Relationships between Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Inter-Student Bullying in Finnish Physical Education

Abstract   This study explored the profiles of 175 teachers’ self-efficacy (TSE) in elementary, vocational, and higher physical education (PE) and examined teachers’ perceptions of inter-student bullying as outcomes of these profiles. The links between teachers’ perceptions of inter-student bullying and teaching level, teaching experience, tertiary education, gender, and age covariates were also analysed. The Latent cluster analysis (LCA), based on cross-sectional data collected via an anonymous online survey, revealed three profiles (low, intermediate, and high). Physical education teachers with low teaching-efficacy profiles reported more frequent inter-student bullying in PE than teachers with intermediate and high profiles. Regarding the low teaching-efficacy profile, tertiary education emerged as a significant covariate for bullying indicating that PE teachers with Master in Sport Science degree scored higher frequency in inter-student bullying than teachers with other degrees. In the intermediate profile, younger and more experienced PE teachers reported more frequent inter-student bullying than older and less experienced counterparts of the same cluster. Organisations responsible for teachers’ education and voluntary professional development must consider the diversity of TSE, regarding teachers’ age, teaching experience, and educational level, by tailoring pedagogical practices to promote bully-free PE for students.