Largely missing from the research on school attendance difficulties is student voice.  Much of the research and literature on the topic frames “school refusal” as either a misbehaviour or a psychopathology.  But what if distress about school attendance is considered a reasonable protective response to either chronic or severe stress, which leaves students feeling unsafe? 

Westphal’s Student Stress Investigation helps students communicate about the things at school that might be causing them distress.  Without tuning into student voice, those trying to support students, risk responding to them in ways that magnify their distress and worsen mental health.  When we know what is causing distress then we can collaborate to remove and address stressors and barriers, resulting in students that feel seen and supported. 

Westphal will share insights into some of the things that students frequently tell her cause them difficulties.  She will also share what the parents and carers of School Can’t Australia say the top school-based stressors impacting their children / teens are.

Tiffany Westphal

Tiffany Westphal is a social worker, a parent of a neurodivergent teen who has experienced “school can’t”, and a director of national parent/carer support group: School Can’t Australia which has 15,000+ members.  She is also the designer of a resource called Student Stress Investigation (SSI).  Westphal works with Universities and Education authorities to help improve understandings about school can’t and focus attention on student and parent/carer lived experience.