Promoting students' safety and wellbeing: ethical practice in schools

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Child Protection Studies
• Sociology of Education

Background:

• Child safety is a national policy priority in Australia.
• Limited research exists on school practices fostering children's felt sense of safety and wellbeing.
• Existing safeguarding procedures require refinement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore school practices that enhance student safety and wellbeing.
• To understand the conditions enabling and constraining these practices.
• To inform the operationalisation of National Child Safe Principles.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-method Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project.
• Interviews with school staff (N=10) and leaders (N=5).
• Nine focus groups with students (N=58) across primary and secondary schools in three Australian states.
• Theoretical frameworks: relational ethics, recognition theory, and theory of practice architectures.

Main Results:

• Identified the 'bundled' nature of current school practices related to child safety.
• Explored conditions that enable and constrain effective child safety practices.
• Findings highlight the importance of relational and ethical practices in schools.

Conclusions:

• Understanding school practices is critical for operationalising National Child Safe Principles.
• Findings inform the refinement of ongoing safeguarding procedures.
• Informed the development of an online survey to further investigate ethical practices and student wellbeing.