Help a Teacher is an occasional feature here on the Education World Community. Questions are submitted anonymously and we ask the Community to help solve the problem. Want to submit one of your own? Use this form (and yes it's really anonymous).
October is National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month. But usually bullying in schools is associated with students bullying students. But what about when it's the teacher being bullied by their superiors?This week's Help A Teacher comes from someone experiencing that.
A teacher is seeking advice on handling bullying from administrative staff. How would you handle it? What should the teacher do?
Stand up
In this economy most people are happy just to have a job, but that doesn't mean that you have to put up with anything. I have been bullied in the workplace and the best strategy is to stand up for yourself. If you don't, it will continuously get worse until you no longer want to get out of bed in the morning.
Some Resources on Workplace Bullying
Here are some resources that address workplace bullying:
Understanding Adult Bullying
Books on Workplace Bullying
Workplace Bullying Institute
Action to Tackle Bullying at Work
How to Deal With a Bully at Work
I agree with the other commenter, though, that official union procedures should be followed. It's also important to have documentation of all incidents and statements of witnesses, if possible.
Facebook response
Ashleigh wrote on our Education World Facebook Page:
"That is the very reason I belong to a professional teaching organization. I'm in a nonunion state, but there are still organizations that I can join that offer legal advice and help in situations like that. I would not advise anyone to fight their administration on their own."