Expectations, attributions and responses to pupil behaviour: does gender play a role?

To investigate the influence of teacher characteristics, a staged process was conducted in a questionnaire-based format on Qualtrics, which included an implicit association test, behavioural vignettes, and a series of questions. The sample population (n=123) consisted of male (40) and female (83) teachers, predominantly from Northern Ireland and working in a variety of educational settings. A mixed methods design was used to collect and analyse a wide range of data to answer the research questions.

Quantitative methods were used to analyse teachers’ implicit associations, expectations, perceptions of challenge and responses to challenging behaviour quantitative methods were used, with attributional causes of behaviour explored through directed content analysis. A wealth of results was obtained regarding the interaction of teacher gender, experience, and student gender for each aspect of the study. Overall, the results show that teachers hold implicit associations about student behaviour based on their gender and experience, which influence their expectations, perceptions, attributions, and responses to challenging behaviour in the classroom.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31st December 2025.</i><br><br><br>