Abstract
Mounting systemic pressures faced by schools have grown exponentially in recent years, causing negative impacts on staff mental health and wellbeing resulting in reduced job satisfaction and staff turnover. Collective Efficacy (CE) is a groups’ belief in their conjoint efforts to achieve success. Staff CE and wellbeing have been adversely impacted by systemic pressures which has significant repercussions for a school’s culture and outcomes for pupils. Research has aimed to understand how best to support school staff wellbeing. However, this has primarily focused on teachers, and CE has not been investigated amongst school staff in Northern Ireland (NI).The current study aimed to combine quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how various members of school staff across schools in NI perceive the prioritisation of wellbeing and CE in their school. Quantitative methods consisted of secondary data analysis of an existing dataset of questionnaire responses from an ongoing intervention produced by the NI Educational Psychology Service. Qualitative methods consisted of individual semi-structured interviews.
Results showed that staff’s perception of how their school prioritises wellbeing is influenced by various factors and that often a lack of clear and consistent support is present. Workload and systemic factors were highlighted as barriers to CE and wellbeing. However, a protective factor was identified as interpersonal relationships between staff which need internal (i.e., school leaders) and external (i.e., Educational Psychologists, EPs) support in order to be promoted.
Findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature as well as in relation to implications for EPs’ practice.
Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2027.
| Date of Award | Dec 2025 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Sponsors | Department of Education Northern Ireland |
| Supervisor | Stephanie Burns (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- staff wellbeing
- collective efficacy
- school staff
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