The Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties - Essay Example

The Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties The social, emotional and behavioural difficulties were identified as a source of 'learning difficulties'. But it is not possible to put labels on children that the problems faced by children experiencing such difficulties are unique to them. As a matter of fact, pupils experiencing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties certainly take up a great deal of time and energy in schools. It is clearly understood that they have special educational needs, and should receive support strategies. Children with behavioural difficulties are often least understood of all children with special educational needs. Whether a child demonstrates bad behaviour openly or is withdrawn, he may have barriers to learning which require to be addressed. Children 'acting out' may be violent, threatening, disruptive and demanding of attention. Children 'acting in' may have emotional difficulties that can result in indifferent or even self-damaging behaviour. They can appear to be worried, miserable, reserved, and inactive or lacking in enthusiasm; and their obvious irrational refusal to respond and assist may cause disappointment for teachers and other children. Children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties may be unhappy, unwilling to work  and have less positive child/adult relations. And they also have learning difficulties, poor social skills and fewer friends, low self-esteem, emotionally unstable, and be easily hurt (Smith, 2003). Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child directs that all states should adopt a policy of ensuring that the rights of children are upheld. It emphasises that all rights apply to all children, without exception. It is the state’s responsibility to protect children from any form of unfairness and to take optimistic action to promote their rights. This includes all children with special needs. Their rights include social inclusion, non-discrimination and equality of access to education. Similarly, article 23 states that a disabled child has the right to special care, education and training to help achieve the greatest degree of independence and social inclusion possible. It is the responsibility of the education service of a state to educate all children and there should not be any discrimination whether or not they have special or additional educational needs. Inclusion is most likely to be achieved when this multiplicity is recognised and regarded positively. The development of inclusive practice should create situations within which the needs of individual children are met. A range of flexible responses should be available to meet such needs and to take account of their diversity. All educational and inter-agency planning should be based on inclusive principles. Inclusion requires ongoing strategic planning at both organisational and individual pupil planning level (Chisholm, 2004). Some pupils have emotional and / behavioural difficulties or physical and sensory disabilities or be on the autistic spectrum would need to be supported in specialist condition in schools and those in the voluntary and private sectors. It is necessary to constitute a Special Educational Needs Support Services Team consist of specialist teams that provide a mix of direct work with pupils and advice to school staffs, parents, the Educational Authorities and other agencies. Admissions to all specialist settings would be managed by the Special Educational Needs Team in consultation with head teachers and other agencies. There is a need to ensure that the advisory functions in relation to special educational needs are closely aligned with the whole range of Special Educational Needs support services. It is only when there is such close alignment that the policy of ‘Inclusion’ can drive the effective delivery of inclusive practice. The Educational Psychology Service is concerned with the emotional, social and educational development of all children and young people up to the age of sixteen years. The focus is with those whose development is a cause for concern and particularly those with special educational needs. The team should comprise of a principal educational psychologist, early years specialist and an area senior educational psychologist who has operational management responsibility for the team. The educational psychologists work directly with children and young people, provide advice to school staff, parents, the Educational Authority and other agencies, add to policy development and deliver training. Working within a consultancy model their work has a clear preventive focus. THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY SERVICE Historically educational psychology services have been apparent by their users as primarily an agency of identification within the situation of children with Special Educational Needs. This has led to detailed descriptions of children and young people’s social, emotional and cognitive functioning and this in turn has become linked to the allotment of capital, mainly additional resources provided by the Educational Authority. Even though an understanding of children both collectively and individually is essential to the provision of efficient education the value added element of the established individual psychometric mental appraisal to this process has to be questioned. Assessment data gathered by schools is increasingly comprehensive and too often the educational psychology involvement simply confirms existing knowledge. This is not to deny the need for detailed individual psychometric assessment for children with compound learning difficulties but it should be confined to such cases. As educational psychology services move away from detailed individual measurement and resource allocation as the core activity in its work with schools it is essential to achieve clarity as to what are the core activities for the school improvement agenda. Children learn most effectively between educational management systems, teaching, pastoral care approaches etc. and the needs of children as learners. Educational psychology needs to work with schools at this interface using psychological knowledge of how children can learn best which then informs the educational management. This is achieved by such activities as working with teachers on the understanding of appraisal information already available. Class room observation of children to understand their learning styles in framework and additionally, educational psychologists can work directly with children and young people on such issues as anger management, work with parents on supporting learning and managing behaviour and have a role in INSET, running parenting classes and so on. Whole school issues such as developing policy on behaviour management, and Special Educational Needs practice or further developing pastoral systems can be a highly effective use of educational psychology time. It is also important to make the point that the staged approach described in the Code of Practice is a management strategy for schools and does not define the practice of educational psychology services. Clearly if children have sufficiently severe additional needs to warrant placement at ‘school action plus’ then it is expected that schools will have involved outside agencies for advice. In that case this does not mean that the involvement of outside agencies defies placement at school action plus. Such decisions should be based on the performance of children in school. It follows that schools should consult educational psychology services about children and / or issues when they think that such consultations will add to the effectiveness of their management of the children, independently of the Code of Practice stage that the children are allocated to. There is therefore an essential for change. The social inclusion agenda will result in a higher proportion of children with additional educational needs having those needs met in mainstream schools, at a time when there is ever increasing demand for higher standards of attainment. ‘These drivers for change will require a radical review of the ways in which educational psychology delivers services to its client groups. The management of children with emotional and / or behavioural difficulties, as particular areas of need, should be prioritised for the future (Mike, 2004). Early Identification of Children’s Learning Needs, schools have in place, procedures to identify levels of growth, learning abilities, and needs; and must ensure that educational programs are designed to accommodate these needs and to ease each child’s growth and progress. These procedures are a part of a continuous appraisal and program planning process which should be initiated when a child is first enrolled in school and continue throughout a child’s school life. Early Identification Procedures Schools must believe that it is of the highest importance to identify children with learning difficulties as early as possible in their education career so that programs can be planned to put up their needs to allow them to develop psychologically, socially, academically and physically to the best of their ability. The School has to develop early identification procedures that are keys to the success for all students: • Transition plans for special needs pre-school students • Early Identification Student Learning Profile for Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten • Parental interviews • Health report of the child • Writing vocabulary, Hearing and Recording Sounds (etc) Special Needs Consultation Process Consultation should occur between pre-school programs School personnel to ensure an effective transition into school. Outside agencies that may be involved in the discussion process are: • Community Care Access Centre • Day Care • Health Unit • Physicians • Psychologists • Association for Community Living The Teacher’s Role in Early Identification Classroom teachers are responsible for providing opportunities for children to develop their talents, outlook and knowledge. Through continuous observations and on-going formal and informal appraisals, teachers monitor student achievement. When a child is not moving ahead at the rate they should, the classroom teacher uses a variety of different learning/teaching tactics in an attempt to help the child develop the required skills and knowledge. If the child is still experiencing difficulties, the classroom teacher contacts the special education teacher for assistance and possible appraisal. Along this process the classroom teacher maintains close contact with the parents/guardians by means of meetings, telephone conversations, letters, and parent-teacher interviews. Parents are encouraged to have as much partaking and input into their child’s education as possible, and to discuss any apprehensions they have about their child’s progress with the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher and special education personnel will meet to discuss program planning, the curriculum areas where the student is struggling, and where the student’s strengths lie. A program services referral form may be completed and after consent of the parent/guardian is obtained, formal assessments are carried out by special education school and board staff. Parent’s Role in Early Learning Parents play an important role in the education of their child. Parents extend the learning of skills and promote the social, physical, emotional and cognitive development of their children. It is essential that there be ongoing communication between home and school to provide constructive and consistent learning experiences for the child. Parents provide a wealth of knowledge about their child’s strengths and needs which directly support the school learning environment. Parents can share information about their child’s strengths and needs that will help the teacher in planning and assessing to meet those needs suitably. There are many openings for parents to communicate: • at the time of school registration, • during a home visit or school Open House, • at a parent-teacher conference, • within the school setting. The educational success and welfare of students are improved by active parent participation. Parents and school personnel, working together in a partnership, ensure that all learning needs are met through ongoing communication, cooperation, active participation, and sharing of responsibility. The Referral Process After gathering, reviewing and evaluating all available documents a case discussion is held to determine how the exact needs of the individual student can best be met. During the case conference parents are advised of the availability of support services, adjustments, alternative programs available to their child. An Individual Educational program is developed in consultation with the parents, the school, and other agencies involved in the care of the child (Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, 2006). Behavioural difficulties require support so that the individual and his/her classmates may all reach their educational potential. Serious problem as well as low level interruption has to be dealt with as swiftly and proficiently as possible. If a pupil is unable to work co-operatively with the teacher and other pupils, the root cause of the deviance must be identified. The cause may be social, emotional, psychological, or educational. The School recognizes that there are links between the content and methods of delivery of the school curriculum, and the inspiration and behaviour of pupils. Support is provided for those pupils with behavioural and/or social difficulties through the pastoral system of the school and by more specific means when the need arises. Tutors and Heads of School, in liaison with the Learning Support Co-ordinator, identify pupils with specific needs. These pupils are placed on the school's Special Educational Needs Register and an Individual Education Plan is established in consultation with the pupil and parents. External agencies may be consulted and their recommendations are put into practice. The School looks for support from parents and aims to establish positive, working relationships. It is recognised that the facts, views and knowledge of parents are vital in the support of pupils' learning. Parents are informed of any concerns which teachers may have about their son/daughter, and are informed, in writing. Parents are invited to contribute to Individual Educational Programmes are asked to be concerned with appropriate approaches at home, and to contribute to any appraisals. The school has to offer a regular pattern of progress checks, reports and discussion evenings. Regular meetings should take place between Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators throughout and the School makes full use of experts in a number of fields, to support the work undertaken by teachers and pupils. Effective liaison should take place between the school and the following individuals or support services: Educational Psychological Educational Welfare Officer School Medical Service Social Services Local Medical Practices Special Educational Needs Advisory Team Speech Therapists National Association for Teachers of Special Educational Needs Health Authority School Nurse Special Schools Occupational Therapists The school should works with the State Education Authority and fulfils its expectations with regard to policy and the allocation of Special Needs funding. To address these problems effectively the school should make use of the following strategies: behaviour target sheets self-assessment Individual Educational Programmes a merit and demerit system counselling peer-monitoring Learning Support Assistants External agencies such as The Educational Psychologist, the Educational Welfare Officer and the Behaviour Support Unit are consulted and their advice is put into practice (The Blandford School, 2004). Teachers in both sectors view support from parents as essential. Various other agencies working are viewed as an important and useful policy. Equally, some respondents express alarm that the number of meetings required to liaise effectively with support agencies takes time away from teaching and learning. A very positive example of an Enhanced Provision Unit where certain children spend part of their day demonstrates how even good practice is affected by the lack of specialist staffing. It is clear that teachers are committed to the education of children. Known strategies are popular and well used. Many of the strategies which benefit pupils also benefit staff. The main concerns are the lack of staffing and time, the lack of specialist support and training for teachers. Teachers require help to deal with specific and instant problems but also require time to reflect on complex issues. Although all schools may not be facing such problems but it is necessary to foresee the problems before hand and take adequate steps tackle such situation in future. So that it would be a great help to pupils experiencing social, emotional/behavioural difficulties. References Chisholm, B. (2004) Inclusion – A Policy for All. [Online] Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar Available from: [7 April 2006]. Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (2006) Special Education Plan- 2005-2006. [Online] Available from: [8 April 2006]. Mike, de Val (2004) Special Educational Needs- Policy into Practice. [Online] Available from: < http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/pub_uploads/3999.pdf> [8 April 2006]. Smith, R. (2003) Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties School Survey. [Online] The Educational Institute of Scotland. Available from: [7 April 2006]. The Blandford School (2004) Learning Support/SEN policy. [Online] Available from: [8 April 2006]. Read More