TEACHING STUDENTS WITH ADHD: Secondary teachers' experiences of adapting classroom practice to cater to the needs of students with ADHD

Lee Swingler

In today’s diverse classrooms, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one diagnosis challenging teachers to rethink traditional teaching methods. The purpose of this study is to understand Australian teachers’ classroom management strategies (CMS) in the secondary school context for students with ADHD. Research to date has not asked teachers about how they adjust their teaching strategies for students with ADHD. To address this gap, the experiences of four secondary teachers were explored considering contextual factors that influenced their implementation of CMS for students with ADHD. An interpretivist phenomenological approach was applied through in-depth interviews with the teachers to explore their perspectives, feelings and actions when teaching students with ADHD. They were also asked to reflect on what helped or limited their capacity to support students with ADHD. The data analysis was informed by ecological systems theory (EST) to understand how various levels of the classroom such as structure, family relationships, school connection and broader societal values and policies affected the teachers’ choices. School policy documentation and News articles were additional data collection methods used to understand the contextual nature of CMS. Findings revealed that the participants had a strong understanding of ADHD and its subtypes and used a variety of CMS, including modelled and explicit instructions, praise and feedback, scaffolding tasks through peers, movement, boundary setting and flexibility. Underpinning these strategies, the teachers expressed that building relationships was central to teaching students with ADHD, and all expressed a strong commitment to support students with ADHD, despite frustrations and fatigue. However, traditional success measures used by the teachers often clashed with ADHD behaviours and constraints arose from systemic rigidity, societal pressures on medication, and varying parental beliefs. This project emphasises the need for comprehensive in-school support and professional development to enhance adaptive teaching strategies and alleviate teacher frustrations when teaching students with ADHD.

TEACHING STUDENTS WITH ADHD: Secondary teachers' experiences of adapting classroom practice to cater to the needs of students with ADHD

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