An Investigation of Supports: Understanding Students' and Educators’ Experiences of Anxiety in School and Classroom Settings

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2025-04-22

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Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to understand the lived experiences of both students and educators who navigate anxiety at school, and to investigate how educators understand the experiences of anxiety in their students and strategies that students perceive as helpful in the classroom. Data was collected from 13 participants, 6 educators and 7 university students in London, Ontario through semi-structured interviews and an online demographic questionnaire. Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: commonly identified anxiety symptoms (e.g., physiological) desired classroom support & responsive approaches (e.g., student-centered approaches), and barriers to effective anxiety support & future recommendations (e.g., professional development). The findings revealed how students experience anxiety and educators perspectives of anxiety symptoms, identifying areas of focus for anxiety-specific support. The findings also identified potential barriers and future recommendations for school communities, highlighting the challenges educators face with increased demands to support students with anxiety, without sufficient resources and training. The study highlighted a direction for school communities by collaborating with students on what is needed to better support their anxious reactions at school, offering a practical framework for educators.

Summary for Lay Audience

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health concern among school-aged youth. Given the significant amount of time children and youth spend at school, it is important to investigate how symptoms manifest and the supports available. As educators interact with students daily, they serve as valuable support to respond to students’ needs. Anxiety can impact students in a variety of domains such as social, physiological, behavioural, and cognitive and can interrupt a student’s school functioning and academic performance. Therefore, educators should be able to identify and recognize signs of unusual student behaviour and feel prepared to provide anxiety management strategies at the classroom level. Previous research has focused on gathering the experiences of either students or educators, while lacking a collaborative approach. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of both students and educators to understand how they navigate anxiety symptoms and to provide a direction on how teachers can better support the needs of anxious youth. Virtual semi-structured interviews were conducted with both student and educator participants. Semi-structured interviews involve the researcher using predetermined questions as a guide, while remaining open to further exploration with participants. Thematic analysis was used to identify three key themes and patterns discussed in the interviews: commonly identified anxiety symptoms, desired classroom supports & responsive approaches, and barriers to effective anxiety support & future recommendations. The first two themes addressed the first research question on how anxiety presents in classroom settings and how teachers navigate providing support desired by students. The third theme addressed the second research question by demonstrating barriers to the effectiveness of existing supports. Providing educators with the necessary knowledge is crucial for effectively implementing interventions that target anxiety behaviours. These findings can inform current anxiety management strategies in school communities, highlighting those that are helpful from students’ perspectives while identifying areas for development by school boards to ensure educators feel confident and competent addressing students' mental health concerns.

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The thesis cover page in the PDF document includes references to Western University’s previous institutional repository platform, known as Scholarship@Western, and links to that platform (beginning with ir.lib.uwo.ca). In citing or referring to this thesis, use the DOI or handle from this page instead. Sample citation: Author name, "Thesis title." (Year). Western University Open Repository. https://doi.org/10.71858/123456. 

Keywords

Anxiety, lived experience, mental health, anxiety strategies, teacher support

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/31693

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