More than 80% of Sask. education workers faced threat of physical harm, harassment in 2022-23, study shows

Rows of desks are seen in an empty classroom in Regina's Campbell Collegiate. August 25, 2020. (Gareth Dillistone/CTV News)

A study from the University of Ottawa has laid out a damning portrait of the current state of violence and harassment educators face in schools, according to the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF).

The study, authored by Darby Mallory, Chris Bruckert, Darcy Santor and Hanya Ismail of the University of Ottawa, was based on survey results from over 800 education workers across the province.

Those surveyed included teachers, direct student support workers, educational assistants as well as custodial and clerical staff.

Researchers found that 84 per cent of those surveyed experienced at least one act, attempt or threat of physical force from four main sources (students, parents, colleagues and administrators) during the 2022-23 school year.

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More than three quarters of those surveyed found that violent incidents against staff were minimized by administrators and supervisors.

A total of 26 per cent of workers reported more than 20 attempts of physical force from a student - while one in five workers reported experiencing the threat of physical force from a parent.

A long list of quotes from educators were included throughout the study – many of which claiming that violence in the workplace is simply being treated as “part of the job.”

“The amount of violence in schools is becoming ‘normal.’ Our government is unwilling to recognize it as a problem. They refer to incidents of violence as nothing more than ‘slips, trips and falls.’ I find that insulting and shameful,” one educator was quoted saying.

The statistics surrounding the harassment proved to be worse.

A total of 87 per cent of respondents faced some form of harassment in the workplace. Three quarters of workers reported student related harassment while half reported harassment by a parent.

Most commonly, behaviors by students included refusals to respect authority, swearing and offensive remarks.

More than half (54 per cent) of teachers and clerical staff reported experiencing harassment from parents. Incidents of this type occurred an average of 5.5 times.

The harassment usually consisted of aggressive emails, accusatory interactions, public chastisements, and denigrating social media posts.

“I have experienced violent threats from a student, but I was more negatively affected by the actions of a parent who threaten to report us, slander us on social media and try to turn other parents against us in our small community,” one quote from an educator read.

One in six (16 per cent) workers reported at least one instance of sexual harassment from a student – primarily involving inappropriate sexual remarks, threats and attempts.

'Spread thin'

The STF highlighted the survey’s findings Tuesday, with president Samatha Becotte characterizing the results as the outcome of government inaction and failure to provide the resources for educators to succeed.

“Violence and harassment are often the result of students not having the professional support they need to participate successfully in classrooms and the school community,” she said in a news release.

The study found that institutional responses have been inadequate. Proactive responses, such as safety and management plans, were largely ineffective due to a chronic lack of personnel and resources.

“We simply don’t have enough resources, space, or manpower to actually apply any safety plans or proactive prevention plans because we’re always short-staffed and spread thin fighting fires,” one worker explained.

Additionally, the study found that workplace violence in schools is under reported – with 49 per cent of participants not reporting any instances of violence or harassment during the school year and 64 per cent of those saying at least one of the incidents should have been reported but was not.

The reasons for workers not reporting were listed as it would not result in changes (28 per cent), the incident was too minor to warrant a report (24 per cent), or the worker lacked the time to file a report due to job demands (21 per cent).

The study concluded that high rates of violence and harassment in Saskatchewan classrooms would lead to significant professional costs in the form of burnout, job dissatisfaction and less enthusiasm – with 67 per cent of workers disagreeing with the statement “I have as much enthusiasm now as I did when I began my career.”

Over half (52 per cent) of survey takers said they would leave the profession if they could get an equally well-paying job.

'Students paying the price'

The conclusion of the study quoted an educational assistant who wrote that “the constant defunding of education has left our already struggling education system on a white-knuckle roller coaster ride and our students are paying the price.”

“The findings in this report are, or certainly should be, shocking,” the researchers said in conclusion.

“… It speaks to the way underfunding ‘plays out’ in: larger classroom sizes, inadequate rations of educational assistants, a lack of mental health supports, limited access to diagnostic serves, high rates of absenteeism, and strained special educational resources.”

The survey consisted of a mixed methods questionnaire which asked participants about their experiences and the responses to workplace violence and harassment.

The study was based off the responses from 828 education workers. As for demographics, 86 per cent of participants were women, 13 per cent men, while one per cent identified as other.

The vast majority of those surveyed, 89 per cent, were white, while nine per cent identified as Indigenous and two per cent as racially minoritized.

The survey sample was skewed towards seasoned workers, according to the study. The numbers of years respondents worked in the education sector averaged 14.5.

A third of participants were between the ages of 41 and 50, 28 per cent were over 50 years of age while 12 per cent were between 31 and 40 as well as under 30.

The full study can be read here.