Date of Conferral

2014

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Candace Adams

Abstract

Teachers are faced with numerous interruptive bullying behaviors in middle school classrooms, which brought the quality of education into question. Bullying victims have shown decreased rates of academic success, measured by lower grades, compared to those not involved in bullying. The purpose of this basic interpretative qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of classroom bullying from the perspectives and experiences of 10 middle school teachers. The research questions examined teachers' experiences in witnessing bullying in their classrooms and the strategies they used to identify and effectively avert bullying in school. Bandura's theories of moral disengagement and social learning theory of aggression informed and provided a framework for the research process. Information was gathered from 10 purposefully selected middle school teachers through personal interviews. Data analysis included coding, categorizing, and thematic analysis. The resulting themes revealed that teachers and school counselors played the most important role in bullying prevention. Physical, verbal, and cyberbullying were perceived as the major types of bullying in the middle school. Teachers reported that more bullying professional development was needed. Given the negative short and long term outcomes associated with bullying, the bullying phenomenon merits serious attention for preventive intervention. Social change will be realized when teachers become more knowledgeable of specific school bullying policies and are able to respond effectively to bullying incidents in schools. Subsequently, students will be able to enter peaceful, productive classrooms and schools.

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