‘The teacher said I'm thick!’ Experiences of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder within a school setting

Children and young people who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can often experience difficulties within an education setting. ADHD can impact upon their educational achievements and subsequent future employment. This paper draws upon data gathered from a small scale study and has sought to elicit the ‘voice’ of young people who have ADHD and their experience within a school setting. Findings of this study indicate that there is a need for teachers to be more informed about the impact that ADHD can have on a pupil and teachers need to develop positive strategies to support these individuals within the classroom. Ideally, adequate training around ADHD should begin within initial teacher training prior to entering the teaching profession.     

The Body as a Site of Reproduction and Resistance: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and the Classroom

In addition to transferring ideas, one of the primary tasks of schools, as theorized in the work of Pierre Bourdieu, is to monitor and shape bodies. The category of Attention Deficity Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the practices associated with it can be understood more thoroughly as a way in which schools reproduce a body management system. This article reviews the historical and critical literature on ADHD to show that the classroom has had, and still has, an essential place in the origination and implementation of the category; yet, the classroom context has been virtually absent from the causal analysis. The classroom has received attention from those in the behaviour modification camp, but this approach has reduced it to a set of contingencies between the teacher and the student. More often than not, the biological explanation has dominated thus entirely removing the classroom and its meanings from the explanation of ADHD. The classroom is one of the critical mechanisms which allows for the emergence of the behaviours and the practices associated with the category known as ADHD.     

Behavioural and emotional problems in hearing impaired children: a preliminary study of teacher and parent ratings

A case study of what appears to be an inclusive classroom in Sweden is reported. The group of children in the class studied was very heterogeneous: five of the 15 children had a disability diagnosis at the time of the study. One aim of the study was to develop a methodology which can be used in order to investigate in what sense classrooms are ‘inclusive’, especially as regards the point of view of the pupils. It is argued that an explicit definition of characteristics of inclusive classrooms and clear‐cut methods to study those characteristics are necessary prerequisites in order to reach valid conclusions concerning what teaching strategies are central to inclusive processes. The data consist of interviews with the teachers and children involved, sociograms, a questionnaire answered by the children, notes from participant observations and poetry by the children. The analyses suggest that the classroom seems to be inclusive, although it is emphasised that this is not an all‐or‐none phenomenon, especially children's experiences are complex phenomena. It is argued that the teachers try to create a learning community where differences are valued. Six teacher strategies emerged from the data.     

Investigating the impact of at-home learning on secondary school-aged children with ADHD: a qualitative study

Students with ADHD can benefit from at-home learning in terms of managing their symptoms; however, lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic are having negative impacts on the student population. This study was designed to ascertain how students with ADHD have been impacted by at-home learning under lockdown restrictions. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted using semi-structured interviews from students, parents and teaching staff. These interviews were used to identify three main themes (anxiety caused by at-home learning, change in social interaction and academic impact of at-home learning) that best identified the participants' experiences. The results suggested that whilst supportive home environments helped students with ADHD to better manage their symptoms, social anxiety was a significant problem, and not all schools allowed students with ADHD to take full advantage of at-home learning for their students with ADHD.     

Tracing unique trajectories of participation for a ‘girl with ADHD’: from ‘unwilling student’ to ‘agentive learner’

ABSTRACT

The overall aim of this study is to explore how individual children with long-term school difficulties follow unique ‘trajectories of participation’ in special educational needs settings, sometimes in unexpected ways, and how this contributes to alternative forms of identification and processes of learning. The data draws on long-term video-ethnographic work, tracing trajectories of participation during the course of a school year for an individual girl with an ADHD diagnosis who is a newcomer to a special support school in Sweden. We use a multi-layered theoretical and methodological framework to learning, identities and participation as situated practices to explore how the focal girl, through her everyday participation in classroom contexts structured to amplify the student’s capabilities, gradually moves from an ‘unwilling student’ to an ‘agentive learner’. Through a multimodal interactional analysis, we demonstrate how the focal girl’s actions and the teacher’s scaffolding responses are interactionally organised, and the emotional and relational dimensions in the creation of participation frameworks for learning. It is argued that the student’s agency and emerging emotional engagement in school-based learning are intimately linked to the pursuit of building long-term learning relationships based on mutual trust.     

In search of a middle ground: the dangers and affordances of diagnosis in relation to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we draw on the ‘dilemma of difference’ to discuss the dangers and affordances of diagnosis within two of the most prevalent, yet under-supported, disabilities affecting school-age children: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). The dilemma that exists between denying and thereby ignoring difference on the one hand, versus recognising and potentially stigmatising difference on the other, will be explored and the consequences outlined. Our aim is to achieve a middle ground that conceives of diagnosis as a helpful starting point to enable educators to address barriers to access and participation through appropriate adjustments to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.     

Association of maternal developmental disorder traits with child mistreatment: A prospective study in Japan

Maternal mental disorders are known risk factors for child mistreatment. However, little is known about the involvement of maternal developmental disorder traits. The aim of this study was to examine maternal traits related to Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and their possible association with child mistreatment. Maternal PDD and ADHD were assessed through a self-administered questionnaire (N = 846) during mid-pregnancy using the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Autism Society Japan Rating Scale (PARS) and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS). The mothers completed another questionnaire on child mistreatment when the offspring was approximately 18 months of age. The associations between maternal PDD and ADHD traits and child mistreatment score were analyzed using linear regression models adjusted for covariates. Mothers who exhibited stronger PDD traits showed significantly higher child mistreatment score, even after adjustment for maternal characteristics at baseline and ADHD traits. At the same time, ADHD traits were significantly associated with child mistreatment after adjustment of covariates, although the association became non-significant after adjustment of PDD traits. Mothers who showed PDD and ADHD traits during pregnancy were more likely to mistreat their children. It is essential to educate mothers with such traits with appropriate, easy-to-follow childcare instructions, preferably in simple language combined with pictorial aids.     

学龄前儿童执行功能与注意缺陷多动症状的元分析:抑制控制和工作记忆的作用

注意缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)的执行功能缺陷理论已在学龄期儿童和青少年中被广泛证明,学龄前是执行功能发展的重要时期,学龄前儿童执行功能与ADHD症状的关系尚存争议.采用元分析的方法整合国内外近十年的文献,探讨学龄前儿童执行功能与ADHD症状的关系,并分析影响因素.通过文献检索,纳入符合要求的文献28篇,共70个有效数据,...     

A community of practice as an inclusive model to support children with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties in school contexts

Many school children throughout the world who exhibit antisocial or destructive behaviour or have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) do not receive the support they need. As a result, they are caught up in a cycle of vulnerability. Systemic collaborative support is needed to counter this. Although in some cases teachers and other professionals join forces, interventions are usually affected by individual professionals outside the framework of inclusive education. This literature review paper explores the support children with SEBD in school contexts receive. The findings of the thematic document analysis highlight the vulnerability of children with SEBD, the success or otherwise of attempts made by various approaches and intervention programmes to provide support to these children, and the barriers to inclusive support. We argue the merits of adopting a Community of Practice as an inclusive model to support school children with SEBD. This kind of inclusive model strengthens constructive partnerships that provide these children with opportunities to acquire the social capital they need to engage meaningfully at schools and in their future life.     

Association between psychosocial stressors with emotional and behavioral problems among children of low-income addicted families living in Brazil

BackgroundChildren exposed to substance use in their families are vulnerable to multiple risk factors in their development and at increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems. The aims of the study were as follows 1) estimate the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems among children aged 6–11 years old, living with addicted family members in a low-income urban community of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil; 2) evaluate the children’s exposure to family psychosocial stressors and substance use; and 3) investigate the factors related to the increased risk of emotional and behavioral problems and substance use.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 children aged 6–11 years old (M = 9.16 years, SD = 1.61). The instruments used were a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Psychosocial Stress Factors (PSF).ResultsHigh prevalence of problems was found for this sample: the CBCL showed 26.7% of clinical scores for Internalizing Problems, 40.6% for Externalizing Problems, and 40.6% for Total Problems. Exposure to family psychosocial stressors was also high, including severe disease (33%), physical aggression (28.9%), death (27.8%), psychiatric hospitalization (16.7%), suicide attempts (15.5%), and suicide (9.3%). Exposure to these family stressors was associated with an increase of two to four times in the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing problems.ConclusionsChildren exposed to substance abusers have more mental health problems than general population, even when compared to peers living in similar low-income areas. This is a group that should be target of a selective preventive intervention.     

Psychological maltreatment,emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents: The mediating role of resilience and self-esteem

In this study, structural equation modeling was used to examine the mediating role of resilience and self-esteem in the relationships between psychological maltreatment-emotional problems and psychological maltreatment-behavioral problems in adolescents. Participants were 937 adolescents from different high schools in Turkey. The sample included 502 female (53.6%) and 435 male (46.4%) students, 14–19 years old (mean age = 16.51, SD = 1.15). Results indicated that psychological maltreatment was negatively correlated with resilience and self-esteem, and positively correlated with behavioral problems and emotional problems. Resilience and self-esteem also predicted behavioral problems and emotional problems. Finally, psychological maltreatment predicted emotional and behavioral problems mediated by resilience and self-esteem. Resilience and self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between psychological maltreatment-behavioral and psychological maltreatment-emotional problems in adolescents. Thus, resilience and self-esteem appear to play a protective role in emotional problems and behavioral problems in psychologically maltreated individuals. Implications are discussed and suggestions for psychological counselors and other mental health professionals are presented.     

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.     

Diagnosing ADHD in Danish primary school children: a case study of the institutional categorization of emotional and behavioural difficulties

This study of institutional categorization reports an investigation of the practices, procedures and assumptions of psychiatric staff members when diagnosing ADHD. The main data upon which the study is based consist of transcribed audio recordings of meetings in the psychiatric clinic. Here children referred from primary schools on the suspicion of ADHD are attended to. The tools and procedures for gathering information are shown to produce decontextualized and individualizing representations of children’s conduct. The evaluation against a number of norms is found to be central. Finally, the discussions at the central team conferences are shown to reveal the use of hypothesis testing structured around a number of dichotomies, where isolated aspects of the child’s life are considered against each other as the source of the difficulties. Together, these practices have cumulative and profound consequences for how children’s problems come to be understood as caused by a neurological condition.     

Perceptions of sleep duration,patterns and emotional and behavioural difficulties: a study of Greek adolescents

The study investigated adolescent students’ perceptions of sleep duration and patterns, and the way they relate to emotional and behavioural difficulties. Five hundred and two students from public schools in Greece completed the Sleep Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). It was demonstrated that consistency in sleep duration and quality in sleep patterns were associated with a reduction in adolescents’ reports of emotional and behavioural difficulties. Sleep duration was similarly distributed across gender, while sleep patterns were gender‐specific. Distinct differential effects of gender, sleep duration and patterns to adolescents’ emotional and behavioural difficulties were also found. These findings and their implications for research and practice are discussed, within the scope of the biopsychosocial framework in education.     

Promoting inner stillness: the value of a self-discovery programme for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties

Dr Lesley Cullen-Powell and Professor Julie Barlow are both chartered health psychologists and both work at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Health at Coventry University where Lesley Cullen-Powell is a research fellow and Julie Barlow is a director. In this article, they assess the benefits of a 'self-discovery programme' for children aged six to seven years attending one mainstream primary school. Staff at the school selected 18 pupils, many of them considered to be at risk of exclusion, to participate in the study. The children were allocated either to an 'intervention' or 'non-intervention' group. The children in the intervention group experienced the self-discovery programme over two terms.
Results suggest that the programme was well received by the children. They became more confident, respectful and calm and they displayed less aggressive behaviours during the self-discovery programme. Lesley Cullen-Powell and Julie Barlow are cautious in the interpretation of their findings, but suggest that the self-discovery programme has the potential to help children to feel more positive about themselves and their peers and to re-engage with learning. The authors argue that a wider implementation of the programme, with a controlled study, is now required to evaluate the self-discovery programme in more depth and detail.     

Inclusion of students with emotional and behavioural disorders in general education settings: a scoping review of research in the US

ABSTRACT

Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings has been an international focus for over two decades. In the US, federal laws [e.g. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). 2004. H.R. 1350, 108th Congress] mandate access to the general education curriculum for all students, including those with disabilities. These mandates codify a philosophical orientation of least restrictive environment, within a free appropriate public education, while explicitly requiring evidence-based practices. The policies support and protect inclusive practices for individuals with emotional and behavioural disabilities, yet the state of the empirical literature is unknown. A review is needed to provide an overview of the research and reveal the breadth of the literature. To this end, scoping review methodology was used to map the state of the literature. This particular approach is recommended for topics with myriad and complex definitions and issues, as is the case with inclusive education. Results map six themes (professional and student experience, strategy effectiveness, policy and programmes, perception of influencing factors, teacher training, teacher knowledge) and reveal several gaps in the literature. Recommendations are made for systematic review, meta-analyses, and individual studies to address the gaps in the literature.     

What are effective strategies to support pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in mainstream primary schools? Findings from a systematic review of research

This article describes the processes and findings of a systematic review of research into the effectiveness of strategies to support pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in mainstream primary schools. A search for studies carried out from 1975–1999 resulted in 265 citations, of which 96 were found to be within the scope of the review topic. Of these, 27 reported on 28 research studies, which could address the review question. Findings from these 28 studies indicated that a number of strategies, based on a range of theoretical frameworks, showed some positive impacts on pupil behaviour. However, the review highlighted a dearth of good quality research on strategy effectiveness. There is a need for higher quality research into strategies currently being used in schools. Practitioners, parents and children should all be involved in setting the parameters for interventions and research concerned with EBD.     

The impact of learning difficulties and socioemotional and behavioural problems on transition to postsecondary education or work life in Finland: a five-year follow-up study

Learning difficulties have been found to dilute the possibilities that young adults have in their educational careers. However, during the last few decades, education has become increasingly important for employment and overall life satisfaction. In the present study, we were interested in the effects of mathematical and reading difficulties and socioemotional and behavioural problems (measured at age 16) on three educational situations at age 21: delayed graduation from upper secondary education, short educational trajectory and not being engaged in education, employment or training (NEET). The participants (N = 597; 304 females, 293 males) were one age cohort of ninth graders in general education classes, who were followed for five years after completion of compulsory education. This time frame included two different transition phases: first, from comprehensive education to upper secondary education, and second, from upper secondary education to further studies or to working life. Structural equation modelling was used as analysis method. The findings show that mathematical and reading difficulties as well as socioemotional and behavioural problems had significant long-term effects on the participants’ educational careers. New in part was that these learning difficulties seemed to have somewhat divergent emphases on the three investigated life situations: (1) mathematical difficulties, more strongly than reading difficulties, caused the students to attain lower levels of education, (2) mathematical difficulties and socioemotional problems predicted a student ending up in the NEET group and (3) reading difficulties and behavioural problems predicted delayed graduation from upper secondary education.     

Making sense of education ‘responsibly’: findings from a study of student teachers' understanding(s) of education,sustainable development and Education for Sustainable Development

This article discusses findings from a tri‐country study of student teachers' understandings of the purposes of education, their conceptions of sustainable development and the task of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). At its heart are case studies of 30 student teachers from Initial Teacher Education Programmes in England, Denmark and Germany (10 from each country). While they are diverse in their personal, professional and subject disciplinary backgrounds, and they work in a variety of school subject areas, all the students share the objective of becoming members of the teaching profession in the primary or lower secondary schools of their countries, and thus each one currently faces the additional challenge of understanding and responding to national, cross‐cutting policy initiatives on sustainable development and ESD. As interpretative research, the study catalogued and mapped similarities and differences in student teacher understandings, and identified those notions, thoughts and ideas that were meaningful to a beginning teacher's interpretations and sense‐making of key ESD concepts and tasks. The findings highlight the widespread importance of ‘taking responsibility’ and ‘having responsibility’ as key notions in interpreting their professional role and student learning in relation to ESD. An explorative framework developed during the data analysis suggests that in making sense of ESD, student teachers have recourse to one or more of at least four identifiable rationalities for ascribing responsibility to oneself or others, where each rationality articulates a different set of responses to questions about the prioritized locus of agency and the nature of the decision‐making process. The framework offers a critical and generative tool for stimulating debate in the field about policy and professional preparation and development and, in particular, the nature, processes and qualities of learning that are understood to ‘generate a sense of responsibility’, within the broader—and in the case of ESD—related quests of education and sustainable development.