Research indicates that underperforming teachers have a profound impact on students and on principals who struggle to deal with the underperformance. However, the impact on, and responses of, other teachers (i.e. co-workers) is rarely studied, in spite of the importance of teacher collaboration in contemporary education. Therefore, we interviewed co-workers about incidents of teacher underperformance, using the Critical Incident Technique. Our respondents reported various types of underperformance, including student-related and team-related underperformance, as well as task underperformance and counterproductive work behaviours. Dependent on the specific incident, co-workers were more directly or indirectly affected by the underperformance. They expressed frustrations, concerns, and feelings of injustice, not only about the underperformance itself, but also about a lack of response by the school principal. Moreover, we found that co-worker responses depended on how they perceived the necessity, appropriateness, and utility of responding, as well as their responsibility to respond. This was influenced by characteristics of the underperformance, underperformer and co-worker, and leadership and team factors. Implications for educational research, policy, and practice are discussed.

中文翻译：

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表现不佳的教师：对同事的影响及其反应

研究表明，表现不佳的教师对努力应对表现不佳的学生和校长有着深远的影响。然而，尽管教师合作在当代教育中很重要，但很少研究对其他教师（即同事）的影响和反应。因此，我们使用关键事件技术采访了同事关于教师表现不佳的事件。我们的受访者报告了各种类型的表现不佳，包括与学生和团队相关的表现不佳，以及任务表现不佳和适得其反的工作行为。根据具体的事件，同事更直接或间接地受到表现不佳的影响。他们表达了沮丧、担忧和不公正的感觉，不仅是因为表现不佳本身，但也与校长缺乏回应有关。此外，我们发现同事的回应取决于他们如何看待回应的必要性、适当性和实用性，以及他们回应的责任。这受到绩效不佳者、绩效不佳者和同事以及领导力和团队因素等特征的影响。讨论了对教育研究、政策和实践的影响。