The specificities of teachers’ assessments of the prominence of student violence

Abstract

Bearing in mind the finding that there is a large number of primary school students at risk of peer violence, this paper attempts to provide an answer to the question of the extent of teachers? sensitivity to such problems encountered by their students. The questionnaire was administered to 95.765 students from the third to the eighth grade in 188 primary schools and 9.141 teachers in the same schools. It has been established that there is a significant but low correlation between teachers? concern about school violence and the risk of violence in the same schools. Teachers are the most sensitive to verbal and physical violence, while the problems caused by other forms of violence are noticed to a lesser extent. A large number of teachers (40%) are of the opinion that school is not facing the problem of violence. Generally speaking, teachers tend to underestimate the risk of violence (both regarding the number of types and the number of students at risk). Teachers who are more dedicated to their profession and whose role demands a larger extent of involvement prove to be more sensitive. Trust in school?s power to solve violence problems is correlated with the lower level of concern and consequently with the lower risk of violence among students. The most important implication of these findings is that the programmes that increase sensitivity of all participants in the education system to various forms of violence, especially relational violence, should be continued, as well as that school capacities for solving violence problems should be strengthened.