What Explains the Perception of Having Shared Practices Among School Staff for Anti-bullying Work?

Abstract

A comprehensive, whole-school approach that demands commitment from all staff members is a recommended basis for effective and systematic anti-bullying work. Central to this approach is the collective agreement among school staff on the implementation of specific practices. This survey study investigates the extent to which Finnish basic education (grades 1–9) school staff (n ~ 400) perceive that they have shared and actively implemented anti-bullying practices in their school and the factors explaining variation in these perceptions. While staff generally reported having shared and actively implemented anti-bullying practices, variation was observed both within and between schools. Professional role, school size, perception of well-being values at school, leadership promoting well-being, and utilization of manualized program explained the variation in the perception of shared practices in the random intercept model. Qualitative analyses supplemented the quantitative findings, indicating that having a specific named program—either a manualized program or a self-developed one—was associated with the perception of shared and actively used practices, emphasizing the necessity for a structured approach. Our results underscore individual and contextual factors fostering a collective understanding of bullying prevention and intervention. Achieving such consensus is essential but not always achieved, posing a risk for ineffective bullying prevention efforts in schools.