Follow‐up study of ex‐students of a residential school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in New Zealand

A follow‐up study was conducted on ex‐students of a residential special school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in New Zealand. Previous research on post‐school outcomes for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties has found low levels on quality of life indicators such as education, employment and community adjustment. Twenty‐nine ex‐students and/or their parents or caregivers were located and interviewed 10–14 years after they had left residential school. Interviews focused on their educational achievement, employment record and community adjustment. Findings indicated low levels of achievement in terms of educational qualifications and employment records, high rates of involvement with the criminal justice system and low levels of community adjustment. Implications of the study findings suggest that key factors in improving student outcomes are establishing effective procedures for transition, providing ongoing support for ex‐students, and better special needs training for teachers in mainstream schools.     

Community‐based early intervention for children with behavioural,emotional and social problems: evaluation of the Scallywags Scheme

Scallywags is a community‐based, early intervention programme for young children (aged 3–7) with behavioural, emotional and social problems, which integrates work in the home and school with a parenting curriculum and direct work with children. A pre‐post intervention study across multi‐sites of 340 participants is reported. Using standardised measures, the study found statistically significant reductions in problems at home and school experienced by children who completed the programme, and in parental stress levels. Participation was found to be high and the project acceptable to parents, many of whom would be described as hard to reach. The rigorous evaluation of this real‐life service and its positive outcomes highlight the potential of such programmes to tackle the needs of these children and families, and help prevent longer‐term problems associated with early onset behavioural problems, including social exclusion, antisocial behaviour and educational failure.     

What is the reality of ‘inclusion’ for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in the primary classroom?

Abstract

Current education policy is oriented towards including children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms. Hitherto they have been, on the whole, educated in special schools. Children with special educational needs include those who are physically disabled, those with learning difficulties and those with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is the inclusion of this last group which is raising problems in mainstream classrooms. The article draws on psychoanalytic concepts in order to examine the reality of inclusion for three primary-age children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Observational material is presented which shows the impact of inclusion policy on the children, their teachers and their learning support assistants. There is also discussion of the work of the behaviour support teacher, whose job is to reduce exclusions and help schools to become more inclusive.     

Teachers’ sense of efficacy in their work with pupils with learning,emotional and behavioural difficulties

This study investigates primary school teachers’ sense of efficacy in their work with pupils with learning, emotional, and behavioural difficulties (LEBD), both in mainstream inclusive classrooms and in special classrooms for pupils in residential treatment institutions. Using an online questionnaire survey, data were collected on teachers’ self-efficacy, efficacy beliefs on their ability to teach LEBD pupils, and perceived ability to apply knowledge from different socio-pedagogical areas. Mainstream classroom teachers perceived higher efficacy in collaborating with parents of LEBD pupils, in most aspects of their ability to handle pupils’ learning and behavioural problems, and in most aspects of their ability to use knowledge from different socio-pedagogical areas. Conversely, special classroom teachers perceived higher efficacy in aspects related to their pupils’ engagement and comprehension of learning material, and in their classroom management ability, particularly in managing pupils’ disruptive behaviour.     

How are trait emotional intelligence and social skills related to emotional and behavioural difficulties in adolescents?

Trait emotional intelligence construct shifted the interest in personality research to the investigation of the effect of global personality characteristics on behaviour. The Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) movement emphasised the cultivation of social skills for positive relationships. In this paper we investigate the role of students’ global personality characteristics and social skills in the occurrence of emotional and behavioural difficulties. Five hundred fifty-nine students aged 12–14?years, completed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire–Adolescent Short Form (TEIQue–ASF), the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Students with higher trait emotional intelligence and stronger social skills were less likely to present emotional and behavioural difficulties. Trait emotional intelligence along with the acquisition of social skills were influential factors of students’ emotional and behavioural difficulties. The study presents a heuristic model for the interpretation of students’ emotional and behavioural difficulties and discusses implications for educators to improve the quality of students’ lives in schools.     

Can the use of background music improve the behaviour and academic performance of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties?

Historically, there have been many claims regarding the beneficial effects of music on behaviour and development, but there has been little empirical work to verify them. Our present research studied the effects of providing background music in the classroom on the behaviour and performance in mathematical tasks of ten children attending a school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, who exhibited a high frequency of disruptive behaviour. There was a significant improvement in behaviour and mathematics performance for all the children. The effects were particularly marked for those whose problems were related to constant stimulus-seeking and over-activity. Improvements were also observed in improved co-operation and a reduction in aggression during the lessons immediately following the study.     

A journey of self‐discovery: an intervention involving massage,yoga and relaxation for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties attending primary schools

This study reports on an intervention involving massage, yoga and relaxation delivered to young children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Children (n = 126) were invited to participate in the Self‐discovery Programme (SDP) with parental consent. A total of 107 children aged 8–11 years completed the SDP and all measures. Children were allocated to a Control (n = 54) or Intervention (n = 53) group. The results indicate that children in the Intervention group showed improvements in self‐confidence, social confidence, communication and contributions in class. Children in the Intervention group were noted by teachers to use skills learned on the SDP during the school day.     

Do emotional and behavioural difficulties in primary school predict adolescent victimisation trajectories?

Chronic victimisation in adolescence is a traumatic experience with potential negative long-term health consequences. Given that victimisation has been shown to increase over the transition from primary to secondary school, longitudinal data from 1810 students transitioning from primary to secondary school were used to identify victimisation trajectory groups; classified as low-increasing, low-stable, medium-stable and not-bullied. Males with emotional and behavioural difficulties (both internalising and externalising behaviours) and females with externalising behaviours were more likely to be in the increasing and stable victimised groups than the not-bullied group. The results of this study suggest whole-school bullying intervention programmes need to occur before students reach secondary school, and that transition programmes need to emphasise and support social interaction between peers to reduce victimisation and the harms caused by long-term exposure to bullying.     

Pre-service educators’ dispositions toward inclusive practices for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties

ABSTRACT

In response to challenging behaviour from students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD), teachers around the world often label students as challenging, defining them by their disability. Negative views of students with EBD are a barrier to their inclusion and a major challenge for policy in the United States and elsewhere associated with access to the education system for students with disabilities. Pre-service teacher education has been highlighted as an optimum time to instil in pre-service educators a more equitable disposition toward behaviour management and inclusive practices. Therefore, the purpose of the current mixed-methods study was to assess whether or not an undergraduate course focused on relationship-based approaches to positive behaviour support could impact pre-service educators’ dispositions toward inclusive classroom practices for students with EBD. Survey results from 41 pre-service educators indicated that participants made significant improvements in their knowledge and understanding of compassionate behaviour management, intentional relationship building, and establishment of a welcoming classroom environment. Analysis of participants’ written responses to open-ended questions revealed several themes regarding changes in dispositions toward students with EBD. Implications for pre-service educator preparation and inclusion of students with EBD are discussed.     

Can children with severe learning difficulties be educated in ordinary schools?

Abstract

The education of all children in ordinary schools is now the central question of special education and of education itself. The integration debate has essentially developed along moral and ideological lines, with access to mainstream schools seen as a basic right of all children.

Whatever the moral or political commitment to integration, the unique needs of the individual child should not be sacrificed on the altar of ideology, however powerful. For this reason alone, it is important to confront and seek to overcome the serious obstacles which stand in the way of educational integration.

This paper discusses issues relating to the education of a group of children whose needs are thought to be the most difficult to meet within ordinary schools. Following a summary of the research literature and an account of individual integration schemes, an organisational model is presented which could meet the needs of all children with severe learning difficulties within an ordinary school context.     

Spatial awareness in seven to 11‐year‐old physically handicapped children in mainstream schools

ABSTRACT

Ten mainstream‐educated children with physical handicaps that restrict their independent mobility, aged between 7 and 11 years, were compared with matched classmates on measures of spatial awareness and cognitive mapping skills. Compared with their classmates, the handicapped children were significantly worse at drawing plan maps of their classrooms, placing missing objects on accurate classroom maps, and pointing in the direction of distant landmarks on the school campus. All motorically impaired children were deficient on one or more measures (whether brain damaged or not). Awareness of spatial relations is likely to be important for the development of several intellectual skills, and since physically handicapped children may be disadvantaged in this area, it is worthy of special attention from teachers and support staff.     

Gender,popularity and notions of in/authenticity amongst 12‐year‐old to 13‐year‐old school girls

This paper draws on data from a research project investigating gendered identities and interactions of high‐achieving students in Year Eight in England (12–13 years old), particularly in relation to students’ ‘popularity’ amongst their peers. As part of this study 71 students were interviewed from nine different schools in urban, rural and small town locations. From an analysis of participants’ conceptions of the characteristics of ‘popular’ and ‘unpopular’ students, this paper looks in depth at notions of in/authenticity and how it is perceived and judged in relation to the self and others. In particular, the paper focuses on the genderedness of such discourses of in/authenticity as constructed by these students, and relates such concerns to theorizations of ‘impossible’ femininity.     

Teachers’ perceptions of the concomitance of emotional behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities in children referred for learning disabilities in Oman

Research has documented overlapping and coexisting characteristics of learning disabilities (LD) and emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). Such concomitance may impact teacher referrals of children at risk for LD which in turn may influence service delivery. Using the Learning Disabilities Diagnostic Inventory (LDDI) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), we examined teachers’ ratings of EBD and LD symptoms in 439 students referred for LD in elementary schools in Oman. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that there were no gender differences in LD symptoms, whereas there were significant gender differences in teachers’ ratings of hyperactivity and conduct problems in referred children. There was an association between teachers’ ratings on the LDDI and SDQ dimensions, reflecting children’s concurrent display of LD and EBD symptoms. Implications are discussed within an Omani context in which there is a need to increase teachers’ awareness of the behavioural and emotional profile of children at risk for LD.     

Learners with behavioural,emotional and social difficulties’ experiences of reintegration into mainstream education

Behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) are a significant impediment to effective teaching and learning in England and Wales. Initiatives such as in-school Learning Support Units (LSUs) and off-site Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) aim to address BESD through short-term individualised learning programmes, followed by mandatory reintegration into mainstream education. This reintegration often fails due to post-reintegration regression contributed to poor-to-fit behaviour. The aim of the study was to analyse and describe the reintegration experiences of learners with BESD, followed by a resilience-based reintegration programme to aid policy makers and practitioners with the reintegration into mainstream education of learners with BESD. A qualitative research approach with a generic phenomenological enquiry within an interpretivist-constructivist paradigm was followed. A total of 13 learners with BESD from the London Borough of Waltham Forest and between the ages of 11 to 14 participated through completion of sentences and a life essay. Of the learner participants, four were invited to participate in unstructured interviews, alongside professionals with an interest in the reintegration of learners. Parents of the participants were asked to complete qualitative questionnaires and teachers were asked to respond to questions via email. In all, three main themes were identified: promotive and risk emotional experiences, promotive and risk relationship experiences and promotive and risk experiences based on the reintegration processes. The findings support guidelines for developing resilience-based reintegration programmes that include developing emotional competence, developing promotive relationships and implementing promotive reintegration practices.     

Reading self‐concepts and task choices for children with reading difficulties

Abstract

This project examined the personal and the social basis of children's self‐concepts about reading. Study 1 [N= 55] was a correlational study. Results suggest a stronger personal than social basis for children's self‐concepts about reading. In particular, children made stronger comparisons among content areas than gender groups. Study 2 [N= 18] was an intervention study. The focus was on the personal basis of self‐concepts, for children with reading difficulties. Results showed that self‐concepts were responsive to the intervention, with associated change in task choices. Findings support a self‐categorization approach to understanding children's self‐concepts, and imply that this approach would be useful in motivating children about reading.

Reading is regarded as integral to general living skills and is central to children's learning across many areas of schooling. This means that we need to understand more about the self‐concepts that motivate children to take up and persist with reading activities. H is a particularly pressing issue for children who experience difficulties with reading. This project therefore examined the personal and social basis of children's self‐concepts about reading. The focus was the salience of children's personal and social categorisations about reading that underpin reading self‐concepts and associated choices of reading tasks.     

Achievement versus maintenance of control in six‐year‐old children’s interactions with peers: an observational study

Conflict management is a skill best learned early in life, and lays a foundation for the development of future relationships. The present study examined the strategies children use when negotiating roles in a dynamic play situation. Participants were 156 children (M age = 6.5 years) in 39 groups of four, who were videotaped in a play activity that required the assistance of two children so that a third could view a cartoon. Groups varied in gender composition (all‐girl, all‐boy, mixed). Children in each group were unfamiliar with one another at the beginning of the session. There was more variation in the strategies children used to elicit the cooperation of peers than in the strategies they used to gain access to the resource. Children who gained high amounts of viewing time but did not often help others (individualists) said and did more to maintain their role, had longer turns, and used both prosocial and coercive strategies more than children who had high viewing times but often helped others (collaborators). Girl groups had more collaborators than boy groups, whereas boy groups had more onlookers (low viewing, low helping). Boys used a greater number and range of strategies to maintain control of the resource than girls did. The highest level of resource use was predicted by a combination of ‘successful entry’ and ‘individualistic maintenance’ strategies. Implications for initiatives to promote negotiation skills and effective conflict management in children are discussed.     

An investigation into understanding of geological time among 10‐ and 11‐year‐old children

This research focused on the understanding of geological time among UK children aged 10 and 11 years. The empirical study, in two stages, involved a total of 189 children in activities designed to reveal knowledge and understanding of geological time. The preliminary study with 12 children was designed to identify the most powerful and appropriate techniques to use in the Main Study. It also resulted in some findings concerned with the place of deep time in children's conceptualization of Earth events. The Main Study, with 177 children, involved the sequencing of geological events in three separate but almost identical tasks. Results indicate that children of this age have a general awareness of major events such as the Ice Age and moving continents, but that a clear chronology is almost entirely lacking. Children conceive of events as falling into two distinct time zones: the ‘extremely ancient’ and the ‘less ancient’.     

The role of early childhood settings for 4–5 year old children in early academic skills and later achievement in Australia

Formal early childhood education programs have been shown to promote the early academic skills of young children. However, the academic benefits acquired through program attendance fade quickly in the early elementary school years. Using a nationally representative sample of Australian children, we describe the programmatic and teacher differences between different types of formal early childhood programs for children between 4 and 5 years old—pre-year 1, school-based preschool, standalone preschool, and center-based child care. We examine the child and family background characteristics that are correlated with selection into different settings and how these settings are associated with children's early academic skills and on their subsequent achievement. We focus on understanding if there are differential academic benefits accrued from each program type and whether or not these benefits persist into the early elementary school years. Results indicate that maternal employment and economic disadvantage are correlated with program participation and that pre-year 1 and preschool teachers have higher qualifications. Results also show that children who attended a pre-year 1 program held an initial, significant advantage in early academic skills compared to children enrolled in center child care. Center child care was associated with higher early math skills than preschools. Children who did not attend any early childhood programming lagged behind their peers in school readiness skills. By middle childhood, all the early skill advantages had disappeared, showing rapid fadeout of academic benefits acquired from these specific types of early childhood programs. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Artistic and Verbal Creative Capacity of 6‐year‐old Children and their Psychopedagogic and Social Conditioning

The subject of the study comprised individual differences of creative achievements among 6‐year‐old children in two basic and qualitatively different kinds of child's activity: verbal and artistic. The aim of the research was both the analysis of the creative capacity level differentiation and pointing out the hierarchy of factors which determine certain inter‐ and intra‐individual as well as inter‐ and intro‐group differences.

The study is based on the concepts of the creativity theory of Wallach and Kogan (1970) and the capacity theory of Renzulli (1986) and Monks (1981) developed within the framework of humanistic and cognitive psychology.

The researcher analysed 6,000 drawings and the same number of oral statements produced by 643 children attending two types of pre‐schools and living in three different habitats. The research also covered teachers working with the 6‐year‐old children.

The following were used in the study: the test ‘Draw‐a‐Man’ of Goodenough; Guilford's tests of divergent thinking; Uszynska's Questionnaire of self‐estimation; The Schaefer's and Aaronson's Classroom Behaviour Inventory Pre‐school to Primary Scale; Popek's Questionnaire of Creative Behaviour ‘KANH’, and Uszynska's Questionnaire for parents.

The results of the research confirm a great differentiation of creative capacity levels of children and suggest that the most significant factors determining them are the pedagogic ones, which may directly or indirectly be influenced by the preschool teacher.