Sharing Student Projects

Background
Prevalence of childhood poverty has grown in the UK, increasing cumulative risks related to
poverty exposure. Teachers and teaching assistants could mitigate risks, but poor teacher
wellbeing is increasing, leaving many staff to consider leaving the profession.
Aim
To understand the psychological and educational impact of poverty on children; the
psychological impact of school context and pupil poverty on teaching staff wellbeing; and to
ascertain how teaching staff wellbeing is supported.
Method
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 8 participants working as TAs or teachers
with experience of working with children living in poverty. Data was analysed using Braun
and Clarke’s six-step reflexive thematic analysis framework, framed through a critical realist
– constructivist paradigm.
Findings
Six themes and associated, interconnected subthemes were created: (1) staff awareness of
context; (2) curriculum accessibility; (3) schools as a social safety net; (4) sense of
camaraderie; (5) expectations and reality; (6) you take it all home with you. These themes
reflect a cascade or series structure.
Implications
Retroductive analysis, resulted in understanding causal mechanisms supporting these
themes. Main identified causal mechanisms include: the role of institutional neglect,
individualised conceptualisations of wellbeing and the implied other of the National
Curriculum.

The findings and implications from this study propose policy makers and practitioners include changes to welfare systems, work with initial teacher education providers to prepare the future teaching workforce for meeting the needs of diverse populations, and developing a measure of teaching staff wellbeing which quantifies the additional hidden workload identified in the project.