When teachers bully teachers

Schools can be appalling places for teachers. A recent TCD master's thesis by Jacinta Kitt on primary teachers and principals bullying each other makes for frightening reading. It contains five case studies, of which four are summarised below.

After 10 years in her school, Freda (not her real name), an outgoing and popular teacher, ventured a criticism of the school's unsightly and draughty windows. That comment changed her working life.

The principal effectively stopped speaking to her, communicating with her through curt, unsigned notes. She was left off rotas, told to stay the whole day in her classroom and all her requests for equipment or permission to take the children on trips were ignored or refused.

The principal categorically denied isolating, excluding or mistreating Freda when two colleagues pleaded with her to treat Freda better.

Carol was ignored by a principal when she arrived as the new part-time remedial teacher. The atmosphere in the school was tense and hushed, with the principal "everywhere watching, listening, interrupting, dominating." She appeared to want to control everyone.

The principal undermined Carol with comments such as "this remedial thing is nothing but a nuisance." She didn't hide her dislike for her, belittling everything she did, whether it was her work, her dress sense or her outside involvement in a prestigious choral event in the National Concert Hall. She constantly tried to make Carol appear difficult and disruptive in the eyes of other teachers.

A request to pass on progress reports for the children in her remedial class was greeted with the retort: "I wish to God that you had never come here." Carol heard the principal had wanted one of her acquaintances as remedial teacher. After her second year, Carol left the school.

Mary was the progressive and successful principal in a girls' school in the west when it was involved in an uneasy amalgamation with the local boys' school. A number of teachers who transferred from the boys school were hostile to her from the beginning, despite her efforts to include and affirm them. They rarely spoke to her other than to make complaints. She was occasionally reduced to tears by name-calling and demeaning treatment.

Mary found her confidence and self-assurance diminishing. Although she was supported by most of the staff, this did not prevent her having strong feelings of self-doubt. At a meeting at which she spoke honestly about how she perceived these teachers' hostility and resentment, the spokesperson for the group expressed incredulity about how they were being portrayed.

From then on Mary felt that the situation got worse. The group continued to undermine her with criticism and rudeness. Her calm and friendly facade belies the inner torment she constantly suffers.

Jim, a passionately committed senior teacher and Gaelic games organiser, had to come to terms with a new principal in what until then had been a harmonious and successful school. The new head communicated erratically, consulted with nobody, and when approached by senior staff about problems, denied that anything was wrong and isolated herself in her office.

Finally, a change was proposed with which Jim felt particularly unhappy. He opposed it in a staff meeting, but was in a minority and was over-ruled. Over time he was stripped of his responsibilities, with the principal telling other teachers he was constantly undermining her. When Jim tried to raise these issues, she denied everything.

Jim's principal was very insecure, taking any suggestion as a personal criticism, and unable to see merit in any viewpoint other than her own. She seemed oblivious to the damage to the school and displayed great insensitivity to the obvious hurt and distress of some staff. Most teachers who opposed her eventually left the school.

Not surprisingly, the treatment they received had serious effects on these four teachers' self-confidence, physical and psychological health. Most of them believed that they had contributed to their own unhappy situations, and it took them some time to realise that they were victims of "a prolonged progressive campaign of intimidation,"

Carol became introverted and self-conscious, and suffered from serious psoriasis. Mary experienced constant headaches and frightening panic attacks. Freda had infections, necessitating antibiotics and taking to her bed, during practically every holiday period.

All the women repeatedly broke down in tears. Carol described how she "cried with anger, cried with frustration, cried with self-pity, cried with loneliness and cried because it just wasn't fair."

Jacinta Kitt notes that the effects of this bullying behaviour were detrimental to staff relations in the schools. The victims' colleagues were generally unwilling to support them by confronting what was happening, either through fear or because they wanted to maintain the status quo. Staff relations became brittle and superficial, with very little consultation about educational matters and no sharing of ideas.

Jim said his school was "not functioning - teachers were very frustrated and the staff wasn't working as a team. Inevitably, the children were affected."

Jacinta Kitt, herself a primary teacher, concludes: "Workplace bullying like this is frequently perpetrated in a subtle and insidious manner. Secrecy and denial make it difficult to identify and prove.

"Creating an awareness of the problem is an important first step. Prevention is best achieved by promoting an open and empathetic working environment in schools."