Teachers set the tone: a pilot study of student perspectives of psychological safety in secondary school

Alison S. Willis

doi:10.1080/02643944.2026.2693494

Back

Teachers set the tone: a pilot study of student perspectives of psychological safety in secondary school

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Teachers set the tone: a pilot study of student perspectives of psychological safety in secondary school

Alison S. Willis

Pastoral Care in Education, Vol.Advanced access

25-Jun-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2026.2693494

Files and links (1)

pdf

Teachers set the tone a pilot study of student perspectives of psychological safety in secondary school3.97 MBDownload View

Published Version (Advanced Access) Open Access CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Psychological safety

wellbeing

student engagement

learning behaviours

confidence

Although much is known about psychological safety in education, there is still much to be understood about student perspectives of psychological safety in secondary schools. This mixed methods study employed a phenomenological theoretical perspective to investigate school student experiences and perspectives of psychological safety and the implications for pastoral care for teachers through a pilot survey (n = 78) and focus group interviews (n = 14). A main research outcome was the phenomenological mapping of psychologically safe and unsafe experiences for a group of Year 10 school students. Study findings show that when students feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to put effort into their schoolwork. Students will only speak up and seek help when they feel confident to do so. Not all learning behaviours that are indicative of psychological safety in adult workplaces were evident in a secondary school context. These findings reveal how to engender psychological safety through teacher pastoral care to prepare school students for future work.

Details

Title: Teachers set the tone: a pilot study of student perspectives of psychological safety in secondary school
Authors: Alison S. Willis (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Pastoral Care in Education, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/02643944.2026.2693494
ISSN: 1468-0122
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Grant note: The work was supported by the School of Education and Tertiary Access, University of the Sunshine Coast.
Organisation Unit: School of Education and Tertiary Access
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991246279702621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

1 Record Views