Bullying

My student Sharon told me during a supervision session that she isn’t really ‘getting along’ well with a staff member in the team. As her external supervisor I did not know the individual team members so I asked Sharon to give me an example to help me better understand. Sharon shared numerous examples of how a male member of the team regularly talked down to her, purposely ignored her suggestions and sabotaged her projects. I was shocked to hear this and encouraged Sharon to acknowledge how this behaviour was actually very serious. Sharon’s reaction was embarrassed and she tried to minimise the behaviour, telling me she didn’t want me to say anything as she only has 2 weeks left and didn’t want it to be even more difficult than it has been. I understood where she was coming from and didn’t want to add to her stress levels, so I reluctantly agreed that I wouldn’t say anything on the condition that Sharon told me if things got worse.

Key Considerations:

  • Behaviour that constitutes bullying
  • The emotional wellbeing and safety of Sharon
  • Confidentiality
  • That the behaviour has been able to continue for some time without being acknowledged or addressed.
  • My role as an ‘external supervisor’
  • Organisational Policies and Procedures
  • Ethical obligations

What went well:

  • Sharon felt safe enough in her relationship with me as her external supervisor to disclose her experience
  • I took the information seriously in that I acknowledged that it was not appropriate behaviour and encouraged Sharon to do the same.
  • I asked for more specific information to clarify what Sharon meant by ‘not getting along’ and didn’t make assumptions.
  • I was mindful of Sharon’s stress levels.

What didn’t go so well:

  • Although I took the information seriously, I essentially minimised the bullying behaviour by agreeing to keep quiet about it and not assist her in addressing the issue. In this way, I was sending the message that it’s ok to ’put up’ with inappropriate behaviour in order to reach a goal.
  • I was quick to agree to the students’ idea and did not attempt to explore and map out other potential strategies for responding to the issue, therefore reducing Sharon’s learning opportunity of how to deal with this issue if it happens again in the future.
  • By not addressing the situation the person who is acting inappropriately is able to continue to behaving in this way.

What would you do differently next time:

  • When it became clear that the student was being bullied, I should have made it clear that due to the seriousness of the behaviour it was not o.k. for it to continue. This sends the message that bullying behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated in the work place.
  • As this can be a bit scary for a student, I should spend ample time exploring all the different possible ways of responding and facilitate a conversation where we were both working out together which option Sharon would feel most comfortable with and would be the best fit. Try to pick a solution where the student can take some level of responsibility/ownership, but that also allows them the level of safety that they need to be able to continue their placement. E.g.
    - Option 1 – Sharon arranges to speak with her internal supervisor and explains what has been happening, providing clear examples, dates and times. Practice what Sharon might say to her supervisor by role playing this together.
    - Option 2 – Both Sharon and I arrange to speak with the internal supervisor. Again practice who is going to say what and what will be shared.
    - Option 3 – As the external supervisor, I contact the internal supervisor to discuss my concerns with Sharon’s consent.
  • Encourage the student by reassuring them that they are doing the right thing and that I am proud of them as it takes a lot of courage to respond to issues like this. Arrange for additional supervision sessions and daily check ins so that the student feels well supported. Follow up with the outcome of the situation.