Teacher-directed violence by students in Western Australia: An exploratory study

Evalena Lowe, Duncan Picknoll
University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Australia
Paola Chivers
University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Australia, and Edith Cowan University, Australia
Fiona Farringdon and Paul Rycroft
University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Australia

Teacher-directed violence (TDV) by students is a growing concern in Western Australia (WA) with 8,500 students suspended in 2017 for committing TDV. This study investigates the prevalence of TDV reported by WA primary and secondary teachers, as well as the associations between TDV and gender, education sector and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEFIA) of school locations. Participants included 56 primary and secondary teachers in WA who completed an anonymous survey about their experiences with TDV over the past two years. The results revealed that 67.9% of participants had experienced TDV at least once in the past two years. Furthermore, a significant relationship was detected between TDV and gender, education sector and SEIFA indexes. Combined, this information should direct future research and school policy related to TDV.
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Authors: Evalena Lowe is an honours research student at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. She is currently finishing her Bachelor of Health and Physical Education (Secondary-Honours)-Double Major in Outdoor Education. Her interest in research has recently emerged and she endeavours to complete her PhD in teacher-directed violence. Email: evalenalowe1@my.nd.edu.au, evalenalowe@yahoo.com Dr Duncan Picknoll is the degree coordinator for the Bachelor of Outdoor Recreation in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. His research interests include outdoor education curriculum development, connection to nature and wellbeing. Email: duncan.picknoll@nd.edu.au Associate Professor Fiona Farringdon is Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) of the School of Health Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. Her research interests are diverse but predominately focus on adolescent and emerging adults' health related issues. Teacher wellbeing is also an area of interest. Email: fiona.farringdon@nd.edu.au Dr Paola Chivers is a Research Biostatistician for the Institute for Health Research at the University of Notre Dame, Australia and Adjunct Senior Lecturer with the School of Medical and Health Sciences and Exercise Medicine Research Institute at Edith Cowan University. She provides statistical support to health-related research within the university and clinical settings and conducts research methodology and statistical workshops. She volunteers in the CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools program. Email: paola.chivers@nd.edu.au Paul Rycroft is the Program Coordinator, Health and Physical Education at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. His research interests include teacher education, video-stimulated reflection, reflective learning and professional vision of pre-service health and physical education teachers. Email: paul.rycroft@nd.edu.au Please cite as: Lowe, E., Picknoll, D., Farringdon, F., Chivers, P. & Rycroft, P. (2020). Teacher-directed violence by students in Western Australia: An exploratory study. Issues in Educational Research, 30(1), 187-202. http://www.iier.org.au/iier30/lowe.pdf