Teachers' knowledge about bullying in elementary schools in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Many studies have been done about bullying in the Western world (Olweus, 1994; Attwood, 2004; Fekkes, Pijpers & Verloove-Vanhorick, 2005; Ansary, Elias, Greene, and Green, 2015). In contrast, not enough empirical studies have been done about bullying in Arabic countries (AlQahtani, 2008; Fitaihi, 2014; Alzahrani, 2012). This study aimed to identify the scope of bullying by examining how much teachers know and what types of bullying exist in Saudi elementary schools. A goal of this study was to increase Saudi teachers' awareness of bullying, help them find appropriate strategies to prevent bullying, and suggest the development of anti-bullying programs suited to Saudi Arabia. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design (Creswell, 2013), a questionnaire was administered and follow-up interviews were conducted. The 11-item questionnaire was distributed among 100 female teachers working in five elementary schools in Jeddah. In addition, the researcher interviewed six female elementary teachers at one elementary school. Findings showed that fewer than half of teachers knew about bullying and that those who did know the word did not know how to treat students or to prevent bullying. Further, teachers do not use any type of anti-bullying program nor are they trained to handle bullying to keep the school environment safe and healthy. Implications will be discussed.