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.     

Preferential treatment or unwanted in mainstream schools? The perceptions of parents and teachers with regards to pupils with special educational needs and challenging behaviour

This study explored the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding the differential treatment or stigma experienced by pupils with challenging behaviour – more specifically, those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), as well as children with visible special educational needs (Down's syndrome and/or profound and multiple learning difficulties) who frequently displayed challenging behaviour as a characteristic of their SEN. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with ten parents of children with challenging behaviour, together with 15 educational practitioners employed in mainstream and BESD schools. Findings revealed how several parents, and staff employed in BESD schools, viewed pupils with challenging behaviour as ‘unwanted’ in mainstream schools. The remaining parents, as well as mainstream practitioners, reported the opposite and indicated that these pupils received treatment deemed to be ‘preferential’ in the mainstream. This has direct implications for those concerned with supporting pupils with challenging behaviour in mainstream settings.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.