Teachers' Perception of Grief in Primary and Secondary School Students in Spain: Children's Responses and Elements which Facilitate or Hinder the Grieving Process

Abstract

Introduction: Children's experience of grief is influenced by many factors, such as the response of the school environment. The objective of this paper was to explore the grieving children's responses, as well as the factors that facilitate and hinder the grieving process from the teachers' perspective. Methods: A qualitative-descriptive study design was used, which included a semi-structured interview conducted with 63 teachers. A thematic analysis was conducted using Atlas.ti7.0. Results: Great variability was found between different children's reactions to death (decreased academic performance, isolation, etc.). The factors influencing the children's reactions were both child-specific and environmental. The teachers pointed to communication, emotional support, and spirituality as facilitating elements, but pointed to discomfort when talking about death as a factor which hinders the grieving process. Conclusions: In conclusion, although children can naturally adapt to a loss, both providing emotional support and training in providing such support are necessary. Nurses can help in the design and planning of specific programmes to help students cope with death and loss.