Teachers offered support to tackle harmful banter within schools
Teachers can now access support to deal with harmful banter in their schools thanks to a unique new CPD course, developed through a partnership between the Anti-Bullying Alliance and Nottingham Trent University (NTU).
Research carried out by NTU for Anti Bullying Week 2023 showed that a quarter of teachers (26%) think face-to-face banter is a serious problem within their schools, with even more (37%) thinking its effects online are serious.
Of the almost 900 teachers questioned, 62% agreed that there is a fine and subjective line of acceptability between banter and bullying.
Lucy Betts, Professor of Social Developmental Psychology at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, said: “Our research showed that knowing when banter crosses the line into bullying is a challenge for teachers. The overwhelming majority - 84% - told us that they receive no training on the issue, and 64% said they have no school policy for dealing with banter to fall back on.”
These findings have led to the development of a short online course written by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, which is the first to tackle banter specifically.
Professor Lucy Betts and Dr Oonagh Steer explain their research into banter in schools
It aims to give teachers an understanding of the difference between banter and bullying, and prepare them to take a whole-school anti-bullying approach to preventing the misuse of banter, as well as identify bullying and harmful behaviours when they might be disguised as banter.
The resource will also help teachers to equip children and young people with the skills to navigate the line of acceptability between banter – which can be fun and help to strengthen friendships - and intentional unkind behaviour.
Martha Evans, Director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said: "We are thrilled to launch our new free CPD online training course we hope will address the need to manage banter effectively, ensuring it remains fun and neutral, not unkind or unwanted. We hope many educators will use this resource to help us prevent childhood bullying and foster a safe school environment."
Banter or bullying? Navigating the line of acceptable behaviour can be accessed on the Anit-Bullying Alliance website.