The purpose of the present investigation was to attempt to improve the adjustment of students transferring to a new high school part way through the year by the introduction of a buddy scheme. During the period between March 7th and September 18th, 1978, 54 new students were randomly allocated to an experimental group (i.e. paired with a buddy) or to a 'no buddy' control group for three weeks from the date of their enrolment. The buddies consisted of 12 volunteers from each of years seven to ten, who attended four training sessions with the counsellor (four for each form). The training centred round a discussion of their feelings and needs when encountering new school situations and led to a delineation of practical things which could be done to help new students. Emphasis was also given to communication skills. After the new students had been at the school for a month (or 20 school days), they completed L.S. Wrightsraan's School Morale scale and a student questionnaire which provided two measures of adjustment, viz. the students' perception of whether or not they had formed new friendships and their 'adjustment' to school. At the end of their first two months, the number of days absent (apart from those for sickness) were noted. There was no significant difference between the adjustment of transfer students in the experimental group compared to the control group as measured by the four outcome measures. That is, there was no significant difference between the two groups as measured by School Morale scores, their perception of the formation of new friendships, adjustment to school (a questionnaire measurement) or the mean number of days absent. Buddies with effective communication skills were successful in helping new students make a satisfactory adjustment to their new school. The continuation of the scheme was favoured both by the buddies and by the transfer students. Buddies felt that the scheme helped new students to settle in more quickly to the classes and to make friends. Transfer students felt that the scheme helped them to learn about the school very quickly, to meet the teachers and to make friends.

For many years, educators, psychologists and parents have expressed concern about the apparent deterioration of pupil motivation and performance after children move to secondary school. This study used a longitudinal design to examine the transfer process from the perspective of a group of 393 children (195 boys, 198 girls) as they moved from 19 primary schools to four secondary schools in Fife. Children’s self-perceptions of school commitment, school belonging, school participation, self-esteem and global wellbeing were evaluated four times over a 13 month period, twice before transfer in the final year of primary school and twice after transfer in the first year of secondary school. Information was also collected about family and home life, emotions, lifestyle and school on each occasion. The data was analysed using multilevel modelling in order to examine how each of the five outcome variables changed over the time of the study, and how they related to a series of independent variables. It was anticipated that changes in these outcomes may have occurred immediately after the move to secondary school, perhaps followed by an improvement six months later after they had adapted to changes and settled in to their new schools. The results showed that, contrary to expectations, all outcomes except school participation recorded an improvement at wave 3, immediately after the transfer to secondary school. However, there was some evidence that after an initial ‘honeymoon period’, children perceived certain aspects of school in a less positive light and by wave 4 there was a decline in all outcomes except for the perception of self-esteem, which continued to improve. Since wave 4 was only a few months after transition, a significant change in children’s views is seen quite quickly after transfer. It is not clear whether this represents a return to a more realistic level or if this signals the beginning of a more prolonged negative attitude towards school and education in general. The general conclusion is that the process of transfer to secondary schools is well managed, but it might be helpful for induction programmes to prepare children for the changes in teaching and learning methods that might be encountered, and perhaps other types of programme might be beneficial during the first year.

Submitted by Caroline Periotto (carol@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T20:37:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAPPMM.pdf: 2584198 bytes, checksum: cc3557cbe13de13c87d2d6eaead54a43 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T20:15:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAPPMM.pdf: 2584198 bytes, checksum: cc3557cbe13de13c87d2d6eaead54a43 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T20:15:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAPPMM.pdf: 2584198 bytes, checksum: cc3557cbe13de13c87d2d6eaead54a43 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-27T20:15:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAPPMM.pdf: 2584198 bytes, checksum: cc3557cbe13de13c87d2d6eaead54a43 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-11 / Não recebi financiamento / In the Brazilian educational contexto, the legislation guarantees the right to education of students target of Special Education (STSE) in common classes of regular schools. The enrollment of these students in public schools have grown year by year and this has imposed challenges for schools and teachers. In the case of students with ID, representing the largest contingent of STSE students, the previous tradition to the school inclusion policy, which was schooling in specialized institution, now divides the scene with the proposed new school in regular school. It is that educational policy has increasingly tried to make compulsory registration of all students of STSE in regular schools, although in the case of students with ID, this measure has bogged down in historical tradition placement in specialized institution. The result has been the increase in the flow of transfer students from specialized institutions for common schools, and vice versa, when the inclusion process is not successful. This study is proposed to investigate these processes of transfer of students from specialized institutions to mainstream schools and vice versa, considering the different perspectives of all those involved in the student with ID enrollment process. The general objectives of this study were to identify, describe and analyze possible factors that interfere with the transfer of students from special school to the regular or vice versa, in the conceptions of different actors. This is a descriptive research with a multiple case design. The study design involved the study of cases of students with ID were transferred from special schools to regular schools and vice versa. Five cases were analyzed: Saulo, Flavia, Fabio, Sofia and Fabiola. The research included 21 participants: five students, six family members and / or guardians and ten school personnel, including teachers, pedagogical coordinator, directors and teaching supervisor. Family members and school professionals answered a semi-structured interview. With students was applied the instrument procedure D-E. Analysis of the interviews identified: (1) the difficulty of adapting to the transition between schools, due to the lack of school supports, a previous preparation with students, parents and teachers and the late referral of students; (2) difficulties in the familyschool relationship eventually bring obstacles to the transfer and education of students; (3) expectations regarding the behavior and student learning with ID revealing an overvaluation of cognitive skills and (4) the assumptions of the participants on inclusion and its influence on practice with the student with ID. Regarding the participation of students, the established lines of analysis were aspects assigned by students of the special school and aspects assigned by students to the regular school. Students assigned to the special school the role of host and care and to the common school a place of learning and knowledge. The results confirm the authors presented in the literature review on the implementation of special education in inclusive environments, signaling that the views of teachers, managers and family against the inclusion will depend on the severity of the student's disability, skills and attitudes of professionals and It can only be seen by comparison of all the actors who are part of the process. The analysis of the results shows that the study achieved its goals and brought practical implications, political and scientific related to education of students with ID. / No contexto educacional brasileiro a legislação assegura o direito à escolarização de estudantes do Público Alvo da Educação Especial (PAEE) em classes comuns de escolas regulares. As matrículas desses alunos nas escolas comuns têm crescido ano a ano e isso tem imposto desafios para escolas e professores. No caso específico dos estudantes com DI, que representa o maior contingente de alunos do PAEE, a tradição anterior à política de inclusão escolar, que era de escolarização em instituição especializada, hoje divide a cena com a nova proposta de escolarização em escola comum. Ocorre que a política educacional tem tentado cada vez mais tornar compulsória a matrícula de todos os alunos do PAEE na escola comum, embora no caso de alunos com DI, essa medida tenha esbarrado na tradição histórica de colocação em instituição especializada. O resultado disso tem sido o aumento do fluxo de transferências de alunos das instituições especializadas para as escolas comuns, e vice-versa, quando o processo de inclusão não é bem-sucedido. O presente estudo tem como proposta investigar esses processos de transferência de alunos das instituições especializadas para escolas comuns e viceversa, considerando as diferentes perspectivas de todos os envolvidos no processo de escolarização do aluno com DI. Os objetivos gerais do presente trabalho foram: identificar, descrever e analisar possíveis fatores que interferem na transferência de alunos com DI da escola especial para a escola comum ou vice-versa, nas concepções de pais, alunos, professores e gestores. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva com delineamento de múltiplos casos. O desenho do estudo envolveu o estudo de cinco casos de alunos com DI que foram transferidos de escolas especiais para escolas comuns e vice-versa. Ao todo participaram do estudo 21 pessoas, sendo: cinco alunos, seis familiares e/ou responsáveis e dez profissionais da escola, entre professores, coordenador pedagógico, diretores e supervisor de ensino. Os familiares e profissionais da escola responderam a uma entrevista semiestruturada. Com os alunos foi aplicado o instrumento Procedimento D-E. A análise das entrevistas permitiu identificar: (1) a falta de planejamento para a transição entre as escolas, decorrente da falta de suportes da escola, de um preparo prévio com aluno, pais e professores e o encaminhamento tardio dos alunos; (2) dificuldades no relacionamento família-escola que acabam por trazer empecilhos à transferência e escolarização dos alunos; (3) expectativas quanto ao comportamento e aprendizagem do aluno com DI revelando uma supervalorização das habilidades cognitivas e (4) os pressupostos dos participantes sobre inclusão e sua influência nas práticas com o aluno com DI. Em relação a participação dos alunos, estes atribuíram à escola especial o papel de acolhimento e cuidado e para a escola comum um local de aprendizagem e conhecimento. Os resultados obtidos ratificam os autores apresentados na revisão de literatura sobre a implementação da educação especial em ambientes inclusivos, sinalizando que as concepções dos professores, gestores e familiares frente à inclusão vai depender da severidade da deficiência do aluno, das habilidades e atitudes dos profissionais e só pode ser percebida através de comparação de todos os atores que fazem parte do processo. A análise dos resultados obtidos evidencia que o estudo alcançou seus objetivos e trouxe implicações práticas, políticas e científicas relacionadas à escolarização do aluno com DI.

The transition from primary to secondary school is considered to be a challenging process for all pupils, but particularly difficult for those with social and emotional difficulties. Nurture groups aim to develop social and emotional skills and are seen to correspond closely with the recommendations made in transition literature. It is therefore proposed that nurture provision could be an effective means of supporting socially and emotionally vulnerable pupils in the transition. Previous literature adds support to this view, but no study as yet has focused specifically upon this topic. A small-scale case study design was used to explore the ways in which one secondary school applied nurture principles to support vulnerable pupils through the transition process. The research followed an embedded, single case design incorporating contextual and interview data regarding the school's nurture provision. Contextual information was gathered through the research diary and analysed in relation to the identified propositions. In addition, four illustrative case examples surveyed the views of the nurture facilitator and three pupils who received different levels of nurture support: these interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. An integrated case description combines the findings from all data sources and offers a coherent account of the provision.The findings support the proposition that nurture provision can be an effective means of supporting socially and emotionally vulnerable pupils in the transition to secondary school. In line with nurture literature, the findings suggest that secondary schools need to adapt the primary nurture model to ensure provision meets the needs of their setting and cohort. While this promotes flexibility, secondary schools still need to adhere to a number of core principles to ensure they are delivering a true nurturing approach. A tentative model is presented, which proposes that secondary school nurture provision should aim to support social and emotional development through a range of provision that is firmly grounded in psychological theory. Provision should adhere closely to the six nurture principles, with effective identification of needs informing a personalised approach that is tailored to each individual pupil. The importance of relationships for learning and development is emphasised. The thesis concludes by suggesting that nurture provision can be an effective means of supporting socially and emotionally vulnerable pupils in the transition to secondary school, providing a number of core elements are in place.