Cyberbullying Concerns Teachers

August 28 2007

• News Release
  
• Professionally Speaking
• COMPAS Report (153 KB)

About the Survey

The College's quarterly magazine Professionally Speaking commissioned this, the College's fifth annual survey of members. Survey results appear in the magazine's September 2007 issue.

COMPAS, Inc., a public opinion and customer research firm, conducted the survey by telephone during a two-week period in July.

Respondents

Respondents are representative of the 210,000 College members in good standing.

Survey Methodology

COMPAS interviewed 1,000 members of the College, randomly selected by computer.

Results are considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20 for all teachers and 6.2 percentage points 19 times out of 20 for French-language teachers.

Responses

On cyberbullying:

• 84 per cent of all teachers have experienced cyberbullying.
• 93 per cent of francophone secondary teachers have experienced cyberbullying.
• e-mail and chatrooms are the main vehicles for cyberbullying.
• 41 per cent of all teachers believe the school/board should report most or all cyberbullying to the police.
• 43 per cent of teachers believe student-to-student cyberbullying should be reported to the police – only 28 per cent of French-speaking teachers believe so.
• 10 per cent of French-speaking teachers believe cyberbullying might prompt teachers to leave the profession prematurely compared to 20 per cent of teachers overall.

On electronic communication:

• 49 per cent of teachers say their school or board has well understood policies on student use of e-communication.
• 21 per cent of teachers say their school or board has well understood policies of teacher-student e-mail communication.
• 83 per cent of teachers never communicate with their students via e-mail.

On career satisfaction:

• 83 per cent of teachers are satisfied or very satisfied with their teaching career, down from 87 per cent in 2006.
• 78 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with the job they are doing.
• 70 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with their school
• 73 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with the teaching profession as a whole.
• 54 per cent are satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of Ontario's education system.

On classroom quality:

• 31 per cent of teachers say classroom quality is better than it was five years ago
• 31 per cent say it has remained the same; 31 per cent say it's worse.
• 66 per cent of teachers say caps on primary class sizes have or probably have been implemented.
• 68 per cent of teachers overall say caps on primary class sizes have had positive effects on the quality of teaching; among French-speaking teachers the figure is 85 per cent.

On teacher oversupply:

• 25 per cent of teachers say oversupply is a serious or very serious issue.
• 67 per cent of teachers are aware of the issue; among French-speaking teachers, only 35 per cent are aware.
• among French-speaking teachers, 37 per cent say oversupply is serious or very serious.
• 14 per cent would support or strongly support a targeted enrolment strategy at faculties of education.

Why does the College magazine conduct this annual survey?

• To accurately gauge the opinion of College members on education issues.
• To bring issues to the attention of the entire membership, the provincial government, other education stakeholders and the public.
• To stimulate further discussion within the education system.
• To encourage and explore common approaches among education's stakeholders to address concerns and strengthen the teaching profession.

About the College

The Ontario College of Teachers licenses, governs and regulates the profession of teaching in the public interest. It sets standards of practice and ethical standards, conducts disciplinary hearings and accredits teacher education programs affecting its 210,000 members in publicly funded schools and institutions across Ontario.

The College is the largest self-regulatory body in Canada.