influencing educational, social, and emotional outcomes for students, this study sought to broaden our understanding of what motivates teachers to intervene in bullying situations in order to inform school social work practice as well as future anti-bullying programs and policies.  Of particular interest was examining whether individual teacher characteristics or perceived organizational characteristics played a greater role in motivating teachers to intervene. 

Methods:  This study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive design to gather data from middle school teachers in ten districts across the state of Michigan (n=176).  Participants completed an online survey which included six bullying vignettes as well as several measures examining individual and organizational level characteristics.  Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the relationship between these characteristics and teachers’ likelihood of intervention.  In addition to the online survey, 19 teachers also participated in an individual interview focused on their experiences with bullying and their interventions in bullying situations. 

Results:  Over half (52.2%) of the variance in teachers’ reported likelihood of intervention in the bullying situations was accounted for by individual level characteristics.  Results of hierarchical multiple regression indicate that teachers’ perceived seriousness of the bullying situation, their level of empathy toward the students being bullied, and their age significantly contribute to their reported likelihood of intervention in the bullying situations (p < .05).  Bivariate analyses revealed a significant relationship between two organizational level variables and teachers’ reported likelihood of intervention; however, these variables did not remain significant at the multivariate level.  The majority of organizational level variables were not significant predictors of teachers’ reported likelihood of intervention in the bullying situations (p > .05). 

Conclusion and Implications:  Overall, the findings emphasize the role of individual characteristics in influencing teachers’ likelihood of intervention in bullying situations.  The significant role teachers’ perceived seriousness of the bullying situation and their level of empathy toward the students being bullied played in their intervention decisions align with many of the key concepts in the seminal bystander intervention theories (Batson, 1991; Latane & Darley, 1970).  Viewing teachers as bystanders creates an opportunity to apply our knowledge of bystander behavior and theory to the development of programs and policies which emphasize the importance of teacher beliefs in shaping intervention decisions.  School social workers can utilize these theories to develop a practice model which emphasizes collaboration and acknowledges the important role all bystanders (including teachers) play in addressing the problem of bullying.  The findings also highlight how adopting a multilevel approach to practice provides school social workers with the opportunity to work collaboratively with teachers to achieve the shared goal of creating a safe school environment.