Health Educators' Role in Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to Combat Bullying

The purpose of the research poster is to identify key information to health educators regarding how to provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to combat bullying. Past research found teachers inconsistently respond to school bullying incidents. Additionally, students are more likely to report school bullying incidents to their peers and parents, rather than to teachers. This study assessed the impact of a four-week bullying prevention workshop on pre-service teachers' perceptions of bullying via a pre/post test design.

The workshop consisted of short, informative lectures, as well as critical thinking activities and class discussions. Topics included: definitions of bullying, types of bullying, bullying triangle, the role of teachers in preventing bullying, and teacher support needed for prevention.

Preliminary findings report that pre-service teachers are concerned with bullying; however, an analysis of pre-service teachers' comments suggest challenges teachers face in addressing issues of bullying in daily classroom interactions. The comments provide important insight for health educators regarding the supports needed for teachers to effectively combat bullying, and increased attention must be placed on teachers' abilities to recognize bullying and the development of skills to prevent incidents.

At the end of the session, participants will be able to: -Define bullying. -Identify bullying statistics. -Describe the purpose and value of preparing pre-service teachers to combat bullying. -Describe barriers pre-service teachers' encounter regarding bullying prevention efforts. -Identify key bullying prevention skills necessary for pre-service teachers to combat bullying.