Behavioural and emotional well-being of children following non-directive play with school staff

Abstract

This action research project considered whether significant improvements in child and young person behavioural and emotional mental health could be achieved using school-based play workers as opposed to qualified therapists. This was seen as being an important practice question as access to qualified play therapists was severely restricted with long waiting lists. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used as a pre-and post-intervention measure to identify any changes following non-directive play sessions with school staff. Significant improvements were found across all SDQ scales, with the most marked improvement observable in children and young people identified as having a high need for intervention. Number of play sessions attended and age group did not significantly affect SDQ scores according to teacher and child/ young person ratings. Parent SDQ ratings indicated greater success of the play intervention for children aged between three and eight years compared with children aged between 11 and 15 years.

A Therapeutic Game for Sexually Abused Children and Adolescents (Vil Du?!): Exploratory Mixed Methods Evaluation

“…Playing out one’s experience through Vil Du?! might also help to make thoughts related to one’s CSA experiences explicit [ 21 , 22 ]. These explicit thoughts can be processed or restructured in successive therapy sessions.…”

“…For therapists to restructure such incorrect and maladaptive thoughts, they first need to explicate children’s thoughts for which play (eg, with dolls, by drawing, or with Vil Du?!) can be used as a vehicle [ 21 , 22 ]. These explicit thoughts can be processed or restructured in successive therapy sessions.…”

Gender and Sector Related Differences in Emotional Social Intelligence of University Teachers

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Percepción de docentes y estudiantes sobre el trabajo de la educación emocional en el aula

“…¿Es comprensible que una gran parte de los alumnos cuando acaban la educación obligatoria no tengan la menor idea de que estudios proseguir en la universidad?, y quizás lo más preocupante… ¿es qué todos tienen que ir a la universidad? Estudios con escolares (Ewing, Monsen y Kwoka, 2014) reflejan cómo el desarrollo emocional desde las primeras etapas se relaciona significativamente con el éxito social y laboral, no siendo ya tan trascendente el cúmulo de títulos y certificados académicos que se tengan. En definitiva, el rol del maestro no puede ceñirse únicamente a la transmisión de contenidos, ya que éstos se encuentran en internet en cuestión de segundos con solamente un clic.…”