Aggressive Behaviors among Primary School Teachers and Their Impact on Their Teaching, Well-Being, and Relationships

Abstract

Aggressive behaviors among colleagues in school units is a current, yet less studied phenomenon in educational research. The present study aims to fill the gap that exists in literature as in Greece, there is no research that examines the impact of colleagues’ aggression on educational work. More specifically, the research examines the opinion of primary school teachers regarding the relationship between aggression displayed in the school environment by colleagues and educational work. For the collection and analysis of the research data, an explanatory correlational design was used. According to the findings of the research, in the primary schools of Attica aggression is observed in the behavior of all members of a teachers’ association and has a negative impact on educational work. Aggression displayed by the members of a teachers’ association determines the quality of the relationships that are developed between teachers, affects their emotional state, and negatively affects their teaching.

Impact of Parental Aggression on Primary School Teachers’ Everyday School Life and Well-being

“…IN PREVIOUS RESEARCH Aggression is a very common phenomenon in school premises (May et al, 2010;OEPEK, 2008;Ruff et al, 2004). All the members of the school community can display aggression, which may affect the interpersonal relationships and the attitude of the other members of the school community (Belogianni, 2016;Sklirou & Papakonstantinou, 2022;Zergiotis, 2014). Teachers' victimization is a most common research topic in the USA since 80% of educators have been victimized at least once a year (American Psychological Association, 2016;McMahon et al, 2014) and can be found as a research topic in other countries as teachers' victimization shows an increasing trend over the years (Kōiv, 2015).…”

“…Substitutes, teachers with high academic qualifications, submissive, introverted and conscientious teachers are the most usual victims, while the gender of teachers can also be related to their victimization (Martinez et al, May et al, 2015;van der Merwe et al, 2015). The role of the principal of the school unit is of high importance since teachers, who have their principal's support appear as rare victims (Martinez et al, 2016;Sklirou & Papakonstantinou, 2022).…”

“…Also, parents' aggressive forms of behavior may impair the physical and mental health of teachers and make them unwill to go to work. The abovementioned conclusion constitutes no surprise since all forms of aggressive behavior contradict the existence of a safe and productive climate (Estevez et al, 2013;Poling et al, 2019;Sklirou & Papakonstantinou, 2022;Yang et al, 2019), which is necessary for quality educational work and parental aggression does not lead to healthy parent-teacher interactions, which are beneficial for children's academic achievement (Almughamisi, 2020). It's, therefore, easily understood that all forms of parental aggression are harmful and should be taken into serious consideration.…”