Teachers As Human Rights Defenders : Transforming Teachers’ Safeguarding Role Against Harmful Sexual Behaviour

Abstract

This study explores teachers’ understandings of and responses to harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) in primary schools, and the challenges that schools face in building interdisciplinary cooperation with other children’s service providers. The aim of the study is to strengthen teachers' transformative safeguarding for children who display HSB through enhanced interdisciplinary cooperation between schools and frontline service providers. The five research questions guiding the study are: RQ1: How do teachers understand and respond to HSB? RQ2: What support systems do teachers identify in safeguarding against HSB? RQ 3: How do teachers identify support and engage with school-based colleagues/other professionals/service providers? RQ 4: What do teachers need to implement transformative safeguarding in schools? RQ 5: How can frontline services support teachers’ transformative safeguarding in schools? The empirical study was carried out in one municipality in south-eastern Norway using an exploratory mixed methods approach, and with a sequential multiphase study design divided into four phases. In phase one, a baseline survey was conducted with 159 primary school teachers. Phase two consisted of focus-group interviews with 19 teachers and school staff. Drawing on the findings from the survey and focus-group interviews, phase three involved building grounded theory that might support sustainable safeguarding among educators and other professionals. Phase four consisted of qualitative interviews with members of six frontline services cooperating with schools. The study found that most teachers in the sample struggle to differentiate between healthy, problematic and harmful sexual behaviour, and are uncertain about how to respond to it or who to contact (Article I). Safeguarding is perceived as an overwhelming responsibility and many teachers fail to intervene when they encounter harmful sexual behaviour due to lack of competence, time, resources and support available to them. Furthermore, asymmetrical power relations between teachers and those they might seek support from add to their anxieties about HSB and safeguarding (Article II). Aligning Nel Noddings’ ‘Ethics of Care’ with Human Rights Education (HRE) in a child-rights-based approach, the study develops a grounded theory to address the asymmetrical power relations and the role of emotions teachers experience when they encounter HSB. This opens for new transformative practices for addressing HSB in schools (Article III). Building on this theory and on insights from service providers, the study proposes the following measures to support teachers’ safeguarding activities: physical presence of other agencies in schools; cooperative practices when addressing concerns; and shared HSB training and resource allocation. The study advocates a ‘system of care’ of transformative practices for interdisciplinary cooperation between school and frontline services, encompassing the role of emotions and asymmetrical power relations (Article IV).