Short-term international study tours are increasingly available as an elective academic credit course at Canadian universities and seminaries. My research examined the pedagogy of such study tours to ascertain whether a study tour that encourages critical reflection assists students to synthesise learning to the extent that their pre-existing conceptual framework is modified or transformed. Since all the tours had a spiritual or religious theme, I also investigated the extent to which these study tours encouraged transcendent experiences and spiritual learning. I investigated four study tours, two of which went to Spain and included a pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago, another to Israel/Palestine exploring both historical sites and contemporary issues, and the fourth to Cyprus, Malta, and Rome, exploring the history and legacy of Paul, the Christian apostle. In addition, I participated in a local Ontario, Canada, pilgrimage and a service learning trip to an orphanage in Mexico as comparatives to the study tours. Adopting an interpretivist methodology, data was gathered from students and professors through questionnaires and interviews, and from my observations as a participant researcher. The data were interpreted to map how learning is occurring using Kolb’s experiential learning cycle and Illeris’ three−dimensional learning model, and to identify what contributes to learning. The research discovered that the student’s localised conceptual framework associated with the home context can be modified or transformed by the experience on-the-ground at the tour destination, resulting in transformative learning or moving students toward transformative learning. To encourage student learning, pre-tour preparatory studies should address the potential gap in student’s background knowledge and their existing meaning schemes, and should prepare the students for experiential learning. Reflective time and space should be provided during the tour to allow students to process their experiences, including emotional responses. And, post-tour assignments should encourage critical reflection that integrates and consolidates learning. To encourage spiritual learning requires accommodating students’ diverse interpretations of spirituality, and allowing students similar space and time, particularly at sacred places, to process spiritual experiences.

This research was undertaken to explore and explain the contexts and mechanisms influencing full-time class teachers’ emotional wellbeing (EWB) in a primary school rated ‘outstanding’ by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted). Despite being associated with issues high on the national agenda including pupil wellbeing, pupil performance, teacher retention and teacher recruitment, the wellbeing of school staff is a cause for concern calling for supportive and positive measures. Previous findings often describe wellbeing in deficit terms: the impacts of stress and burnout; however, research on what promotes teachers’ EWB is relatively scarce or, in Ofsted outstanding primary schools, non-existent. The current qualitative study aims to address this gap by applying grounded theory (GT) methodology to data collection and analysis on what enhances and hinders teachers’ EWB in their professional role and what interventions could be implemented to produce desirable outcomes. Semi-structured interviews were employed to elicit the views of 5 full-time class teachers at a mainstream primary school in an outer London borough. Adopting a critical realist ontological and epistemological stance, a general, abstract theory grounded in the views of the participants was drawn and discussed in relation to existing literature on psychological theory and research. Findings provide evidence to inform professionals linked to the chosen setting on what teachers think ‘works’ for them and how this could be applied in practice. It is hoped that outcomes will also facilitate further research in similar settings.

In the past three years, the Educational Psychologist (EP) profession has undergone significant developments as a result of the revised Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice (Department for Education, 2014). Two specific changes outlined in the SEND Code of Practice underpin the purpose of this research. The first was the change in terminology from Behaviour, Emotional and Social Development (BESD), to Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH), as one of the four broad categories of identified SEND. The second change was the extended age range of which the SEND Code of Practice now relates to: 16-25 years. The aim of this research was to explore how college staff co-constructed SEMH needs in their setting, to offer a valuable insight as to how EPs can best support similar settings in the future. Existing literature highlighted an absence of EP research on SEMH needs in post-16 education, or how college settings conceptualise SEMH needs. This study used a Discourse Analysis approach to explore how participants in a focus group (6 staff members in a sixth form college) co-constructed SEMH needs through their discourses, and a social constructionist epistemology underpinned the approach to this study. The identification of dominant and suppressed discourses illustrated variation in the staff members’ talk, suggesting the difficulties and dilemmas that arose when co-constructing a term such as SEMH. Emphasis placed on various discourses of SEMH was seen to impact on practice, highlighting the importance in identifying dominant and suppressed discourses of SEMH in educational settings. The college setting was seen to hinder and support SEMH needs simultaneously, and contrasts between disempowering and empowering students and staff to manage SEMH needs were explored. The emotional energy required to work with adolescent students was highlighted, and the extent to which discourses of pathologising students with SEMH needs functioned to defend against social anxiety, was also explored. The role of reflexivity throughout the research process, strengths and limitations of the study, and implications for EP practice were discussed.

This research gathered student perceptions of the aims of their senior school education in an independent school. The data was collected using Q-methodology. Participants completed the same Q-sort twice. The Q-sorts were factor analysed resulting in three factors for Q-sort 1 expressing students' own perceptions; these were titled: Future personal success, Enjoyment and care, and Empowerment. Four factors were retained from Q-sort 2, where students completed the same Q-sort from a hypothetical teacher's point of view; these were titled: Social cohesion and enjoyment, Academic importance, Fulfilling potential, and Personal development and wider societal benefits. Literature around the aims of education, the statements for the Q-set and the resulting factors were analysed using Schwartz's model of basic human values and pan-cultural baseline of value priorities as an analytical lens. This showed that although the aims of education align with Schwartz's findings of societal values, the participants in this study expressed differing value priorities to those in Schwartz's pan-cultural baseline. Through this lens, it was found that student perceptions of the aims of their education in this independent school focus mainly on the value of self-determination, in line with Schwartz's findings in societies. Differing from Schwartz's findings in societies, however, is the high prevalence of self-enhancement and hedonism values in the students' perceptions of the aims of their education. Also differing majorly from Schwartz's findings is the low prevalence of benevolence and universalism in the students' perceptions of the aims of their education. The study concludes that further research into the values of independently educated students would provide further valuable insights, and that schools should consider carefully the values that may be enhanced or demoted through certain educational activities.

The 2015 revisions to the Ontario teacher education program were intended to give greater attention to diversity in the Ontario classroom and provide new teachers with more knowledge of the Ontario context. Using an interpretivist methodology, a careful examination of the curriculum changes undertaken by the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Ontario College of Teachers indicates that these objectives have not been met. Despite being an integral part of the identity and experience of a large number of Ontario teachers and students, religion is not one of the diversities given attention to in the revisions. This omission has revealed a gap in the Ontario teacher education curriculum in which the religious diversity component of the Ontario context is largely ignored. The gap in teacher education has also created a misunderstanding of the nature and intent of the secular classroom where, instead of being a place where all religions are given equal attention and one that fostering healthy religious conversations, it has become an environment of fear and silence, where teacher and students are unsure of how to engage it religious conversations. My research concludes that the OCT curriculum does not provide sufficient curriculum content that addresses teacher knowledge, skills and attitudes in the area of religion, nor does it provide information about religious belief systems and world views or clarify religious language and terminology. Despite the fact that teachers and parents welcome the academic, non-confessional study of religion in the classroom, the OCT and the OME have not indicated through the revisions that this is the direction in which they intend to proceed. Enacting changes to increase the amount of time required for teacher education has not prepared teachers to address the multi-religious context of the Ontario classroom or to meet the needs of religious students.

No description available.

This study attempts to explore the experiences of Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in secondary schools in England working with young people at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and identify what facilitating factors and barriers they believe they face in their role. The study followed a two phase mixed methods exploratory sequential model based on a critical realist epistemology. In Phase 1 qualitative data was gathered from individual and paired interviews, conducted using a focus group process and script in the researcher’s local authority. The data was analysed using Inductive Content Analysis and initial categories identified for facilitating factors and barriers. These initial categories were then used to develop a questionnaire. For Phase 2 the questionnaire was sent out via Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) in England to DSL in secondary schools. The questionnaire involved both open and closed questions. The quantitative data from the questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics and Multinomial Logistic Regressions and the qualitative data was analysed using Content Analysis to assess the validity and transferability of the categories identified in Phase 1. The data analysis from Phase 1 and Phase 2 were interpreted together to explore the experiences of DSLs in England and identify the facilitating factors and barriers in their role. A Systems-psychodynamics lens was used to consider the implications of the findings. These included the need for supervision and protected time for DSLs , evidence-based intervention programmes for young people at risk, improved sharing of information between agencies, shared training opportunities and an increased understanding of the roles and boundaries within the local safeguarding system. The development of guidelines should be considered. A potential role for Educational Psychologists (EPs) to develop targeted interventions for young people (including those with Special Educational Needs [SEN]) and provide supervision for DSLs should be considered further.

The prevalence of domestic abuse in the UK and its impact on children and young people exposed to it suggests that it is likely to be encountered by educational psychologists (EP) in their work and that they could have a key role in supporting within educational settings. However, the subject has received sparse attention in the research literature of the profession. Whilst research exists more generally about professional responses to domestic abuse, there is little evidence of the use of psychosocial research methods. In order to address the gap in EP and psychosocial research around domestic abuse, this study explored from a psychosocial perspective how EPs encounter and respond to domestic abuse in their work. Four EPs were interviewed following the Free Association Narrative Interview method (Hollway & Jefferson, 2013). Thematic analysis was used to gather a picture of how EPs encounter domestic abuse in their work. The outcome of this analysis showed that for these participants, key elements of domestic abuse encounters were: Visibility (invisible/visible); Risk (danger/protection); Disturbance (disturbed/detached); Possibility (possible/impossible); and Learning (intellectual/experiential). Evidence of defence against unwanted thoughts and feelings in relation to domestic abuse work was then explored through individual analysis, paying attention to hesitations and avoidances in the interviews as well as the researcher’s own experience of interview encounters. This analysis, supported by psychosocial supervision, suggested that there were aspects of domestic abuse that appeared threatening to participants. These pertained to describing the abuse; situations of conflict; experiences of helplessness; negative evaluations; and feelings of shock, horror, and fear. The outcomes of this study suggest that domestic abuse is an emotive topic for EPs that is hard to process and requires further education and support to enable domestic abuse to be talked about and managed in a safe way when encountered in EP work.

Promoting the mental health and well-being of adolescents has increasingly become a priority for legislation in the UK. The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice (DfE, 2015) highlights the increasing responsibility professionals have for supporting and promoting pupils’ social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, a role which is especially pertinent for schools. However, there is a lack of current research exploring how school staff view promoting and supporting pupils’ emotional well-being. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken in one mainstream secondary school to gather the views of six school staff on their experiences and views of supporting pupils’ emotional well-being. The aim of the study was to explore and explain the contexts and mechanisms which facilitate or hinder how staff promote and support children and young people’s mental health and well-being. The data was analysed by use of a grounded theory methodology. The theory emerging from the data suggests that school staff believe that by having a structured, clear approach to supporting and promoting emotional well-being the school is able to become a safe space in an ever-demanding society. The overarching theory is labelled ‘providing containment – school as a safe place’. The findings are discussed in relation to existing literature and research. Implications for secondary schools and Educational Psychologists are discussed.

This psycho-social study explored the experiences of school staff who have worked with emotionally based school non-attendance. There is a paucity of qualitative accounts of school staff’s views in this area. Existing research focuses predominantly on the causes, risk and protective factors and the management of school non-attendance. Six participants took part in two interviews where psychoanalytically informed approaches were employed. This included the Grid Elaboration Method and Free Association Narrative Interviewing. The interview transcripts were analysed using Thematic Analysis, which illuminated five overarching themes: relationships between home and school; school factor s; conceptualisation and impact of school non - attendance; tasks and challenges of adolescence and individual journeys and emotions. The themes are discussed in relation to existing research and psychological theory. Consideration is given to the implications for the role of the Educational Psychologist in working with emotionally based school non-attendance. Strengths and limitations of the current study are discussed and ideas for future research are proposed.