Pre-service special and general educators' perceptions of bullying

Abstract

Successful approaches for decreasing bullying among youth hinge on the competence of teachers, yet teachers' perceptions of bullying often differ from those of students. This study used the Bullying Perceptions Scale-Revised to investigate perceptions of 221 pre-service teachers at a large university in the midwestern United States. Results suggested that pre-service teachers believe all topographies of bullying warrant intervention. Additionally, when asked to recall an episode of bullying, pre-service teachers typically recalled a scenario that involved verbal bullying (84.0%), occurred in the classroom (43.6%), in elementary (44.0%) or middle school (39.6%), when teachers were present (50.2%). The findings imply a need for increased focus on bully identification and prevention in the teacher preparation curriculum.