Understanding and Examining the Different Views and Perspectives of Educational Professionals on School Refusal

This study explored the views and perspectives of twelve educational professionals on the topic of school refusal. These educational professionals were from different backgrounds, including Educational Psychologists, Teachers, Educational Welfare Officers, a Senior Outreach Worker, a Senior Manager and a Learning Support Assistant.
This was an exploratory study which used an inductive reasoning approach. An amended version of grounded theory was used to analyse the data.
The findings suggest that educational professionals identify a number of causes and reasons for school refusal. These were the young people’s special educational needs, their experiences at school and social relationships with peers and adults, as well as emotional well-being issues. The educational professionals also referred to other contributory factor for school refusal, such as socio-economic markers and poor parenting skills.