Preservice teachers’ self efficacy and knowledge of emotional and behavioural disorders

This research examined preservice teachers’ knowledge of emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) and their sense of efficacy. The participants included a convenience sample of 230 undergraduate general education and special education preservice teachers enrolled in teacher education classes. The age of the participants ranged from 19 to 51 with a mean age of 23.37 years (SD = 6.8 years). The Teacher Self Efficacy Scale (TSES) (long form) and Knowledge of Emotional and Behavioural Disorders questionnaire were administered. The participants had higher efficacy in instructional strategies, classroom management, and instructional abilities than in student engagement. There was no significant correlation between field experience, additional coursework, and familiarity with a child with EBD and the preservice teachers’ knowledge of EBD or self efficacy. This information is relevant to teacher programme coordinators indicating that further efforts should be made to increase preservice teachers’ knowledge of EBD, and to provide strategies for identifying and working with students with EBD in classrooms.     

Teenage social behaviour and emotional well‐being: the role of gender and socio‐economic factors

This article draws on the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) to examine parent ratings of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour in pre‐ and mid‐adolescents. A series of mixed‐design ANOVAs yielded interesting results. Parent ratings of emotional difficulties in girls increased as they moved from pre‐ to mid‐adolescence whereas for boys the reverse was found. Peer problems were found to be on the rise, whereas prosocial skills decreased for 14‐year‐olds. Most importantly, significant associations were found between socio‐economic measures (that is, family income and parent education) and ratings across the domains of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, highlighting the socio‐economic specificity of behaviour and well‐being in adolescents. These findings have significant implications for understanding trends in young people's social behaviour and emotional well‐being from pre‐ to mid‐adolescence within their socio‐economic context.     

The Ford score

Abstract

We combined data from the Office for Standards in Education with those from a large national survey of child and adolescent mental health and developed a simple score that schools or LEAs could use to predict the level of emotional and behavioural difficulties that they are likely to encounter. The final Ford score is based on the rates of free school meals, exclusions, unauthorized absence and children with special educational needs. These data are collected routinely, so the Ford score could easily be calculated to provide estimates of the level of emotional and behavioural problems in mainstream schools without the use of additional resources. It needs further reliability and validity testing but could provide a means of allocating resources.     

The problem with people

An increasing number of children and young people are being excluded from school as a direct result of anger management problems. The research literature suggests that short cognitive‐behavioural intervention programmes may be effective in helping young people understand and control their anger. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a short cognitive‐behavioural anger management intervention in reducing problem behaviours in school, and to identify factors that may facilitate or impede participant progress on such a programme. The sample comprised 12 young people (mean age 14y 2m) referred for anger problems in an inner‐city school in the north‐west of England. A phase change (baseline, intervention, follow‐up) design was implemented to measure changes in problem behaviours using the Revised Rutter Scale for Teachers. This was augmented by qualitative data gathered in interviews and non‐participant observations. Significant improvements in behaviour were observed as a result of the intervention, although for some domains this was not maintained at four‐week follow‐up. Analysis of qualitative data revealed a number of issues that might impact on the success of an intervention, including notions of power in the classroom, treatment readiness, and the importance of sharing thoughts, feelings and experiences with others. Despite limitations inherent in the research design, the intervention was deemed a success. However, our findings show the need for researchers and practitioners alike to ‘look beyond the child’ when hypothesising about the causes of anger problems in educational contexts.     

The role of vignettes in the research of emotional and behavioural difficulties

Abstract

The study of teachers’ perceptions, attributions and feel-KEYW ORDS ings could be best served by the use of the vignette technique. This follows from a methodological review of educational research, comparison of the vignette with other techniques and consideration of both the advantages and the pitfalls of the technique. A presentation to teachers of brief hypothetical scenarios, which constitute unobtrusive approximations of realistic situations, could elicit useful information about their thought processes, relevant to aspects of educating children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and to professional and educational development generally.     

Child-centred play therapy,by Risê Van Fleet,Andrea E. Sywulak and Cynthia Caparosa Sniscak

Research has identified a significant relationship between social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and speech, language and communication difficulties (SLCD). However, little has been published regarding the levels of knowledge and skill that practitioners working with pupils experiencing SEBD have in this important area, nor how they might more effectively detect and support SLCD in the children and young people with whom they work. This paper outlines a small-scale project intended to evaluate said knowledge and skills within an SEBD support team in central England, and to increase this team's effectiveness in detecting and supporting children experiencing SLCD.     

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.