🎯 Purpose of the Study

This study aimed to understand how secondary school teachers working in low socio-economic status (SES) schools experience and manage challenging behaviour. Given the well-documented relationships between poverty, trauma, and educational outcomes, the research used qualitative methods to explore teachers’ lived experiences.

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🔍 Methodology

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants. The data was analysed thematically, generating four key themes:

1. The Importance of Building Relationships
2. The Impact of External Influences
3. Teacher Resilience Amid Stress
4. The Need for Adaptive and Reflective Practice

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🧠 Key Findings

Teachers drew on professional judgement, relational strategies, and emotional intelligence in the face of behavioural challenges. They expressed deep awareness of how socio-economic factors and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) impact student behaviour, aligning with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. One participant described a home visit where academic concerns seemed inappropriate after seeing evidence of extreme poverty—illustrating the reality of educational injustice.

The study highlights the tension between macro-level policy (e.g. government mandates, school policies) and the relational, personalised approaches that teachers favour. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Bourdieu’s concept of Cultural Capital, the research reveals how structural inequalities shape both student behaviour and teacher responses.

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🧩 Emotional Labour & Motivation

Despite acknowledging high stress, participants maintained strong intrinsic motivation. They described the importance of not taking behaviour personally, with some potentially normalising abusive behaviour as a form of professional self-protection.

This aligns with:

• Hochschild’s concept of emotional labour
• Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) — showing that teachers find motivation through relatedness, competence, and autonomy.

📚 Theoretical & Social Context

• Chronosystem influences (e.g., COVID, war, divorce, instability) were acknowledged as having long-term developmental impacts.
• Zero-tolerance policies may perpetuate trauma and exclusion, reinforcing cycles of disengagement and learned helplessness.
• Exclusion was reported to contribute to alienation, academic withdrawal, and in some cases, increased risk of youth offending.

📘 Trauma-Informed Practice

All participants were aware of trauma’s impact, but only one had received formal trauma-informed training. The study highlights:

• A gap in professional development
• A need for supportive, emotionally responsive classrooms
• The importance of reflective teaching approaches

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⚖️ Social Justice & Policy

The study critiques the “one-size-fits-all” nature of current behavioural policies. It supports more compassionate, inclusive approaches that reflect students’ social realities, especially for those in lower SES contexts.

Drawing on Bourdieu’s work, the study illustrates how educational systems often reproduce inequality, with cultural and social capital playing a major role in academic success and exclusion.

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🧭 Conclusions & Recommendations

Future research should explore student perspectives and consider longitudinal or mixed-method designs.

Relationships are the cornerstone of effective behaviour management.

Education policy must account for trauma, poverty, and ecological complexity.

Professional development in trauma-informed and relational practice is urgently needed.