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New book uncovers the truth about student behaviour in Australian schools and what teachers can do to manage it.

Real Schools

Key Facts:

The Truth About Student Behaviour by Adam Voigt

Out now (September 2026)

https://realschools.com.au/books/student-behaviour/ 

With almost half of teachers considering leaving the profession citing student behaviour as a reason, Real Schools’ Adam Voigt says it’s time to stop blaming teachers and to rethink what actually works.

Student behaviour has become one of the most pressing challenges facing Australian schools, with new national data showing it is increasingly linked to teacher stress, job satisfaction and intentions to leave the profession.

In his new book, The Truth About Student Behaviour, education leader and founder of Real Schools Adam Voigt cuts through the noise, guilt and fear surrounding behaviour in schools to offer teachers and school leaders a more practical and hopeful way forward.

Australian schools are in crisis, and if things don’t change we’re at risk of losing teachers who are burning out or overwhelmed by the reality of their work. 

2024 data from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) via the Australian Teacher Workforce Data (ATWD) found that 47% of Australian teachers who were planning to leave the profession cited student behaviour as a reason, up from 25% in 2020. Worryingly, student behaviour was cited almost as frequently as insufficient pay. Meanwhile, 34% of Australian lower-secondary teachers reported experiencing stress “a lot” at work, compared with 19% across the OECD (TALIS 2024).

Things have got to change. But Voigt argues that simply demanding better behaviour, tougher consequences or better classroom management misses the point.

The Truth About Student Behaviour speaks directly to the people who teach, lead and care for our young people every day. With honesty, clarity and a healthy dose of humour, Voigt strips away the guilt and fear that sit beneath behaviour challenges and replaces them with practical guidance teachers can use immediately.

It helps teachers shift away from control for control’s sake, and towards the relationships, structures and conditions that make better behaviour possible.

“Teachers don’t need another person telling them they should be managing behaviour better. Most are already working incredibly hard in increasingly complex classrooms. What they need are approaches that actually work.

“This book is about helping teachers understand what sits underneath student behaviour, what they can influence and what they can do differently tomorrow. When we get this right, we don’t just improve behaviour. We create schools where teachers can teach, students can learn and both can feel like they belong.”

The conversation is bigger than any one difficult student, classroom or teacher.

Through Real Schools, Voigt works with Australian primary and secondary schools in both the public and private sectors, giving him a close-up view of the realities educators face and the changes that can occur when schools take a different approach to behaviour and relationships.

The Truth About Student Behaviour is ultimately not a book about fixing “bad kids” or blaming exhausted teachers. It’s a book about creating the conditions in which both can succeed.

Adam Voigt is available for interviews about topics including:

• Why student behaviour has become a teacher-retention issue, not simply a classroom-management issue.

• The problem with prioritising control over connection.

• Why blaming teachers for difficult classrooms is making the problem worse.

• What the latest Australian evidence tells us about behaviour, teacher stress and intentions to leave the profession.

• Why consequences alone rarely create lasting behaviour change.

• The practical things teachers can do differently when behaviour starts to derail learning.

• What schools are doing differently to create calmer, safer and more connected classrooms.

• Why getting student behaviour right matters not only for children, but for the future of the teaching profession.

About us:

ABOUT ADAM VOIGT: 

A passionate advocate for teachers and school leaders, Adam Voigt is an education leader known for his expertise in school culture, leadership and restorative practice. His years as a school principal in some of Australia’s toughest locations shape every part of his work, giving him a rare blend of credibility, humour and hope that resonates with educators everywhere.

 

Author of Restoring Teaching and The Truth About Student Behaviour, and creator of the RP2.0 methodology, Adam has a passion for empowering as many leaders and educators as possible with the tools, skills and attitudes necessary to build meaningful, productive relationships in Australia’s schools… and for those relationships to be leveraged to accelerate student learning and growth. 

 

But his strongest motivator is his mission to support educators in the critical role they play in building a brighter future for Australia. https://realschools.com.au/speaker/

 

Contact details:

MEDIA CONTACT: Erin Huckle / [email protected] / 0432 213 506