More than 40 per cent of primary school teachers have been publicly humiliated at some point in their career, mainly by principals, parents or assistant teachers, a new INTO survey has found.
The survey of over 400 teachers also found that 42 per cent of teachers had occasionally been intimidated, mainly by principals and parents. This is an `unacceptably high figure, said the survey's authors.
Fifty-six per cent had occasionally suffered verbal abuse, with parents and pupils the worst offenders. The authors said this was the category with the "highest prevalence of difficulties for teachers", but noted that verbal abuse may be interpreted in different ways.
The levels of physical abuse (8 per cent of respondents) and sexual harassment (4 per cent) were low. The authors stressed the generally good working atmosphere in primary schools. Similarly, 50 per cent thought staff relations in their schools were excellent/very positive, 42 per cent thought they were moderate and only 8 per cent called them poor/ negative.
Despite this, 16 per cent of the teachers surveyed said they would leave their present school as a result of poor staff relations. The authors said this contradictory response probably indicated there were reasons for dissatisfaction other than poor staff relations.
Not surprisingly, the two main effects of public humiliation, intimidation and abuse on teachers were stress (41 per cent of those affected) and low self-esteem (24 per cent).