Office politics, teacher bullying and what to do about it

This workshop session took place at the ITE/ECT 2025 Annual PGCE Conference Inclusion & Inspiration - Education for Social Justice. 17 January 2025. University of Manchester. In this session, Bob explored how different personalities inhabit all workplaces and the culture of schools and colleges can differ markedly: those with ineffective leaders, a highly demanding workload, and low resources may be more prone to bullying. Teachers may be targeted if they are highly respected by their colleagues and parents; managers may feel threatened if teachers turn to another teacher for advice and guidance. This session looked at how we can identify indicators of bullying, highlights research on likely perpetrators and victims and how we can avoid institutions where bullying is more likely to occur. The session closed with advice on what to do if you’re a victim of bullying: from keeping logs, to looking for supporters and making use of external organisations such as trade unions, ACAS and legal firms. It draws on both research and practice as a leader and manager.