Exploring the effects of a 14 week person-centred counselling intervention with learning disabled children

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of a person-centred counselling intervention on the learning disabled child's self-concept. The participants are children who attend a London borough school for moderate learning difficulties. The study is qualitative and incorporates two parts: (1) practitioner research via a 14 week person-centred counselling intervention; (2) exploration of teachers’ views of the child's self-concept via a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire. The study used person-centred art therapy as an adjunct to counselling. A projective technique was used to measure the child's self-concept.Three out of four child participants indicated an improved self-concept. However, only one out of four teachers’ questionnaires indicated a positive movement within the child. This article explores the difficulties encountered as well as highlighting positive paths, and supposes that the results support carrying out this research project over an extended period and with a larger research group.     

Editorial

This study reports data on the challenges and needs of girls engaged in delinquent behaviour and the effectiveness of services provided by a girls' home. Implications and suggestions for the planning and implementation of effective programmes and services in alternative educational settings are included. It concludes that alternative education is not just a change of educational environment for youths in trouble, an understanding of the unique needs of girls and female offenders must be translated into practice as educators continue to find solutions for helping girls who are engaging in risky or delinquent behaviours.     

Annual Index Volume 8

The objective of this paper is to report the development and use of an observation checklist to identify typically developing children with behavioural manifestations associated with inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. This measure is termed the Scope Classroom Observation Checklist (SCOC). The SCOC was developed, assessed for reliability using an independent observer and teacher ratings, and administered to a sample of 157 mainstream schoolchildren. The SCOC revealed a normal distribution of scores on the checklist, and the top and bottom quartiles of this distribution were found, as would be expected, to differ significantly on SCOC score. The SCOC had good inter‐observer reliability and a high rate of concordance with teacher ratings of attentional difficulties. The SCOC has emerged as a reliable measure that could prove to be a useful tool in a battery of screening measures to identify mainstream schoolchildren with difficulties characterised by inattention and hyperactivity‐impulsivity.     

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.     

The role of materialism on social,emotional and behavioural difficulties for British adolescents

The relationship between materialism and social-emotional behavioural difficulties (SEBDs) was assessed by comparing a sample of adolescents receiving in-school behavioural support with adolescents not receiving any support. All participants completed the Youth Materialism Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Binary logistic regression indicated that adolescents who reported higher levels of materialism were more likely to be classified into a group considered ‘at-risk’ for developing conduct and peer problems. Hierarchical logistic regression assessed the moderation of behavioural support and indicated that adolescents in receipt of behavioural support who reported higher levels of materialism were at a greater risk of hyperactivity in comparison to those who receive support but reported lower levels of materialism. For adolescents not receiving behavioural support, less materialistic attitudes placed them at a greater risk of hyperactivity. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between different SEBD typologies and the potential effects of materialism during adolescence.     

Thinking it through: a study of how pre-service teachers respond to children who present with possible mental health difficulties

Teachers are key professionals in responding to children and adolescents with possible mental health difficulties and who exhibit social, emotional or behavioural difficulties in the classroom. Health and education policy increasingly positions teachers as vital agents in connecting mental health services with affected young people. A growing corpus of research, however, questions practitioners’ capacity to undertake this important role, particularly given the limited space afforded to content around mental health in pre-service teacher education. This paper reports on a qualitative case study, conducted in an Australian context, investigating pre-service teacher responses to five vignettes of young people presenting behaviours indicative of possible mental health difficulties. In light of educator expectations to identify and appropriately respond to mental health difficulties, this study discloses the need for explicit, structured mental health guidance which form a discrete, core ‘knowledge base’ of teacher education. Patterns in data, analysed in light of policy literature, also suggest the value inherent in advocating open-minded, non-judgemental and collegial professional responses. Further research opportunities highlighted include a systematic review of current provision around mental health in pre-service teacher education programmes.     

Improving school attendance: can participation in outdoor learning influence attendance for young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties?

The link between good attendance in school and academic performance has been acknowledged for some time now. However, improving school attendance for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) or pupils at risk of exclusion can be a challenging task for educational leaders. This paper begins with a discussion of earlier studies on outdoor learning and school attendance. It adds to the discourse by presenting findings from a one-year outdoor learning programme situated within an English special school for young people with SEBD. The research reported here is part of a larger study that used an action research design. The paper concludes that although improvements in attendance can be achieved, the factors affecting attendance are complex and that improvements may be restricted to programmes that utilise an outdoor learning approach rather than being achievable across the whole school curriculum.     

在化学实验教学评价中开展学生互评的思考

在化学实验教学评价中,引入学生互评机制,使学生真正成为实验教学的主体.学生在理解互评指标时,知道教学目标和行为规范的具体要求,明确了学习中努力的方向;在评价他人时,认识自己的智能结构,产生学习需求的欲望,帮助自身潜能的激发;通过评价过程,实现学生相互督促、相互学习,促进自身多元智能的协调发展,使评价活动助推教学改革,促进学生全面发展的功能得到发挥.     

后大众化下江苏高职院家庭经济困难学生生存状况调查分析

江苏率先进入高等教育“后大众化”阶段,但由于学费一路飙升直接导致家庭经济困难学生数量的增多,根据调查发现这一阶段的家庭经济困难学生不同于以往困难学生,他们在学习和人际交往方面更加自信、自强、主动和务实,但仍然存在经济压力大、动手实践机会少、学生资助效果不理想等等问题,为此,可从思想政治教育、提高其综合素质、完善资助政策体系、改革高职教育发展目标等微观和宏观方面进行思考,以帮助这部分学生能够更好成长、成才,寻找有效资助和帮扶困难学生的政策途径。     

英语专业和非英语专业学生英语写作难点自我概念调查研究

本研究问卷调查了408名英语专业一至四年级学生以及362名非英语专业二年级学生在英语写作过程中所感受到的困难,并比较英语专业学生以及非英语专业学生对写作难点自我概念的异同。调查结果表明,英语专业学生和非英语专业学生都认为语言和内容是写作中最难的,英语专业学生对写作难点的认知随年级的不同而不同;非英语专业学生对语言方面的困难感受最深,且男女生对写作难点自我概念的差异较大。研究认为在写作教学中应对不同年级、不同性别的学生采取不同的英语写作教学方法才能取得良好的教学效果。