Emotional literacy is the ability to understand, express and regulate ones emotions and recognise the emotions of others. It falls under the broader term social and emotional learning (SEL). The ‘ELSA programme’ is a intervention where one or more teaching assistants within a school are trained in emotional literacy and provide intensive targeted emotional literacy support to a young person or group of young people. This study explored the experiences of Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) (n=8) and the young people they worked with (n-7) using a semi structure interview. A thematic analysis revealed that ‘relationships’ seemed to be an important aspect of both ELSAs and children’s experiences of the ELSA programme and pivotal to the change process. It seemed that the child-ELSA relationship was viewed by children as a coping mechanism in itself that children draw on to a varying degree after formal sessions have ended. Factors influencing the formation of this relationship were also identified. For ELSAs these included ELSA qualities, self-confidence and implementation factors. For children these included the qualities of the ELSA, confidentiality and sessions being perceived as fun and enjoyable. The results are discussed with reference to relevant research and the implications in relation to the implementation of the ELSA programme and the support offered by educational psychologists are summarised.

<p> The present study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study &ndash; 2, which is a longitudinal study of a nationally represented sample of students with disabilities between the years 2000 and 2010. Using this dataset, the relationships among disability type area of study, and degree completion were explored. The final sample included approximately 310 students classified as having learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was hypothesized that individuals with ASD would prefer fields of study where there was limited social interaction to a greater degree than those with LD or ADHD. Additionally, it was hypothesized that students with ASD would be more likely than their LD and ADHD counterparts to choose fields of study in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Results from two path analysis models, however, revealed no significant findings. Consequently, it appears as though other factors or a combination of factors better account for the postsecondary outcomes of students with disabilities. The primary implication of these findings is that professionals and caregivers should refrain from making assumptions about area of postsecondary study or degree completion based simply on students&rsquo; disability types. Furthermore, it does not appear warranted to direct students with disabilities to select specific types of academic majors simply because it is assumed that pursuing those majors will result in better postsecondary outcomes.</p>

<p> Identifying students who may require additional assistance and coaching based on their self-concept score will also allow community colleges to provide additional support services for those students. If there is a difference in self-concept among students in a Mississippi community college, leaders might be able to use self-concept as a way of building additional services that help students improve their self-concept and subsequently reduce attrition. </p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the ways in which Black, Black biracial, and Black multiracial women experienced and navigated colorism in college. This is an important topic to explore given that colorism, or skin tone bias, has been found to impact the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of people of color. One-on-one interviews were used to gather data from 10 participants. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) White colorism; (b) Colorism is ingrained in Black culture; (c) Emotional and psychological responses to colorism; and (d) Education is key. These four themes represent the participants&rsquo; experiences with colorism and provide insight into the ways they navigated encounters with colorism. This study adds to the research on colorism in higher education and offers implications for practice and directions for research.</p>

<p> This qualitative study examined the perspectives of American students, focusing on the factors and characteristics that frame an individual as a global citizen. The study focused on nine American students who were enrolled in a California State University. This population of students brought knowledge of their personal perspectives and experiences, pertaining to their own ideals of global citizenship, as well as to how they believed it was integrated in their educational experience. Key themes from the participants included: the importance of a period of self-realization, individual effects as a result of the current political climate, the importance of language, and the lack of priority given to global citizenship within the K-12 public education system. </p><p>

There is an increasing awareness of the impact of domestic violence (DV) on children’s psychological well-being. A cross-government strategy, Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) has recently been launched (HM Government 2009). Although, the role that education can play has previously been neglected, there is now a growing interest in the role of schools in combating DV. However, the contribution educational psychologists (EPs) can make to this debate has been neglected. A small scale study was conducted to explore how EPs conceptualised DV and the role EPs could have in working with schools and children and families. Five EPs from educational psychology services (EPS) in two local authorities were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. A thematic analysis was conducted and 4 main themes highlighted; knowledge of DV, experience of DV in work, facilitators and barriers to practice. The research concludes that EPs face challenges in working with DV. Issues of safe working practices and confidentiality, professional sensitivities and lack of clarity of the EP role are identified. It is argued that some of the inherent difficulties to EP practice occur due to the hidden nature of children within DV as children exposed to DV have been marginalised and minimised within the dominant DV discourse.

Attachment theory has become widely regarded as the most important and supported framework for understanding social and emotional development (Goldberg, 2000). Evidence suggests that attachment based interventions in early year’s settings will allow for a greater understanding, sensitive response and more effective use of practitioner’s skills when working with children (Kennedy and Kennedy, 2004). This thesis was produced as part of the written requirements for the new full-time Doctoral training in Educational Psychology. Volume one contains four chapters: Chapter one introduces the research study and literature review, providing information on the brokering and relevance of the research area. Chapter two discusses and presents existing attachment based interventions with parents, schools and early year’s settings. Chapter three reports findings from an evaluation an early year’s intervention, based on attachment principles - ‘Building Strong Foundations’. A multiple case study design was adopted. Three settings, where the intervention had been received, were evaluated to provide literal replication, and an additional setting, which had not received the intervention, acted as a comparison, and provided theoretical replication (Yin, 2009). Key positive outcomes and rival explanations are discussed, along with implications and future directions. Chapter four provides some final reflections and conclusions, including limitations in design and methods of the study. The impact which this study makes to the profession of educational psychology is also discussed.

This study explored the perspectives and practices of Educational Psychologists (EPs) who had encountered the apparent overlapping phenomenology of autism spectrum disorders and the enduring effects of early attachment experiences in their casework. Six EPs from two EP Services took part in interviews, which were audio recorded. Inductive and deductive analyses were mediated through the active constructionist role of the interviewer during the interview process and the thematic analysis of the resultant interview transcripts. The study intended to explore EPs’ differential conceptualisations of autism and attachment and how they conceptualise and attempt to differentiate the overlapping phenomenology. Analysis identified two other dimensions, which complemented the planned foci in a cogent way and were also examined: how EPs conceptualised the value of differentiating between autism and the effects of early attachment experiences; and how the discipline of educational psychology offers a distinct contribution to problem analysis in this area. The talk of EPs captured in this study contributes to existing practice-based evidence about overlapping phenomenology, and by describing a process of psychological problem analysis which could support more reliable differentiation between autism and effects of early attachment experiences. A distinctive contribution of the discipline of educational psychology is proposed and suggested as worthy of closer consideration as ethics and efficiencies are both of legitimate concern in contemporary multi-disciplinary, public service contexts. Other implications identified from this study pertain to the way in which EPs articulate their relationship with theory, their use of practice frameworks, and the distinct nature of their identities.

Recent policy and literature have advocated the importance of access to positive activities for young people as part of the strategy to lessen social disadvantage. This research aimed to explore how ‘typical’ young people in an urban locality make the decision to engage in activities and whether relative social disadvantage has the same affect in this area as that suggested in the literature. A case study approach was used, involving individual interviews with 6 year 7 pupils and 3 service providers linked to a sports college. A further focus group interview helped clarify interpretation. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and patterns in the data. Generalisations about the pattern of engagement in positive activities for disadvantaged young people were found not to apply to this case study, challenging the media tendency towards negative stereotyping of young people in the area. The need for local solutions to local issues was emphasised as a key issue.

This volume includes a critical literature review (Part 1) and a small scale empirical study (Part 2) on the topic of ‘emotionally-based non-attendance’ at school. Part one of the volume critically reviews the existing research on ‘school refusal’, in terms of conceptualisation, prevalence, and associated risk and protective factors. This review argues that there is a significantly limited amount of research into the school factors associated with school refusal, and the voice of the child has been insufficiently represented. Overall, there appears to be a bias towards clinical and adult discourses in the school refusal research. Part two of this volume presents an empirical study which investigated the factors associated with emotionally-based non-attendance at school from young people’s perspective. The subjective views and lived experiences of three girls with emotionally-based non-attendance were elicited, using techniques derived from personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955). These girls were from a non-clinical sample, and were identified as ‘at risk’ of developing more severe and persistent forms of emotionally-based non-attendance in the future. The results are discussed in terms of the ‘young carer role’, ‘ambivalence’, ‘returning to school’ and ‘school factors’. Several implications for practice are drawn from the study.