Our proposal is based upon a systematic review of teachers’ experiences with student violence towards teachers in primary and secondary schools. Violence against educators is a significantly understudied phenomenon that has been largely ignored (Dzuka & Dalbert, 2007; McMahon et al., 2017; Reddy et al., 2018; Steffgen & Ewen, 2007; Wilson et al., 2011). School violence is a multidimensional phenomenon and various indicators to study violence against teachers are included in our systematic literature review. 

Teaching has been reported as a stressful occupation with psychological demands, including the need to develop positive relationships with students and their parents (Berlanda et al., 2019; Eisenhower et al., 2015; Hargreaves, 2000; Koenen et al., 2018; Obsuth et al., 2017; Pakarinen et al., 2018; Troop-Gordon & Kopp, 2011). Teacher wellbeing is a main concern in practice, but is limitedly focused on the research of violence towards teachers. It is important to develop more research on the issue to improve and encourage professional learning and development.

Hargreaves (2000) points to the classroom as an emotional labour and emphasises that teachers make emotional investments in their relationships with their students and parents; good teaching is charged with positive emotions. We will not focus on the emotion of teaching in this proposal, but on research about teachers' struggles to establish and maintain good relationships with students, primarily students that are using violence towards teachers in school. 

The relationship between teacher and students in the modes of interaction and behaviour are essential. When violence towards teachers becomes an issue crucial social changes in the relationship are taking place. Violence perpetrated against teachers is prevalent and has the potential to adversely affect teachers’ wellbeing, self-efficacy in relation to students, and longevity in the profession (Anderman, et al., 2018; Berlanda et al., 2019). Berlanda et al. (2019) emphasise that promoting wellbeing among teachers is an ethical concern for society. It is also in the interest of their students and school system since it affects the quality of education that teachers provide. 

Some of the terms used to describe violence perpetrated against educators include “teacher-directed violence,” “teacher victimization,” and “violence against teachers.” The literature on workplace aggression suggests that exposure to aggression is particularly high in human service sectors, including education (Beckmann et al., 2019). Perhaps a particular, more important distinction is made between physical, verbal, and relational violence (Anderman et al., 2018; Kondrasuk et al., 2005; McMahon et al., 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021).

This paper’s primary goal is to conduct a systematic literature review on violence towards teachers. With this perspective in mind, we will discuss and analyse the following research questions:

• What does previously research state about violence against teachers? 
• What kind of theoretical and empirical knowledge are applied in previous research on violence against teachers?

Literature search and selection criteria’s strict methods were used to ensure a complete review of studies that included empirical findings related to violence against teachers in schools primarily in Europe and the United States. First, a comprehensive literature search was performed using the keywords externalised behaviour, violence, and teacher-student relationship. The searches were conducted in three electronic databases: the Web of Science, Idunn, and the search engine, Google Scholar. In the first search, we included peer-reviewed journal publications and published dissertations from 2000 to 2020. All articles had to be in English. Both of the authors of this article conducted independent literature searches using the same keywords and search engines. Duplicate studies were removed, and consensus was reached through a joint review of the latest set of studies included here. As a result of the first search, 102 studies were identified from Web of Science (83), Idunn (0), and Scopus (19). Here, we only added articles from Scopus which were not part of the Web of Science search. Second, the initial sum of articles was reduced to 89 by systematically reviewing the title, abstract, and method sections of each in order to confirm that all studies met the required inclusion criteria. Here, we excluded articles that only had the students’ perspective as we are interested in the teachers' perspective, and we included studies where both students and teachers were informants. We included articles that discussed both mental and physical violence against teachers. Further analysis reduced the number of articles to 41. We limited the search to articles that focused on interventions, sexual and digital harassment, mental health (psychiatry), bullying, and studies related to ethnicity. We chose not to include “child to parents violence,” as these topics are outside the scope of this study. Several of the articles considered here highlight the difference between boys and girls, but this is not included in our analysis. Finally, we excluded studies that were not conducted within the Anglo-American tradition. The searches also referenced several large American meta-studies. These were excluded from our analysis but are presented as part of the background for the study. We also added new relevant studies, which were referenced in the other meta-studies. As a result of the search, 29 studies were identified.

Our literature study revealed a lack of theoretical framework for studies on violence towards teachers. Empirical studies dominated the research on the issue. There is no unambiguous definition of violence, but some define physical and/or verbal violence and others on harassment. Reddy et al.’s (2018) systematic literature review found that verbal aggression was the most frequent type of violence reported, and students were the most common perpetrators. A national survey from the US indicated that harassment was the most frequent form of victimisation, followed by property offenses and physical offenses (McMahon et al., 2014). Beckmann et al. (2019) assume that school violence is a multidimensional phenomenon. In our literature study, we find that teaching is reported as a stressful profession with psychological demands, including the need to develop positive relationships with students. The student-teacher relationship is emphasised with references to Pianta (Eisenhower et al., 2014; Koenen et al., 2019; Obsuth et al., 2017; Pakarinen et al., 2018; Tropp-Gordon & Kopp, 2011; Wilkinson & Bartoli, 2021) and that the teacher’s emotional investment in the relationship with the students is essential, in addition to good teaching. In other words, good teachers are emotional and passionate beings who connect with their students and fill their work and lessons with joy, creativity, and challenges. The studies included are empirically based upon teacher-reported problems. McMahon et al. ( 2014, 2019, 2020) provide research-based knowledge on the Bronfennbrenner ecological system. McMahon et al. (2017, 2020) also use a functional behaviour analysis. These studies utilise the APA Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers Task. School environment and its ecology is another framework in some studies (Dzuka & Dalbert, 2007; McMahon et al., 2014, 2019, 2020; Wilkinson & Bartola, 2021).

A sample of references: Beckmann, L., Bergmann, M. C., Schneegans, T., & Baier, D. (2019). Importation and deprivation factors influencing teacher‐targeted aggression among secondary school students in Germany: A multilevel analysis. Aggressive Behavior, 45(3), 337-347. Dzuka, J., & Dalbert, C. (2007). Student Violence Against Teachers: Teachers' Well-Being and the Belief in a Just World. European Psychologist, 12(4), 253-260. Eisenhower, A. S., Blacher, J., & Bush, H. H. (2015). Longitudinal associations between externalizing problems and student–teacher relationship quality for young children with ASD. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 9, 163-173. Hargreaves, A. (2000). Mixed emotions: teachers’ perceptions of their interactions with students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(8), 811-826. Koenen, A.-K., Vervoort, E., Kelchtermans, G., Verschueren, K., & Spilt, J. L. (2019). Teacher sensitivity in interaction with individual students: the role of teachers' daily negative emotions. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 34(4), 514-529. McMahon, S. D., Peist, E., Davis, J. O., Bare, K., Martinez, A., Reddy, L. A., Espelage, D. L., & Anderman, E. M. (2019). Physical aggression toward teachers: Antecedents, behaviors, and consequences. Aggressive Behavior, 46(1), 116-126. McMahon, S. D., Davis, J. O., Peist, E., Bare, K., Espelage, D. L., Martinez, A., Anderman, E. M., & Reddy, L. A. (2020). Student Verbal Aggression Toward Teachers: How Do Behavioral Patterns Unfold? Psychology of Violence, 10(2), 192-200. Obsuth, I., Murray, A. L., Malti, T., Sulger, P., Ribeaud, D., & Eisner, M. (2017). A Non-bipartite Propensity Score Analysis of the Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships on Adolescent Problem and Prosocial Behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(8), 1661-1687. Pakarinen, E., Silinskas, G., Hamre, B. K., Metsäpelto, R.-L., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Poikkeus, A.-M., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2018). Cross-Lagged Associations Between Problem Behaviors and Teacher-Student Relationships in Early Adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 38(8), 1100-1141. Reddy, L. A., Espelage, D. L., Anderman, E. M., Kanrich, J. B., & McMahon, S. D. (2018). Addressing violence against educators through measurement and research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 42, 9-28. Troop‐Gordon, W., & Kopp, J. (2011). Teacher–Child Relationship Quality and Children's Peer Victimization and Aggressive Behavior in Late Childhood. Social Development (Oxford, England), 20(3), 536-561. Wilkinson, H. R., & Bartoli, A. J. (2021). Antisocial behaviour and teacher–student relationship quality: The role of emotion‐related abilities and callous–unemotional traits. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 482-499.