Bullying and victimization are persistent problems in countries around the world and affects the lives of many students (Thornberg, 2010; Gu, Lai, & Ye, 2011; Kochenderfer & Ladd, 1996; Ttofi & Farrington, 2009).  Bullying is commonly defined as recurrent harassment or offence against an individual who is in a powerless position (cf. Hellström et al., 2021). It has been emphasized that in order to be called bullying, the recurrent aggression should be considered unwanted by someone and that an individual's experiences are also important to consider and not just the stated intention of the perpetrator(s) (Gladden et. al., 2014). National measurements in Sweden in recent years have shown an increase over time in bullying measured in percentage points (Bjereld et al. 2020; cf. Edling et al. 2022; Friends, 2022; SCB, 2020). The most significant increase can be observed among girls aged 13-15 years (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2018, p. 40). This study is based on a request from a municipality in Sweden to help investigate how it comes that a surprisingly high proportion of girls in middle school (grades 4-6) felt exposed to victimization and bullying. In reoccurring measurements of victimization and bullying among students in a Swedish municipality it is shown that bullying and a sense of vulnerability amongst girls have increased by around 74 %, since 2016 (Simonsson, 2022).

In a large global study involving 46 countries, Cosma et. al (2022) found that the practice of traditional bullying and cyberbullying was more common among 11-15 year old boys than girls in most countries, while gender differences in victimization were mixed. One conclusion they draw is that one reason why major anti-bullying programmes are slow to show marked improvements in bullying patterns is because they do not address gender norms that are sometimes unconsciously embedded in societies.

In research on professional identity, a teacher’s vision or seeing, is regarded as an important factor that affects the quality of their teaching (Ibarra, 1999; Shulman, 1991) and is thus used as a framework in this study. According to Goodwin (1994), who introduced the concept of professional vision, a profession can be understood as the way in which a specific group creates a social organisation for seeing depending on what the specific profession requires its members to see or notice. In this context, professional seeing is linked to specialist knowledge that supports the group's understanding and ability to observe the relevant dimensions in practice (a.a.). Closely related to professional vision is professional identity, which is shaped by a person's task perception, i.e. their lenses of meaning-making through which they see a specific situation, e.g. education, and act on it (Kelchterman 2009, p. 260). Professional identity thus constitutes a framework for individuals that guides their perceptions and how they interpret and act in particular situations (see also Richter et. al. 2021).

In interviews with 62 school actors in three schools the importance of teachers’ seeing, referred to here as professional vision, became one key theme. With this as a background, the overall purpose of this study is to map the selective use of professional vision as a means to handle and grapple with as to why a relatively large number of girls in middle school in the selected municipality feel bullied or vulnerable to bullying.

1)     How do students, teachers, health staff, and school leaders in three middle schools explain the importance and notion of professional vision in relation to gender victimization?

2)     What possible gender differences exist in relation to what these actors argue is important to see [pay notice to] in relation to bullying/abusive behavior?

The research project has undergone an ethical review and has been authorized to conduct the study. For this project, three primary schools focusing on middle school (grades 4-6) that stand out in the number of bullying cases among girls were selected. The selected schools are regarded as embedded cases and have different characteristics to ensure variation, namely: a) a primary school that, over time, is characterized by a relatively low proportion of pupils who are (recurrently) offended; b) a school that is characterized by a relatively high proportion of pupils who state that they feel (recurrently) offended, and; c) a school where different forms of offence have been prevalent during the measurement period. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with students and key stakeholders at the selected schools. The semi-structured interviews are individual, and the ambition was to interview the following people per school: the school's principal, deputy principal, three teachers, librarian, caretaker, the school's security team, which sometimes includes counsellors, and 6-8 students. The case study is partly an exploratory case study as no other studies to our knowledge have studied issues related to bullying and classroom and school climate from a gender perspective in this municipality. The study endeavors to explore a terrain that has not yet been studied (Yin, 2003). At the same time, we see that the case study contains smaller parts that need to be studied in relation to each other in terms of similarities and differences and to a large amount of research that has been done over the years, which is referred to as a multiple analysis (Yin, 2003). The unit of analysis used in the exploratory and multiple case study is based on the socio-ecological model focusing seeing, vision, noticing, observation, and perception, which is theoretical but also proved fruitful from a large number of empirical studies. The concepts of micro, meso/exo and macro levels are used as overarching inputs that are operationalized using an individual focus, a group and organizational focus and a societal pattern/trend focus (Swearer et. al. 2004). The three levels flow into and interact with each other, but the structure provides a support for analysis and sorting.

The results both have a potential to give an international contribution as to how gender bullying takes form in class- and school climates as well as to the field of teachers’ professional vision and task perception. The overall results maps teachers’ professional vision in terms of range, distance, and focus (Hammerness, 2001) drawing on the actors descriptions. As regards gender differences, the interviewees are aware that boys and girls are generally seen as unique individuals and that not only some girls, but also some boys are unwell and need to be highlighted and supported. At the same time, there are patterns in how girls feel, behave and are treated that are important to highlight. The descriptions of girls' and boys' differences are generally about the fact that they are perceived and feel that they are in two different arenas where gender-stereotypical roles have developed, based on the outgoing and violent boy and the silent girl who is oppressed and takes it upon herself and sometimes herself in addition to bullying in the form of, for example, subjective looks, slander and ostracism. The use of social media appears to be particularly damaging to girls' well-being and sense of vulnerability, as well as places in school where adults are, not present and competition occurs. In cases where girls are outgoing and loud, some feel they are not treated in the same way as boys. There are also recurring stories that girls and boys generally play different games and do not mix during breaks, which reinforces the separation of the two arenas.

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