School bullying: moving beyond a single school response to a whole education approach

Abstract

Bullying is an issue that continues to represent a significant challenge to the provision of pastoral care in schools. In more recent decades, it has evolved in its complexity to include forms of bullying often referred to as cyberbullying or online bullying. Reflecting a wider discourse on pastoral care, recent analysis of how schools have been addressing bullying (face-to-face and online) has resulted in a recognition that initiatives to address school bullying must involve a wider community than a single school. This paper will briefly consider the scope and impact of school bullying (including its online expression) and then report on innovative research that was conducted in conjunction with UNESCO using the eDelphi method of consultation to understand the best way to tackle school bullying at a global level. We outline in detail how experts recommend a move from a whole-school to a whole-education approach to tackling bullying.