Finding meaning in work has been shown to be an effective buffer when facing workplace adversity, and those who believe that their work is meaningful are more motivated, satisfied, and report increases in their personal and professional wellbeing. However, prior investigation has not explored meaningful work (MW) with teachers who educate trauma-affected students. Teachers can be impacted by trauma’s secondary harmful effects and can suffer burnout from job demands. Situated within positive organisational behaviour (POB) and positive education paradigms, this study is the first to explore MW and trauma-affected teachers. Primary and secondary school teachers selected for teaching cohorts of trauma-affected students participated in an 11-month qualitative study using appreciative inquiry participatory action research design. This study yielded the creation of a new practice pedagogy model of trauma-informed positive education (TIPE) and a new conceptual model to describe a pathway for increasing MW for educators working in school communities impacted by systemic concerns of childhood trauma from abuse, neglect and disadvantage.