Supporting the socio-emotional aspects of the primary–secondary transition for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural needs: Affordances and constraints

Abstract

The primary-secondary transition presents both opportunities and challenges for children. For some, it may represent a 'critical period' which impacts on their future mental health and wellbeing. This paper focuses on identifying the affordances and constraints of a group-work approach to support children with social, emotional and behavioural needs across the transition with a specific focus on the socio-emotional aspects of transition. This evaluative, mixed-methods case study took place in six clusters of primary/secondary schools in Scotland involving 63 pupils who participated within support groups for around 20 1hr sessions. It focuses on the accounts of Support Group Leaders, drawing from focus group discussions held within each cluster and a Likert scale questionnaire. A wide range of facilitators and barriers to implementation and to pupil progress were identified. Facilitators related principally to the quality of relationships and pedagogy which the support group afforded and the quality of support for the project. Barriers related principally to organisational and resource constraints and more general concerns around how behaviour support is perceived. The paper argues that supporting the transition for pupils with SEBN is complex and there is no 'magic bullet.' Building a supportive infrastructure from the outset is key to success.

A Review Study of Research Articles on the Barriers to Inclusive Education in Primary Schools

“…Article Discrepancies between legislation and practice Alborno, 2017;Daly et al, 2020;Ebuenyi et al, 2020;Hodges et al, 2020;Keon, 2020;Materechera, 2020;Miles, Westbrook and Croft, 2018;Parey, 2022;Qu, 2019;Suc, Bukovec and Karpljuk, 2017 Educational barriers in the classroom Alborno, 2017;Alderton and Gifford, 2018;Anglim, Prendeville and Kinsella, 2018;Hodges et al, 2020;Kerins et al, 2018;Martos-García and Monforte, 2019;Mowat, 2019;Mukhopadhyay, Mangope and Moorad, 2019;Sánchez, Rodríguez and Sandoval, 2019;Suc, Bukovec and Karpljuk, 2017;Tso and Strnadová, 2017 Transdisciplinarity as a challenge Alborno, 2017;Anglim et al, 2018;Ebuenyi et al, 2020;Hankebo, 2018;Hodges et al, 2020;Imasaka et al, 2020;Kerins et al, 2018;Martos-García and Monforte, 2019;Mukhopadhyay et al, 2019;Ndhlovu and Varea, 2018;Overton, Wrench and Garrett, 2017;Quibell, Charlton and Law, 2017;P. A. Sánchez et al, 2019;Tso and Strnadová, 2017 Qualitative research designs with no ambitions to formulate more general theoretical hypotheses predominate investigations into IE Alborno, 2017;Alderton and Gifford, 2018;Anglim et al, 2018;…”

“…A total of five texts touched upon the theme of working with children and pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Anglim et al, 2018;Hodges et al, 2020;Kerins et al, 2018;Tso and Strnadová, 2017). In other articles, we noted mentions of unpreparedness for working with ASD or, alternatively, with a group of pupils with social, emotional, and behavioural needs (SEBN, a specific group which also includes pupils with Emotional and Behavioural Disorders) (Alborno, 2017;Kerins et al, 2018;Mowat, 2019;Mukhopadhyay et al, 2019;Suc et al, 2017).…”

“…Meeting both of these goals can help set more effective educational policies, improve teacher training, and point to directions for future research into IE. Inclusive, internally differentiated education of pupils during compulsory schooling, has been shown as a highly desirable model (Idol, 2006), which not only enhances the cognitive development of all pupils but also has a positive effect on pupil socialization (Hunt and Goetz, 1997;Mowat, 2019). The authors of the present paper wish to use this text to support an inclusive philosophy that is both fairer and more beneficial for all pupils and students.…”

“…Strategies were once based largely on market competitive comparisons of the educational results of individual schools, yet this is an approach that has been found to make real inclusion impossible. Inversely, a number of studies have focused primarily on factors related to social inclusion (Mowat, 2019), featuring many key elements, such as a general sense of belonging (Riley, 2017), relationships within the school (Bossaert et al, 2013), as well as other affective factors that function as motivational and protective elements (Prince and Hadwin, 2013). IE has been described as 'the process of educating children with disabilities in the regular education classrooms of their neighbourhood schools -the schools they would attend if they did not have a disability -and providing them with the necessary services and support' (Rafferty, Boettcher and Griffin, 2001).…”

Social Well-Being at School: Development and Validation of a Scale for Primary Education Students

“…Hence, given its importance, it is essential to develop instruments that quantify and determine the degree of students' social well-being (Ryff, 2018). Moreover, authors such as Wrigley (2012), Niclasen et al (2018) and Mowat (2019) state that Primary Education (ages 6-12) is arguably the most important educational stage in terms of students' social well-being because their experiences at this educational level may affect their development in future stages such as middle school, high school and college.…”