Abstract
Background: Bullying behavior occurs both globally and nationally in rural and urban schools and exerts a profound impact on the emotional, social, academic, and physical well-being of school-aged children. Given the significant role that teachers play in the lives of school children and their exposure to incidents of bullying, they would seem to be in an ideal position to be able to understand and reflect on this phenomenon. However, their views on bullying remain under-researched.
Aim: Hence, the aim of the study was to explore the views of teachers at Sokisi High School, Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province regarding the causes of, and responses to bullying.
Method: Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological theory, the study took the form of an instrumental case study design located within a qualitative approach. Fifteen educators were purposefully recruited from Sokisi high school for participation in the research and data were collected via face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings: The study identified significant factors influencing bullying behaviors at different levels of the ecological system of high school learners, including the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. More specifically, teachers were able to identify individual traits, family and parental factors, school climate, and community characteristics, which helped them to become aware of bullying, understand the causes of bullying and respond to this phenomenon.
Conclusion: The most important contribution of the research was the development of a multi-level ecological model of bullying from the perspective of teachers. The study also yielded important recommendations for addressing bullying in schools, including the need for teachers, learners, parents, social workers and police to collaborate in raising awareness of the problem and helping to reduce bullying in schools so as to ensure a safe and secure environment in which effective teaching and learning can take place.
Keywords: bullying, policies, ecological systems theory, child, parents and families, school climate, community system