;)
FOTO: Paul Anthony Wilson
Bullying a problem at KHiO
One of six employees and a significant proportion of students at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO) feel that they have been bullied. Reorganization and individualism are presented as reasons.
På norskThe results from the working environment survey recently carried out at KHiO are striking: 15,7 percent feel bullied, around 30 percent have observed bullying in the workplace, and survey responses state that there is no arena in which to deal with unacceptable conditions in the workplace. These are very high numbers, according to Annik Apall Austad from the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.
- Research has shown that there has generally been less bullying at workplaces in Norway during the last few years. The average is around five percent, so 15,7 percent is a very high number, she says.
Leader of the student committee for the Faculty of Performing Arts, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, thinks that the statistics are frightening.
- This survey came as a shock to most people at the school, and it is a difficult subject.
- Has the bullying affected the quality of teaching?
- It is hard to say, but there is no denying that a good, safe environment is important to the quality of teaching, so the bullying may have led to poorer teaching, Bygdnes says.
Cecilie Broch Knudsen, rector at KHiO, is taking the results into consideration.
- There should be zero tolerance from the administration and staff when it comes to bullying. We are currently working on concrete action plans at the faculties in order to find out how we can solve this problem, and we will present a joint action plan for the whole school by the 15th of May. We have to take the issue of bullying seriously, and react quickly, she says.
Students also bullied
Janne Kruse, student and leader of the learning environment committee at KhiO, says that a survey last year showed that many students at KhiO also feel bullied.
- We got a similar result in last year’s term survey among students. A low percentage replied to the survey, so it is hard to know if the results are representative. Yet it is problematic that a large number of students feel bullied, Kruse says, and adds that a new survey will be carried out in order to map out the kind of measures that can be put in place for students.
Rector Knudesen believes that it is difficult to pick just one factor when explaining the problem of bullying, but points to extensive reorganization, demands that results be reported, and the nature of the art world as problems that KHiO struggles with.
The merger of KHiO in 1996 is emphasized by several as a decisive factor in the poor working environment. Åse Markussen is a university librarian at the Art Academy, which arguably has the strongest identity of all the older art schools. She says that she has experienced bullying, mostly from the upper level of the administration. She does not want to expand on this any further, but says the merging process was painful.
- The way in which the merger was implemented has created a sense of frustration among members of staff. There has also been little understanding of the distinctive quality of the Art Academy within the KHiO system. Many employees feel that they do not have control over their work situation, Markussen says.
Austad of the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority thinks however that it is problematic to lay the blame on reorganization in itself.
- Research shows that there is no evidence that reorganization leads to an increase in bullying. It is more about how one deals with the chaos that can arise, she says.
- A class society
Rector Knudsen can reveal that the environment at KHiO can be tough at times.
- The art world is often characterized by competitiveness and a lot of individualism, she says.
Haico Nitzsche, representative at KHiO, thinks that there are huge differences between people with different positions at the school.
- Bullying is going on between the different parts of the organization in all departments. It is a class society. Some feel that they are beneath the others. The staff are vulnerable artists, and this may be why they are more prone to feel bullied. At the same time, they risk of hurting the feelings of the office staff, because they see them as lackeys in comparison to their own group, the artist, he says.
- A vague term
Bror Mikkelborg, safety representative at KHiO, is surprised at the results.
- I cannot understand how these numbers can be right, that it can be that high.
Even though he believes that the high numbers may be due to bullying being a vague term, he thinks that the hierarchical structure in the system may be difficult for some.
- People have probably felt like outsiders, and therefore they might have felt they were being bullied, he says. He thinks that it is great that rector and the deans are taking issue with the problem, but believes it might be a little late.
- There have been a number of difficult readjustments at KHiO, and the problems in the working environment should have been dealt with earlier, he says.
