A grounded theory study exploring the intersection between pupil-teacher relationships and pupil alienation from the secondary classroom.

This thesis builds on the established body of research in pupil-teacher relationships by examining their intersection with pupil alienation from school. A consensus has been reached in the literature that the quality of interactions between pupils and teachers has wide-reaching implications on classroom behaviour, social interactions, and academic achievement. However, there is limited knowledge in the field of pupil alienation from school and even less research examining how this interacts with pupil-teacher relationships.
The study takes a ground theory research design to address this gap in knowledge by exploring the experiences of pupils and teachers based at a secondary school. During their time at school, pupil participants have become known by senior leaders for repeated reports by staff as displaying challenging behaviour. Subsequently, these pupils have often struggled to form effective relationships with some of their teachers. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with both pupils and teachers. Participants’ perceptions and experiences were explored, both positive and negative, to develop an understanding of the perspectives of both actors in reciprocal relationships. This was triangulated with data collected using Pianta’s Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (2001) to analyse teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with pupils.
The methodological framework for this grounded theory diverges from the popular constructivist design and is, instead, influenced by the classic approach. It is developed to be situated in a critical realist philosophy, emphasising the importance of the emancipatory goal of critical realism. Analysis of the data identified that alienated pupils frequently have difficult relationships with their teachers and discovered a subgroup of pupils who experienced more extreme forms of alienation. An implicit pupil-teacher social contract is presented, describing the emergence of observable actions through the causative mechanism inherent to critical realism. The social contract rests upon the concepts of mutual respect and power. When a pupil believes the contract to have been breached, through the perceived violation of one of these concepts, pupil-teacher relationships begin to deteriorate. Critical incidents were found to be instrumental in some pupils’ perceptions of negative relationships. The critical incidents were found to mostly occur in the initial stages of interaction between teachers and pupils, suggesting that this period is significant in the development of negative relationships.
In addition to contributing empirical research to the field of pupil-teacher relationships and examining their association with pupil alienation from school, this study also contributes to grounded theory discourse. The development of a critical realist grounded theory research design is suggested as being suitable for educational research where there is an emancipatory goal. Results from this study are useful to the school where data were collected and may be of wider use in the field of education. It would be particularly relevant for initial teacher training, the development of continued professional development for in-service teachers, and for school and national policymakers incidents were found to be instrumental in some pupils’ perceptions of negative relationships. The critical incidents were found to mostly occur in the initial stages of interaction between teachers and pupils, suggesting that this period is significant in the development of negative relationships.
In addition to contributing empirical research to the field of pupil-teacher relationships and examining their association with pupil alienation from school, this study also contributes to grounded theory discourse. The development of a critical realist grounded theory research design is suggested as being suitable for educational research where there is an emancipatory goal. Results from this study are useful to the school where data were collected and may be of wider use in the field of education. It would be particularly relevant for initial teacher training, the development of continued professional development for in-service teachers, and for school and national policymakers.