Family involvement in PSE: international schools easing the transition of mobile families

The impact of family mobility from domestic or international moves can be challenging for families. Some families adjust and other families experience crisis. For some families, relocation may be due to a job promotion and transfer, while for other families moving may be due to divorce, loss of employment or other stressful circumstances. Regardless of whether the family perceives relocation as positive or negative, moving places demands on families and consequently families experience varying degrees of transience. This article is based upon a qualitative research study about internationally mobile (IM) families managing relocation and transience and the place of international schooling in that process. 90 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 45 (IM) families at an international school in southern England. The study included an intervention that consisted of implementing a personal and social education (PSE) programme for families with adolescent children. Family involvement in PSE facilitated parent‐adolescent communication at a critical transitional stage as IM teenagers who grow up ‘on the move’ were experiencing complex emotional and social upheavals in relationships with their peers and their families. Although the focus of this study explored the experiences of a small sample of IM families, there are wider implications from the study. Family mobility presents an opportunity for schools to also work with families who experience domestic moves to ease the transition of children through pastoral care.     

Inclusion of pupils perceived as experiencing social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD): affordances and constraints

This paper takes as its principal theme barriers to the inclusion of pupils perceived as experiencing social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and how these might be overcome. It draws upon an evaluative case study of an initiative, devised by the author, to support pupils – the Support Group Initiative (SGI) – which was conducted over a five‐year period in a Scottish Secondary School situated in an area of multiple deprivation. The central focus of the discussion is the range of variables that impacted upon pupil outcomes, illustrating the ways in which these variables acted as affordances or constraints in the pursuit of inclusive practice. The paper takes as its starting point the contested nature of inclusion and introduces, briefly, the Scottish policy context as it pertains to inclusion before exploring the nature of the problem – the barriers to the inclusion of and the difficulties presented by the inclusion of pupils perceived as having SEBD, as discussed in the literature. The findings of the study are discussed in relation to central themes – the ethos of the Support Group; the process of re‐signification through which pupils are enabled to effect improvement; the classroom context; and wider variables relating to school policy, practice, ethos and the management of change. The paper concludes by exploring what inclusion has meant to the pupils involved within the intervention, summarising the affordances and constraints to its realisation, before reflecting upon the significance of the study.     

Callous-unemotional interpersonal style in DSM-V: what does this mean for the UK SEBD population?

The definition of conduct disorder in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSMV) includes a new ‘limited prosocial emotions’ specifier, designed to assist in the identification of those with more severe and persistent difficulties and the better targeting of interventions. This study set out to investigate its relevance to pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) in the United Kingdom who might meet the criteria for a diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD). Limited prosocial emotions were assessed using a measure of callous-unemotional (CU) interpersonal style, and their relationship with social behaviour, social status and self-concept was investigated among children aged 8–11 years with identified SEBD (N = 54) using teacher, peer and self-report measures. Findings demonstrated that higher scores on the specifier were associated with more severe problems in all but one of the domains investigated. Higher CU scores were positively associated with teacher and peer-assessed antisocial behaviour and with social rejection. The association between CU scores and social acceptance by peers was negative. However, associations between CU scores and self-perceptions, including social self-perception, were small and non-significant. Thus, despite being socially rejected and rated more negatively by peers than children with low CU levels, the social self-concept of children with elevated CU levels was not lower. Implications for assessment and the differentiation of interventions are considered.     

Building productive relationships with young people with SEBD in transition: the role of identity

This article reports a study of the experiences of school leavers with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), which identified supportive relationships as key elements in young people demonstrating resilience through this transitional period. Almost all the young people involved in the study had access to potential helpers, but few managed to establish productive relationships with them. Analysis of interviews, conducted over a 15 month period with a group of 15 school leavers, their parents and those who worked with them, suggested that barriers and facilitators to relationship development existed at two levels: institutional and individual. This article focuses on the individual level, in which identity processes appear to play a key role. These processes are used to explain why some school leavers built productive relationships and thrived, whilst many failed to do so, and struggled. These findings have implications for policy, practice and theory.     

An interactional analysis of one-to-one pastoral care delivery within a primary school

Despite an interactional analysis being able to offer valuable insight into the institutional workings of pastoral care practice, pastoral care delivery remains largely unstudied. This paper will contribute new knowledge to the field of counselling and education by offering an interactional analysis of one-to-one pastoral care provision within a primary school. Much pastoral care practice is informed by theory, often accompanied by guidelines about how to deliver pastoral care activities effectively. The pastoral carer needs to convert these guidelines into talk in order to deliver the intervention as an interactional encounter. However useful these guidelines are, they cannot show what the actual delivery of those pastoral care activities might look like in real life. Using conversation analysis, we examine video recordings of pastoral care delivery to reveal the ways in which a pastoral carer supports a child’s behaviour, social and emotional well-being. The significance of the findings is that those who provide pastoral care can see in close detail what delivery might look like as a real-life encounter, imparting valuable knowledge that can then be applied alongside theory and guidelines to enhance professional practice. Of further significance is that the findings can also show how an interactional analysis of pastoral care work can be used to demonstrate social and emotional learning and that the work being done effectively supports children.     

Behavioural and emotional strengths of sociometrically popular,rejected, controversial,neglected, and average children

ABSTRACT

Many behavioural and emotional characteristics are associated with children’s peer relationships. The purpose of this study is to examine behavioural and emotional strengths of sociometrically popular, rejected, controversial, neglected, and average children. 773 third-grade children (51% girls) are assessed with a sociometric questionnaire and self-evaluations of their behavioural and emotional strengths and difficulties. Teacher evaluations are also used to assess the children’s academic competencies and behaviour. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to analyse the data. Results indicate that children in the popular status group assess their behavioural and emotional strengths as being better than children in the rejected status group. The behavioural profile of the controversial status group is similar to that of the rejected status group. Children in the neglected status group differ from other sociometric status groups in some behavioural and emotional strengths. Issues pertaining to gender differences are also discussed.     

Challenges and management frameworks of residential schools for students with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties in Hong Kong

This study by Stella Suk‐Ching Chong, an assistant professor, and Ka‐wai Leung, a teaching fellow, both at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, focuses on the perspectives of hostel staff from six residential schools for students with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties. Individual or focus group interviews were conducted to explore the range of challenges perceived by staff and the strategies they employed to address the needs of the students. The software N‐Vivo was used to analyse both qualitative and quantitative data. This study finds that staff met a multiplicity of challenges, of which 67.9% were management‐related rather than student‐related (32.1%). In relation to effective strategies for staff, co‐ordinated and concerted efforts are frequently used between different stakeholders, such as intra‐hostel‐staff‐student collaboration (84%), inter‐hostel‐community collaboration (8.6%), inter‐hostel‐home collaboration (5.1%), and finally inter‐hostel‐school collaboration (2.2). In summing up the findings of various approaches deemed favourable by different residential staff, a residential school management framework is conceptualised and presented in this article. Implications and future research directions are also highlighted.     

Building inclusive education on social and emotional learning: challenges and perspectives – a review

This article focuses on conceptual and empirical issues related to the links between social and emotional learning (SEL) and inclusive education. SEL can be defined as the process of socialisation and education related to personal, interpersonal and problem‐solving skills and competencies. This process takes place in formal and informal settings and is influenced by a complex interplay of individual, situational and cultural factors. Beside a person‐centred focus, effective SEL interventions are provided within supportive learning environments and are directed at enhancing the social–emotional environmental factors that influence learning. Underlying theories and models related to SEL are reviewed, completed by empirical data stemming from prevention science, and developmental psychology. The role of SEL will be investigated with respect to children with emotional–behavioural difficulties and their social and cultural context. Finally, the multifaceted role of SEL and its preventive potential in inclusive school settings through modifications of input and content, teaching strategies and processes, as well as the improvement of learning environments are outlined.     

Peer groups and behaviour problems

Abstract

The study evaluated the effect of a programme for elementary school students with behaviour problems integrated into the regular classroom. The programme combined in-class social skills training and specific educational activities with peers, namely cooperative learning and tutoring by a prosocial peer. The innovative aspect is that the social status and affiliations of children with behaviour problems are key components in the matching of children during peer support. The goal is to improve social behaviour and to change peer perception through interventional strategies, therefore improving social reputation. Pre-test/post-test control group design was used. Results from traditional analysis indicated no significant difference between treatment and control groups after the programme. A modest effect size showed a relative improvement for students with behavioural disorders who participated in social skills training. Results are discussed in terms of the role of friends in the intervention programme.     

Utilising the Boxall Profile within the Scallywags service for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

In this article, Moira Broadhead, Roy Chilton and Victoria Stephens offer an in‐depth analysis of a targeted intervention, Scallywags, aimed at children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Scallywags, based in Cornwall, offers an early intervention package for children and their families based upon an initial Boxall Profile analysis. Moira Broadhead is a senior educational psychologist for the Scallywags service and both Roy Chilton and Victoria Stephens held split posts as assistant psychologists and support workers within the intervention service. Moira, Roy and Victoria offer practitioners new to the Boxall Profile a compelling account of how it can be used to inform practice for learners with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and conclude with a series of insightful questions about the use of the Boxall Profile and the role of interventions of this nature.     

Positive narratives: the stories young people with Social,Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) tell about their futures

This research drew on positive psychology in order to offer an optimistic way of conceptualising the lives of young people who are often described as having ‘SEBD’ (social, emotional and behavioural difficulties), now SEMH (social, emotional, mental health) in the English 2014 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice. Positive psychology places emphasis on: the future, strengths, resources and potential, and suggests that negative experiences can build positive qualities. The young people in this research identified a range of strengths and resources in their lives that they had built as a result of earlier negative experiences. Narrative Oriented Inquiry (NOI) was used to analyse the themes of potential and growth in their stories which reveal their hopes and aspirations for the future. By giving these young people the opportunity to tell their stories this research permitted them to focus on where they were going, rather than where they had been.     

Using outdoor learning to augment social and emotional learning (SEL) skills in young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD)

ABSTRACT

Under-developed social and emotional learning (SEL) skills limit educational progress and make it difficult for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) to form effective relationships with peers and ADULTS. This paper focuses on an SEL intervention set within an outdoor learning context. The research was practitioner led and used an action research (AR) approach to implement and evaluate the SEL intervention. Research participants (aged 12–13 years) were recruited from a UK special school and were all considered to have SEBD. The paper provides evidence for the specific SEL skills that participation in outdoor learning can enhance. The evidence suggests that outdoor learning can be an effective approach for educators wishing to augment the SEL skills of young people with SEBD.     

‘They have just given up on me’ How pupils labelled with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) experience the process of exclusion from school

For decades, the school exclusion rates have been a cause for concern within the English education system. We have witnessed a steady increase in the numbers of pupils being excluded since 2012. Evidence suggests that some children are more likely to be excluded from school, a significant number will have had the social, emotional and behavioural difficulties label attached to them. This article will draw on the work of Parsons and Howlett (Permanent exclusions from school: A case where society is failing its children. Support for Learning, 11, 3, 109–112, 1996) to see how much, if any, progress has been made since the publication of their work which raised concerns regarding the exclusion processes employed in England. Drawing on the perspectives of pupils, parents and teachers, 13 in-depth case studies were developed, with emphasis placed on employing innovative and creative methods to hear the voices of young people. The findings revealed that young people, their parents and teachers feel the current education system continues to fail this group of young people.     

Experiences and perceptions of physical education

This research has studied how children and young people, who are deemed by their school to have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), experience the National Curriculum of Physical Education (PE) in England. Research has previously highlighted the physical, social, affective and cognitive benefits of participation in PE. Furthermore, practical, physical and expressive creative experiences in education have been cited as being an important constituent when educating children with SEBD. However, research has yet to address the experiences of the child with SEBD alongside the ideological benefits of their participation in physical education. After a period of sensitisation to the field in a number of pilot schools, 24 weeks in total were spent immersed in the cultures of two mainstream schools in the west of England. After six weeks of local familiarisation, during which field notes and research diaries were kept, weekly interviews with each of six case study participants commenced. In this research, a PE environment afforded opportunities to spend time and build trust through co-participation in the negotiation of socially constructed roles in the subject. The six case study participants, whose experiences were explored, make reference to, amongst others: their affinity towards the physical nature of PE, and the perception of it being a subject allowing for freedoms not found elsewhere in the curriculum as well as one which cemented both the positive and negative social systems in relation to their relationships with peers. Inductive processes of analysis utilising constant comparison methods between data sources have generated data which show signs of both the idiosyncratic nature of multiple truths and some common ground in their experiences.     

Supporting the inclusion of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in the primary school: the role of teaching assistants

During the past ten years in the UK there has been a considerable increase in the number of teaching assistants (TAs) appointed to work alongside teachers in schools. A significant number of these colleagues are appointed to support pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). This paper reports on the ways in which the role of the teaching assistant in supporting pupils with SEBD has been developed in schools for pupils aged 7–11 years in one English Local Education Authority (LEA). It suggests that there are several models of support emerging and that the role of the teaching assistant is perceived as crucial to the effective inclusion of pupils with SEBD in mainstream classrooms.     

The inclusion of pupils perceived as having social and emotional behavioural difficulties in mainstream schools: a focus upon learning

This article focuses upon the relationship between social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and learning. It argues that, while inclusion is desirable in principle, it can be highly problematic in practice. Further, it explores the contested nature of the concept of SEBD and the nature of support for pupils categorised as such. The article draws upon a case study which evaluates a group work approach devised by the author to support pupils experiencing SEBD within a mainstream secondary school, within a deprived area. The study (N = 69) established benchmark measures relating to pupil attendance, discipline sanctions, attainment and pupil attitudes and followed the progress of the pupils until one to two years after completion of the intervention. The findings indicate that the intervention did not reduce the differential in performance in National Tests between the Support Group pupils and comparator groups but it did impact positively upon dispositions towards learning.     

City of Glasgow nurture group pilot scheme evaluation

Abstract

Three forms of objective evaluation were used to assess the impact of a nurture group pilot project on the lives of staff and pupils: Boxall Profiles, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, and questionnaires for staff. In addition, a micro study was carried out of two nurture groups using matched control groups. The article provides an overview of the project, as there was insufficient time for in-depth examination of the results, and some materials became available too late for inclusion. Nevertheless, the outcomes described are positive. It is hoped that analysis can be continued and that further evaluation of the progress of children can be carried out with more robust control groups in place from the outset.     

The influence of occupational socialisation upon a teacher's interpretation and delivery of Teaching Games for Understanding to pupils experiencing social and emotional behavioural difficulties

This study examined how one physical education (PE) teacher in a specialist school for pupils with social and emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBD) taught Year 9 pupils utilising the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model. The research identified factors that led to such instruction, and considered the influence of occupational socialisation on the pedagogical approaches of the teacher. Data collection methods were semi‐structured interviews and non‐participant lesson observations. The resultant data were inductively analysed. Observations revealed that the lessons emphasised problem‐solving and limited technical practice. Interviews detailed how the factors influencing this practice were other PE teachers and the nature of the pupils. This research makes two recommendations: first, SEBD schools wishing to utilise TGfU should examine the prior pedagogical experiences of potential employees; second, student teachers wishing to use TGfU in institutions for pupils with SEBD should consider gaining experience of SEBD education prior to higher education in order to put subsequent pedagogical experiences into relevant focus.     

The inclusion of students with BESD in mainstream schools: teachers' experiences of and recommendations for creating a successful inclusive environment

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, England has seen policy changes leading to increased rights for students with special educational needs (SEN), including those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), to be educated in mainstream schools. The present paper reports on the findings of a small-scale study conducted with a sample of mainstream secondary school teachers across the UK. Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate their experiences and approaches to including students with BESD in mainstream education. Teachers spoke of the challenges to effective inclusion centring on lack of resources and level of expertise. Despite identifying a variety of strategies for working with students with BESD, the issues raised by teachers bear striking resemblance to those acknowledged in policy over 20 years ago suggesting that regardless of Labour's changes, longstanding obstacles to inclusion have yet to be addressed.     

School improvement in the context of the special school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Abstract

This article examines the issues which are particular to the KEYWORDS development and improvement of schools for children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Key issues such as team formation and teamwork, cooperation, problem solving capabilities and the school’s capacity to take ownership of the change process are analysed against the background of a case study of one EBD school. The process of change in this school is tracked through the evolution of the ownership of change and the dynamics involved in that process.