The Violence and Harassment Against Educators Project
In 2018, Chris Bruckert (Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa) and Darcy Santor (School of Psychology, University of Ottawa) initiated the Violence and Harassment Against Educators Project. The goal of this project is to investigate and shed light on the workplace harassment and violence experienced by educators and support staff working in Ontario’s elementary and secondary schools
To date, the Violence and Harassment Against Educators Project has:
Surveyed over 1,500 elementary school teachers
Surveyed over 3,000 education sector workers
Conducted individual and focus group interviews with over 100 education workers
Shared findings through reports and publications
Presented at various union-lead events throughout Ontario, and
Launched a new survey in the fall of 2023.
NEW: On September 24, 2024, the research team released a new report entitled "Beyond the Breaking Point: Violence Against Saskatchewan's Education Sector Workers." Click here to read the report!
Research Reports
Beyond the Breaking Point:
Violence Against Saskatchewan's Education Sector Workers
“We are hitting crisis level. There is not enough training for school staff and not enough support for children. The effects are teacher and support staff burnout. The stress of having violent children in the classroom is constant. Staff become on edge, children become on edge and fearful.” - Teacher
In Harm's Way:
The Epidemic of Violence Against
Education Sector Workers in Ontario
“With all the cutbacks it gets harder and harder to do our job.
More for less is not a good thing in education. I feel we are just
fire extinguishers going from one incident to the next.”
- Educational Assistant
Facing the Facts:
The Escalating Crisis of Violence Against Elementary School Educators in Ontario
“While the search for answers about how to help these kids and the political battle over responsibility wages on, teachers and children are left on the frontlines with no back up, lots of blame and criticism, and a complete feeling of utter failure. They are the casualties of this war.” - Teacher
Swipe to learn more about what education sector
workers across Canada have said about workplace violence and harassment.
The Team
Dr. Chris Bruckert is a professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. The author of Gendered violence in Canada: An intersectional approach (2018), Chris has been actively involved in teaching about and mobilizing against gendered violence for over twenty-five years.
Dr. Darcy A. Santor is a professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa and a practicing clinical psychologist. He has a long-standing interest in mental health in young people and in school-based mental health.
Darby Mallory is a PhD student at the University of Ottawa. She holds a Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies from Carleton. Her doctoral work focuses on workplace violence against educational assistants in Ontario.
Hanya Ismail is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Concordia University. Her doctoral research will focus on the role of administrators responding to issues of harassment and violence against educators in Ontario.
Dr. Julie Chami has been a public school educator for over a decade. She completed her PhD in Education Policy at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include school choice, social policy, and emergency education.
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