The significance of children's engagement and inclusion in decision-making has been widely acknowledged, since the enactment and ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989. There is evidence to suggest that despite various efforts to involve children as co-designers, engagement strategies employed in the design of school outdoor environments often marginalise groups of children. This study postulated that effective methods of engagement require identifying and accounting for children's specific learning styles. The research sought to determine whether the design and application of methods of engagement could be more effectively targeted by determining and integrating children's learning style preferences into the engagement methods. A customised Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic (V AK) learning style preferences questionnaire was used to classify children's learning preferences into 3 sensory modalities in a range of activities across the primary curriculum. Photo-Safari, Dialogue and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices as exemplar for Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic techniques respectively. Participants in this study consisted of pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, aged between six and eleven years, from four primary schools in South Gloucestershire, UK. The sample included 151 pupils; eighty one boys and seventy girls. The analysis of the data revealed that preferences for engagement methods differ significantly between the learning style modalities. There was a statistically significant noticeable systemic increase in visual children's engagement with visual methods used (photo-Safari). Children in auditory learning style category had higher frequency and longer speech duration during the dialogue sessions. Mapping of children's spatial exploration in the outdoor playground revealed that kinaesthetic learners roamed significantly and moved towards adventure playgrounds more than those in the visual and auditory learning style groups. The findings confirmed that greater awareness and determination of individual learning style preferences can lead to better informed choice and application of methods of engagement, thereby enhancing inclusion in the engagement process involving children. Built environment practitioners, educationists, designers and policy makers need to be cognisant of children's learning style preferences in the design and application of methods of engagement; so as to give equal voices to all children in the design of schools outdoor environment.

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This is a school context study seeking to illuminate classroom and school processes underlying pupil resilience in primary schools in Malta. The traditional definition of resilience has been broadened into a more proactive, inclusive and relational construct, relating to socio-emotional competence and educational engagement for all pupils. The main objectives of the study were to describe the processes taking place in classrooms and schools characterised by pupil resilience and to develop theory on how these processes were related to resilience in school. The answer to the research questions was sought through an interpretative, case study, dialectic approach focusing on complexity and contextuality. Three Maltese state primary schools and three classes in each school identified on the basis of a purposely designed teacher framework, were selected as illuminative cases. Data was collected through extended participant observation, analysis of documents and interviews with various school and classroom members. Theory was developed through a constructivist grounded theory analysis of data. Various processes were identified at both school and classroom layers, including sense of belonging, caring and supportive relationships, meaningful participation in school and classroom activities, a collaborative stance in working and learning, commitment to teaching and learning, positive beliefs and expectations, an inclusive culture, recognition, and shared beliefs and values. These processes were supported by various intra, inter, and outside layer contextual forces. Together they constituted caring, supportive, inclusive, prosocial and learning-centred school and classroom communities. It was indicative that the processes were stronger within the classroom context. The study underlined the need to examine both school and classroom layers in seeking to understand pupil resilience, and suggested that while processes at the two layers might be reciprocal and complementary and thus additive, they did not coincide automatically. The understandings and meanings that emerged from the study led to the development of a theoretical model of schools and classrooms as resilience enhancing contexts for all pupils.

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In this study the technique of role reversal for the treatment of performance anxiety, experienced by learners in the school environment, was investigated. Performance anxiety sometimes presents as part of a larger pattern of social phobia and negatively impacts on an individual’s tasks performance due to the fear of negative evaluation. My qualitative study involved a collective, instrumental case study. Role reversal was implemented as part of a group-therapeutic intervention which continued for approximately three months, and involved participants acting as peer tutors. Data analysis focused on the participant’s personal experiences of the technique as well as therapeutic gains and the usefulness of the technique from a school-based counsellor’s perspective. The research findings revealed that although the helping role held certain challenges for the participants, it seemed to generally impact positively on their social and academic confidence and functioning. Additionally their levels of performance anxiety appeared to decrease. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

In this study the technique of role reversal for the treatment of performance anxiety, experienced by learners in the school environment, was investigated. Performance anxiety sometimes presents as part of a larger pattern of social phobia and negatively impacts on an individual’s tasks performance due to the fear of negative evaluation. My qualitative study involved a collective, instrumental case study. Role reversal was implemented as part of a group-therapeutic intervention which continued for approximately three months, and involved participants acting as peer tutors. Data analysis focused on the participant’s personal experiences of the technique as well as therapeutic gains and the usefulness of the technique from a school-based counsellor’s perspective. The research findings revealed that although the helping role held certain challenges for the participants, it seemed to generally impact positively on their social and academic confidence and functioning. Additionally their levels of performance anxiety appeared to decrease. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)