A TEACHER reported being left unconscious after being hit with a scooter and kicked in the chest by a pupil, as research from a teaching union highlighted a rise in violent behaviour.
A report from the NASUWT union found more than nine in 10 of its members have reported an increase in violent and abusive behaviour over the last year.
The report, published on Tuesday found 93% of the 358 members surveyed in Scotland reported instances of pupils exhibiting violent and abusive behaviour had increased.
Nearly four in 10 (39%) of respondents reported experiencing violence or physical abuse from pupils in the previous 12 months.
Incidents included being spat at, headbutted, punched and kicked or having furniture thrown at them.
One teacher was hit in the abdomen with a window pole.
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A further 94% reported receiving verbal abuse, including being sworn at, threatened with serious violence, including threats of being shot, and targeted with racial or sexual insults, with 95% saying incidents of verbal abuse had risen in the last 12 months.
The report found nearly half (46%) of teachers surveyed were seriously considering leaving the profession and more than half said they felt less confident in working with pupils.
More than eight in 10 members said the rise in violence was affecting their morale and enthusiasm for the job.
Less than half of respondents (43%) said they always reported all incidents to senior management while 3% said they did not report any incidents.
A perception that nothing would be done was the main reason for not reporting serious behaviour incidents with 80% saying this is why they did not report incidents.
Teachers also felt senior management did not take appropriate action over incidents, with 31% saying they were dealt with appropriately sometimes, and a quarter saying schools did not take sufficient action.
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Almost four in five teachers (79%) said that the ineffective use of restorative behaviour programmes in their schools was the biggest contributor to a decline in pupil behaviour.
Restorative approaches include having “structured conversations” to address incidents of poor behaviour.
But almost three quarters (73%) of teachers said they found these ineffective in dealing with poor behaviour.
The union said too many schools are placing the responsibility for poor behaviour on teachers and that teachers were not getting the protection and back up they deserved.
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, said: “We need concerted action at school and national levels to reduce the incidence of violence, abuse and poor pupil behaviour and restore calm to our schools.
“A failure to tackle violence and abuse in our schools now will have long-lasting consequences, both in terms of teacher recruitment and retention and in equipping young people with the tools they need to become healthy, happy and successful adults.
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Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Official for Scotland, said the union was not opposed to the use of restorative approaches.
He said: “Feedback from members suggests that all too often restorative systems have become synonymous with no consequences or sanctions for poor behaviour for pupils.
“We have been highlighting for some time to Government the need for greater action to protect teachers from violence and to address the root causes of the rise in abuse from pupils.
“Our actions have helped push the Government into convening a national summit on relationships and behaviour in schools on September 5 in which we will be participating and giving evidence.
“We will be using this platform and continuing to take all steps, up to and including industrial action in individual schools, to support teachers’ right to work in safety.
“It is now incumbent on ministers and employers to recognise the scale of the problem and work with us to put changes in policy and practice in schools in place.”
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