Teacher bullying: the case of Singapore

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1993, the first few cases of teacher bullying, when teachers used their power to punish, manipulate or disparage a student beyond what would be a reasonable disciplinary procedure, began to catch the mainstream media’s attention. Since then, few studies have focused on teacher bullying globally and even lesser in Asia, where such a phenomenon carries a stigma attached to it. Considering the stark differences between Western and Asian cultures, especially in terms of the power distances between students and teachers, there emerges a need to address this gap in the teacher bullying literature. The study aims to investigate how teacher bullying occurs in an Asian context, with Singapore as the chosen sample of interest. Using semi-structured interviews, the experiences of the non-probability sample of affected students (four men, one woman), were examined through an Interpretative Phenomenological perspective. Findings indicated that teacher bullying existed, involving public humiliation of students, such as shaming, as well as other forms of abusive power towards students. Key findings included a two-stage process of teacher bullying in the form of disparagement amongst other significant findings. It is recommended that policies address acceptable and appropriate behaviour within the teaching context.