Anti-bullying training for teachers: A randomised controlled comparative study on the differential effectiveness and mechanisms of action of teacher-centred cooperative intervention training

DFG AL 2131/3-1 AO 697150

DFG_Mobbing

(Cyber)-bullying, school, bullying, child and youth protection, prevention, intervention, teacher training, violence

Prof Dr Ludwig Bilz & Dr Saskia M. Fischer (Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg)

Prof Dr Herbert Scheithauer (Free University of Berlin)

01.06.2024 until 31.05.2027

Kick-off in 2024

There is currently no known anti-bullying programme, either nationally or internationally, that adequately prepares teachers working in the profession to deal with (cyber)bullying situations at school and their consequences. The aim of this project is therefore to test a teacher training programme based on empirical findings for dealing with (cyber)bullying and to evaluate its differential effect in combination with an established and proven, student-oriented anti-bullying programme (Fairplayer.Manual). To this end, the acceptance, comprehensibility and practical applicability of the methods and materials used in the newly developed teacher training programme will first be tested in the trial phase as part of a formative evaluation based on teacher assessments (research objective 1) and then the effectiveness of this cooperative, teacher-centred intervention approach will be tested (research objective 2). A randomised control group design will also be used to investigate the additional effect of combining the previously widespread student-centred training in the classes in the intervention and control conditions with the new teacher training (research objective 3). Due to the now widely established knowledge of the far-reaching negative consequences of bullying for the mental health of the pupils involved, one of the objectives of the teacher training programme should be to reduce bullying and to contain the psychological consequences (research objective 4). At the process level, the cooperative intervention approach is also to be verified by analysing the mechanisms of action (research objective 5). The results close significant research gaps in the field of school-related violence and prevention research, can serve as a basis for the further development of school-based intervention approaches for (cyber)bullying and can be incorporated into the training and further education of teachers.

According to a socio-ecological approach, bullying is seen as the result of interactions between personal risk and protective factors as well as factors at different levels of the social environment (Doumas & Midgett, 2019; Hong & Espelage, 2012). The attitudes and behaviour of teachers also play an important role here. Teachers need various competences in order to successfully combat bullying (cf. Bilz et al., 2017; Fischer, 2021). Based on this approach and the so-called teacher competence model according to Bilz and Fischer (2029), a cooperative intervention approach for bullying was developed, which is to be taught to teachers as part of this intervention study.

Name: Dr Thea Rau (via the secretary's office)

E-mail: andrea.klaper[at]uniklinik-ulm.de

German Research Foundation (DFG), Bonn