Insulted, insulted and beaten: Violence against teaching staff at German schools has been increasing for years. Around 20,000 schools record cases of psychological violence against teachers. The type of school plays a decisive role in determining the extent of the attacks.
In many schools in Germany, teachers have been insulted, insulted, bullied or even physically attacked in recent years. The Education and Training Association (VBE) came to this conclusion in a report presented in Düsseldorf. More than 1,300 school principals were interviewed for the representative Forsa survey.
According to the union, nearly two-thirds of school principals said psychological violence against teachers had occurred in their schools within the past five years. This means that around 20,000 schools nationwide have recorded psychological violence against teachers. Cyberbullying or physical violence had occurred in ten thousand schools – this was reported by around a third of the headmasters. According to the VBE, acts of violence against teachers remained at a high level.
The extent to which teachers are affected by violence depends very much on the type of school. According to the survey, teachers at three out of four special needs schools experienced physical violence. At grammar schools, this was only found in six percent of schools. The proportion of psychological violence, on the other hand, was highest in Hauptschule, Realschule and comprehensive schools with a share of 55 percent, followed by Gymnasium with 45 percent. At the special schools, on the other hand, there are rarely acts of psychological violence.
Affected teachers are often insufficiently supported when they experience violence. Around a third of school principals stated that cases of violence could only be partially or not at all dealt with. The reason is that parents and students are often not insightful. Most of the time, however, it also fails due to the bureaucratic effort involved in reporting violent incidents. In any case, teachers are already heavily burdened by the abundance of their tasks. In addition, 19 percent of school principals stated that they did not want the school administration to report cases of violence.
“When violent incidents are ignored by the employer or the school authorities do not want the report, it is simply a scandal,” said VBE national chairman Udo Beckmann. The protection of teachers urgently needs to be on the political agenda.
According to the VBE, the shortage of teachers is still one of the biggest problems in German schools. This was stated by 69 percent of school principals. The resulting workload and lack of time were reported as the biggest problem by 34 percent. Due to the working conditions, the school directors’ satisfaction with their jobs also decreased. Only 79 percent of school principals stated that they enjoy their job. In 2019 it was still 96 percent.
Since 2016, the teachers’ union VBE has had school management surveyed at regular intervals about their satisfaction. The results of this year’s survey were published on the occasion of the opening of the German School Management Congress in Düsseldorf.