The role of teachers in mitigating student stress to progress learning

Abstract

Many Australian young people experience mental health concerns, academic and study-related stresses, and socio-economic pressures. Phenomenological research conducted among primary and secondary schoolteachers in four Australian states investigated how teachers manage student wellbeing concerns and academic pressures and stresses. Findings identify key stresses that affect students’ performance and how teachers respond to these stresses to progress student learning. Creating space, finding margin, mitigating and reducing pressures and stresses, while upholding academic rigour, are the salient capabilities described by teachers in this study for simultaneously managing student wellbeing concerns and academic performance.