The 'easy' solution to fix Aussie schools' bullying problems

“There’s such a strong correlation between positive mental health and wellbeing and student outcomes."

Data from a recent study showing Aussie kids experience more bullying in the classroom than most similar countries matches “what we’re seeing in schools”.

Dr Christine Grove, an educational psychologist and adjunct clinical associate professor at Monash University, said the data reinforces what she’s been seeing inside Aussie classrooms for years.

“Often what we’ll see is these things happening in schools, and then the research takes quite a bit to catch up,” she said.

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“This research is shedding light on what we’re seeing in practice.”

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Experts say recent data showing the high amount of bullying in Australian classrooms matches what they're seeing on the ground. Source: iStock.

"We've been talking about this for a decade now"

Dr Grove told Kidspot her research has seen a downward trend in academic performance among Australian students in recent times, which would directly correlate with the shocking bullying numbers.

“We know from research there is a strong correlation between disruptive behaviours and bullying in the classroom and school performance,” she said.

“We have seen quite a low tracking of school performance in Australian schools, so being able to understand that’s connected to bullying and disruptive behaviour isn’t shocking.

“As a researcher, we’ve been talking for a decade now about how we’ve been seeing the impacts of bullying on academic performance.”

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Dr Christine Grove.

"Teachers are strapped for time"

Dr Grove hypothesised that Australia’s well-documented teacher shortages were a key factor in the low performance of Australian classrooms.

“Teachers are really busy and strapped for time,” she said. “They’re responding to things as they happen rather than having the time and space to sit back and put in a preventative plan.

“We also find teachers are struggling to manage classrooms and behaviour, and there are big challenges around noise and disorder in classrooms.”

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Research also suggested young girls are struggling more in classrooms than boys, another data point Dr Grove suggests is backed by her own research.

“We know girls are treated differently in the classroom,” she said. “They might not be called on as much as they boys for example, and it can make for not such a great experience for them.

“Victoria, for example, has identified that issue, and they’re trying to work at addressing this through understanding gender and how that plays out in the classroom.”

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"There's such a strong correlation between wellbeing and student outcomes"

Dr Grove believes it could be a long road ahead to fixing Australia’s classrooms, but there’s one simple aspect to start with.

“What we’ve seen work really well in Victoria is bringing students’ wellbeing and mental health awareness to the forefront,” she said.

“They released a new teacher learning framework that actually looked at wellbeing and its impact on academics.

“They’re putting a focus on teachers and schools needing to actually address bullying issues and behavioural issues by putting the same amount of energy into those as they do learning and academics.

“There’s such a strong correlation between positive mental health and wellbeing and student outcomes.”

Originally published as The 'easy' solution to fix Aussie schools' bullying problems