Horrell, Andrew

Holt, Deborah

Steffeck, April R.

2025-10-23T09:10:59Z

2025-10-23T09:10:59Z

2025-10-23

BACKGROUND: Abuse directed at teachers (ADT) is an international phenomenon. It is defined for the purpose of this study as “aggressive behaviours towards in-service teachers by students or the legal guardians of students that is deliberate and aimed to harm either physically, emotionally, socially and/or professionally, including obscene gestures and remarks, intimidation, or physical assault which can be perpetrated in person, or in a cyber environment such as emails and/or social media”. ADT is underrepresented in academic works; approximately one study per year was produced between 1980 and 1998. Tripling in quantity, approximately three studies per year were published between 1999 and 2014. Since 2014, ADT research has focused upon occurrence rates, perpetrator and victim characteristics, and effects of ADT. While a small body of work on ADT victimization and characteristics has been built, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to investigating ADT education and the conceptual understanding of ADT by teachers. The research study presented in this thesis offers a significant contribution to knowledge in this area.   PURPOSE: This thesis aimed to understand whether and where in-service teachers throughout Scotland had experienced ADT education, and whether teachers were able to demonstrate conceptual understanding of the phenomenon. The research questions, therefore, focused on identification of whether, how, where, and to what extent ADT education was experienced and learning from this which was used in practice. METHODS: The research design followed a mixed methods approach to gain insight into the lived experiences of Scottish in-service teachers throughout the 2022/2023 academic year. A survey was designed and distributed to qualified teachers across the whole of Scotland during the last month of the 2022/2023 academic year, throughout the summer holidays and the first two months of the 2023/2024 academic year. There were 1709 respondents whose demographics were consistent with the national demographics, making this study representative of Scotland as a whole. Qualitative responses provided insight into participants’ understanding of ADT and their ability to recognize differences between undesirable pupil behaviour and acts of ADT. The unique survey design differed from past ADT research as participants had to demonstrate that they had a conceptual understanding of the phenomena which aligned with the provided definition of ADT. Quantitative questions helped to identify where and in what format participants had acquired ADT education. The survey provided various options concerning the kinds of ways teachers may have learned about ADT, including formal teaching and mentor conversations. Using a convergent parallel method, qualitative and quantitative data was collected at the same time within a single survey, analysed separately, and then compared for convergence or divergence of data. Qualitative data were analysed thematically using conventional content analysis. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. FINDINGS: This thesis presents findings which draw on the quantitative and qualitative data gathered by the survey. Qualitative analysis found that 67% of participants were able to correctly describe ADT events using descriptive means. These participants (N = 1,138) had experienced at least one form of ADT during the 2022/23 year. Demonstrating the ability to situate lived experiences within the given description of ADT, teacher participants clearly understood ADT and provided powerful insights into the nature of their experiences. Using descriptive statistics supported by qualitative and quantitative means, occurrence ratings were produced for twelve forms of ADT and pupil versus parent/legal guardian perpetration.   Ninety-seven percent of participants had not received ADT education during their initial teacher education (ITE). Furthermore, during the entirety of their career, only 5% of participants had experienced any form of ADT education. Taken from datasets outside of each other, 53 teachers, 3% of the sample, had experienced ADT education within a formalized setting, while 126 teachers, 7.2% of the sample, said that they had learned about ADT through purposeful conversations outside of formal education. The findings bring to light three main points: the absence of ADT, ADT’s presence within Scottish classrooms and that teachers firmly understand what ADT is and how to identify it.  CONCLUSION: This thesis has created a new area of study within ADT research. This is the first time ADT education has been the focus internationally and it is the first national study in Scotland. There is a clear need for further research in Scotland to explore the impact ADT has on Scottish teachers. This thesis also calls for a review of policy nationally and internationally to ensure that teachers are given the knowledge and skills necessary to deal with the ADT that is clearly happening in our classrooms.

https://hdl.handle.net/1842/44096

http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/6622

en

The University of Edinburgh

Abuse directed at teachers

School violence

Teacher mental health

Initial teacher education

Abuse directed at teachers: a national survey of the education and experiences of teachers in Scotland

Thesis or Dissertation

Doctoral

PhD Doctor of Philosophy