6/2024 until 5/2027

Bullying among students is a phenomenon of violence that has been the focus of research for years and continues to affect a large number of pupils. The negative consequences for students are serious and long-lasting, affecting not only their mental health (e.g. depression, anxiety disorders, psychosomatic complaints) but also their learning at school.

Teachers' responses to bullying incidents have a significant impact on bullying in schools. However, many teachers do not feel adequately prepared to intervene consistently. In fact, although there are many prevention programmes available for bullying, these are primarily student-oriented. Teachers are not usually taught the skills they need to intervene and assess the success of their intervention, to recognise the negative consequences of bullying on the mental health of those affected and how to deal with them. When teachers are specifically addressed in anti-bullying programmes, there is a lack of evidence of their effectiveness. In addition to imparting knowledge, training measures for teachers should also address concrete strategies for intervening in bullying and the relevant skills. This requires activating methods and everyday, experience-based exercises, a combination of preventive and intervention strategies, and sufficient training time. This is not usually the case in current anti-bullying measures.

This research project aims to investigate the effectiveness of teacher training based on empirical findings. To this end, a cooperative, teacher-centred intervention approach to bullying has been developed, the effectiveness of which will be investigated in a randomised, comparative control group design. A total of 24 schools, involving 120 class teachers and around 2,280 pupils, will be analysed to determine the additional benefits of combining established pupil-oriented training with the new teacher training (intervention group) compared to a pupil-oriented approach alone (control group).

Due to the well-known far-reaching negative consequences of bullying for the mental health of learners, one of the objectives of the teacher training programme is to reduce bullying and mitigate its psychological consequences. In addition, the study will examine the mechanisms underlying the cooperative, teacher-centred intervention approach. Data from teachers and pupils will be linked to answer the research questions.

The results will close research gaps in the field of school-related violence and prevention research, serve as a basis for the further development of school-based intervention approaches to bullying, and be incorporated into teacher training and continuing professional development.