Teacher well-being continues to gather increased attention in the neoliberal education era. School-based violence is a significant contributor to the detrimental experiences for educators, that includes various forms of violence perpetrated by students. Even though research in this area has received global attention over the past decade, the paucity of ample evidence base to reinforce the well-being of teachers vindicates more research in this area. The current research evidence suggests that student violence adversely affects a wide range of areas, including mental and physical health, classroom management, job retention, self-efficacy, and overall personal and professional life. This research focuses on how student behaviours and school violence impact the well-being of teachers. Embracing a qualitative approach, the research aims to draw upon the lived experiences of educators in the schools of the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. This paper reviews data from a short online survey that includes the foundational demography of educators in the NT and some of the key emergent themes that inform a larger study. Statistics from the online survey indicate a considerable degree of victimisation experienced by educators in the NT. The significance of the study is further highlighted as it covers a geographical location where there is a predominance of Australian First Nations people. This population still suffers from the distress and trauma of colonisation. Here we gain an initial snapshot of the prolific distress from student violence suffered by many teachers in the NT, alongside a backdrop of trauma experienced by children of colonised peoples.

Authors:
Binoy Joseph, Charles Darwin University, Australia

About the Presenter(s)
Mr Binoy Joseph is a University Doctoral Student at Charles Darwin University in Australia

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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