Exploring school staff’s experiences of working with trans-spectrum young people: a psychosocial approach

This research examines the experiences of school staff working with trans-spectrum young people (TsYP) from a psychosocial perspective. While existing research has often prioritised the voices of TsYP or educational psychologists (EPs), little attention has been given to how school staff themselves experience this work. This is despite school staff being integral to shaping school environments and influencing the safety, belonging and wellbeing of TsYP. The research is set in the evolving socio-political and educational context of the United Kingdom (UK), where ongoing policy changes, the politicisation, and the scrutiny of gender diversity in schools amplify the complexity of school staff roles. A psychosocial approach was therefore applied to understand experiences by exploring the complex interactions between the evolving external context and their internal worlds. Five secondary school staff members participated, all of whom had previous experience working with TsYP. Principles from the Free Association Narrative Interview Method (FANIM), which draws on psychoanalytic theory, were used to deepen understanding of the complex dynamics at play (Hollway and Jefferson, 2000). A psychoanalytically informed approach to data analysis was employed (O’Reilly et al., 2025), revealing that participants' experiences carried emotional weight. School staff are concerned about TsYP’s well-being but feel stretched by the demands of their roles and constrained by the changing and unchangeable systems around them. The findings highlight how to support school staff in feeling competent and capable in their roles. The methodology also emphasised how the psychosocial approach could be used further within the EP role, including the importance of understanding the complexities of school staff’s experiences. Opportunities for further research to build on these findings are also proposed.