Early-childhood bullying ‘worrying’

An early-childhood teacher who claims she was targeted for identifying alleged child abuses at her centre is among hundreds of pre-school teachers suffering bullying on a regular basis, a new survey indicates.

A third of the 900 teachers surveyed by early-childhood education organisation ChildForum said they had been bullied in the past 12 months, up 8 per cent on rates recorded in a 2015 study by the same group. A further 18 per cent – about 160 teachers – said they observed colleagues being bullied at work.

ChildForum chief executive Dr Sarah Alexander said the findings were ‘‘worrying’’ and ‘‘more than a little problem’’.

‘‘The early-childhood education sector is losing good teachers and is not being the best it could be for children because bullying is not being addressed.

‘‘Throughout the history of early childhood education in New Zealand, teachers have been referred to by terms such as ‘nice ladies’ and this is a label or public perception that has not been challenged.’’

Respondents to the survey said a common form of bullying was threatening job losses or harm to teachers’ professional reputations for challenging poor or illegal practices.

Bullying was used as a tool to both manage and get rid of teachers, the survey found.

A Tauranga woman, who did not want to be named, decided to end her 15-year career in earlychildhood teaching earlier this year after complaining that staff at her centre allegedly tripped children over and dragged them by their arms. She alleged her boss called other early childhood centres after she resigned to warn them off hiring her. The centre’s practices were audited and it remained open under new management.

‘‘I was made to feel like a bad person,’’ she said.

‘‘No matter where I went [to work] there was always something not OK. I just got to the point where I felt I couldn’t cope anymore.’’

Teachers who reported being bullied described behaviour that was ‘‘confrontational, controlling and obvious’’ such as making false accusations, insults, belittling staff and sharing confidential information about them with their colleagues, the survey found.

At 40 per cent, kindergarten teachers were the most likely to experience bullying. However, the survey said regional variances – 66 per cent of Auckland kindergarten staff reported bullying compared to 25 per cent in the Otago and Southland regions – suggested ‘‘bullying is not related to the type of service but what goes on in any particular service of kindergarten association’’.