Support For Pupils Research Articles

Organizational and pedagogical foundations of the interaction of educational organizations at all levels: a factor of continuity and consistency in psychological and pedagogical support

This article delves into the vital aspect of implementing psychological and pedagogical support for students across educational organizations of varying levels. Drawing upon the outcomes of domestic research conducted by the authors, the article highlights the inadequate efficacy of psychological and pedagogical support services for students. It also sheds light on the challenges faced by most secondary school teachers in catering to children with special educational needs. To comprehensively assess the state of psychological and pedagogical support for pupils and students across preschool, secondary, technical and vocational, and post-secondary education, a research group conducted an extensive scientific study. The analysis, employing the triangulation method with qualitative and quantitative data, drew from international and domestic experiences, as well as the existing regulatory framework in Kazakhstan concerning psychological and pedagogical support. The study uncovered several problematic issues hindering the successful implementation of psychological and pedagogical support for students. The primary challenges identified by the research group included the prevalence of the medical model of special educational needs over the socio-pedagogical model in the mindset of educators. Additional challenges encompassed an unsystematic approach to psychological and pedagogical support and insufficient internal and external collaboration among educational organizations at all levels, affecting the provision of comprehensive support across all educational tiers. Based on the research findings, the research group concluded the necessity of adopting a systematic approach in providing continuous and comprehensive psychological and pedagogical support for student’s at all educational levels. The article proposes various strategies to implement continuous comprehensive support and outlines organizational and pedagogical conditions that serve as the scientific and methodological basis for developing models of comprehensive psychological and pedagogical support for inclusive educational processes, grounded in continuity and consistency.

Předcházení školní neúspěšnosti v diskurzu vyučujících 1. stupně ZŠ

Strategies for supporting pupils at risk of school failure at the beginning of schooling process are the key to a successful educational process. The study is part of research aimed at preventing school failure in the first three years of schooling. The aim of the study is to identify categories of general support strategies and to create a typology of teachers according to their discourse. The study follows two research lines: the first includes thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with teachers, the second summarizes quantitative data from an expert assessment of teaching observations. In general, the support strategies presented by teachers fall into three groups: 1) instrumental support, 2) relationships, and 3) discipline. Within them, five types of teachers can be identified, which is based on thematic analysis of the interviews. These are confirmed by quantitative data. The teachers’ discourse generates specific topics linked to the support of pupils, namely pupils’ family background, teachers’ reaction to failure, individual approach and personal/professional boundaries. For support strategies to be effective, it is important that the teacher-student relationship provides basic psychological safety.

Support for transgender pupils

Support for transgender pupils

Developing the emotion regulation skills of autistic pupils in educational settings: A systematic literature review

AbstractModerating the intensity and expression of our emotions is necessary for successful engagement in learning. This systematic review explored, “what are schools doing to support autistic children and young people to develop their emotion regulation skills?” Critical analyses considered the inclusiveness of interventions and whether/how autistic pupils were asked about their participation. PsycINFO, Web of Science (Core Collection) and ERIC were searched on 18 July 2022. Eight studies were included, incorporating 419 autistic pupils, aged three to 17, from at least 955 schools in the USA, Australia and France. A narrative synthesis was used to provide an overview of the literature. Seven different approaches to emotion regulation were utilised, and only one was used in the school prior to the research. Forty out of 419 autistic pupils were asked for their views of the intervention they received. There is a lack of research considering school‐led approaches to embedding emotion regulation skill development in everyday school practices and a lack of involvement of autistic pupil's views about emotion‐regulation interventions. More research is needed to enable educational professionals to provide evidence‐informed support for autistic pupils to develop their emotion regulation skills.

The impact of the newly developed school-based 'Digital Health Contact'-Evaluating a health and wellbeing screening tool for adolescents in England.

Supporting adolescents with their health and wellbeing is an international public health priority. Schools are well placed to universally detect unmet health needs and support pupils. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a digital health and wellbeing screening tool, called the 'Digital Health Contact' (DHC) implemented in schools in the East Midlands of England. The DHC, delivered by Public Health Nurses (School Nurses) (PHN(SN)), aims to identify pupils with unmet health needs (via a 'red flag' system) and provide appropriate support. Using data from 22 schools which took part in the DHC and 14 schools which did not take part, across three academic years (2018-2020), we conducted a controlled interrupted timeseries analysis with negative binomial regression to explore the effect of the DHC on the number of annual referrals to PHN(SN). Using DHC data from 164 pupils, we further conducted a Difference-in-Difference analysis to explore the impact of 'red flag' and referral via the DHC in Year 9 (age 13-14) on the number of red flags in Year 11 (age 15-16). Across all schools, the mean annual number of referrals increased over the three year follow-up period. In the adjusted model, the number of referrals was comparable between schools taking part in the DHC and non-participating schools (0.15 referrals [95% CI -0.21, 0.50]). Red flag score was not significantly different among Year 11 pupils, after being referred via the DHC in Year 9 (-0.36 red flags [95% CI -0.97, 0.24]). The DHC, and similar screening tools, have the potential to raise awareness of the health and wellbeing support in schools and provide an additional pathway of referral to this support for pupils with unmet health needs, without replacing the traditional pathway where pupils refer themselves or are referred by teachers.

Psychological and pedagogical support of younger schoolchildren with speech disorders in the conditions of a special educational institution

The proposed article highlights the peculiarities of psychological and pedagogical support of younger schoolchildren with speech disorders in the conditions of a special educational institution. It was determined that in order to achieve the effectiveness of psychological and pedagogical support for pupils with speech disorders, modern research recommends creating certain pedagogical conditions, namely, implementing a set of tools that contribute to the development of the educational and educational process. The research, based on a questionnaire, presents the opinions and experiences of the team members of the psychological and pedagogical support of younger schoolchildren in a special educational institution. The results revealed that the majority of pedagogical workers have an appropriate level of professional competence and practical skills necessary for successful work with children who have special educational needs, in particular, with speech disorders. It was determined that psychological and pedagogical support should be comprehensive and based on a multidisciplinary approach. It was determined that a special educational institution can be considered the optimal environment for the development of communication skills in children. It has been established that an important strategic step is to increase awareness and awareness of speech and communication difficulties among all employees of a special educational institution in order to create an appropriate educational environment. The obtained results of the study proved that the support of social interaction and the development of communication skills for children with speech disorders is vital, because it can help them acquire social and emotional skills for successful adaptation in adult life. However, according to research findings, parents and teachers do not sufficiently understand the needs of these children in the classroom and feel a lack of resources to provide adequate support.

PDF CHAT_BOT USING GENERATIVE AI (LLMS&RAG)

This paper delves into the increasing craziness of planting chatbots and artificially intelligent systems (AI) in academia and disquisition. Chatbots are employed even more frequently to deliver adapted backing, attack enterprises, and develop fascinating spaces for knowledge. Chatbots empower directors to hone education while delivering actual-time support for pupils with assignments and examinations and issue explanations by outsourcing executive tasks. The creation of a PDF chatbot using Large Language Models (LLMs) in generative AI is one example of such an application. This project uses prompt-based querying, tokenization, and a vector-based component to store PDF inputs. The chatbot uses LLMs to build embedded prompts and pull text snippets from a knowledge base to respond to user inquiries. Chatbots' accessibility and flexibility enhance pupil involvement and expedite learning objectives.

Undernourishment Needs Overemphasis: Lived Experiences of Elementary Teachers and Parents Having Undernourished Schoolchildren

This present study aimed to explore the lived experiences of parents and elementary teachers with undernourished children or pupils. These pupils are enrolled in two elementary schools in the 4th District of Santa Catalina under the Division of Negros Oriental, Philippines. Employing the descriptive phenomenological design through the unstructured in-depth interview method on the experiences of teachers and parents with undernourished schoolchildren, twelve participants agreed to participate in this study. Digitally recorded interviews were thematically analyzed to generate the themes and subthemes. We generated four themes: (a) pupils' poor class performance and behavior; (b) teachers' strategic initiative aimed at enhancing performance and behavior; (c) Department of Education’s (DepEd) support for pupils' well-being; and (d) children's poor eating behavior. Teachers were challenged in handling pupils who are undernourished as the latter becomes mentally and physically absent in the classroom. To ensure that these pupils are not left behind, teachers make some interventions, like peer tutoring, to help the pupils cope with every day’s lesson. With the intention of improving the nutritional status of undernourished pupils, schools implemented the school-based feeding program and the giving of nutritious foods that may be brought home for pupils’ breakfast or supper. We conclude that despite the challenges encountered, teachers and parents devise interventions to lessen the negative effects of undernutrition with the help of DepEd.

Does mindfulness-based intervention in school-setting improve mental health in one-year follow-up?

Abstract Background Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have shown promising results on students’ well-being in several countries, including Finland. However, less is known of the long-term effects of MBIs. We investigated the effects of MBI on mental health in school-setting in a one-year follow-up in an extensive randomized controlled trial Healthy Learning Mind. Methods Finnish pupils (Intervention group N = 542, active control group N = 557) aged 12-15 years were randomized into a 9 week MBI group, and a control group with a relaxation program. The primary outcomes were resilience (RS14), socio-emotional functioning (SDQ), and depressive symptoms (RBDI) at baseline, and at follow-up at 52 weeks (T52). Analyses were done with multilevel linear models. Results Positive intervention effect was found for socio-emotional functioning between intervention and active control group (Group×Time β=−0.866, p = 0.014). Socio-emotional functioning remained same in the intervention group (β = 0.338, p = 0.178) whereas difficulties increased in the active control group (β = 1.205, p < 0.001). Mindfulness did not show effects on the resilience (p = 0.303) or depressive symptoms (p = 0.925). In an additional exploratory analysis, among the students who had continued practicing mindfulness at least once a week (n = 45) compared to the all pupils in the active control group, no significant differences were found in resilience (p = 0.197), socio-emotional functioning (p = 0.186), or depressive symptoms (p = 0.802). However, although not significant, those 45 pupils, who continued mindfulness practices at least once a week scored systematically better on resilience and socio-emotional functioning compared to active controls. Conclusions Short 9-week MBI in school-setting provides slight benefits for socio-emotional functioning in one- year follow-up. Since only 45 pupils continued independent practice for one year, it is difficult to reliably appraise the long-term benefits of MBI in school-setting. Key messages • We need more information on the type of support pupils need to keep up practice. The low number of pupils who keep up practicing hampers better understanding of the long-term effects of MBIs. • The MBI effectiveness research in school settings would benefit from behavioral science perspective.

Waiting for Discovery and Support?

PURPOSE: In this paper, we explore and contrast the Swedish state and NGO arguments for initiating two changes in national educational degree objectives in Swedish teacher education: one regarding sex and cohabitation education, and the other regarding support for pupils with ʻneuropsychiatric difficultiesʼ such as autism and ADHD (here referred to as neurodivergent pupils). APPROACH: Using critical policy analysis, we compare the arguments from the government as well as responding bodies for introducing the two objectives, with a focus on neurodivergent pupils. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that discourses concerning sex and cohabitation education for all pupils and support for pupils with ʻneuropsychiatric difficultiesʼ respectively derive from different educational ideologies and reproduce different ideas about pupils as active citizens versus passive objects of interventions. The objective of sex and cohabitation education is framed within a norm critical discourse putting forward reflexivity and identity, and where pupils are active subjects to be involved in the process. In contrast, neurodivergence is framed within a deficit approach as neurobiological, individual impairment, and a special educational problem that should be managed by professionals. It is seen as a risk for school failure, where neurodivergent pupils are passive objects of professional discovery and support. CONCLUSION: In a Swedish educational policy landscape, stressing the importance of educating pupils in line with ideas of children as right-bearers, our exploration illustrates how ʻall pupilsʼ versus neurodivergent pupils, within teacher education, are positioned as belonging to different categories of citizens: as active subjects of rights, versus passive subjects of care. This perception of neurodivergence, we argue, hampers progress towards embracing neurodivergence as a social category, and neurodivergent pupils as political subjects.

A qualitative study of Swedish pupils’ perspectives on supportive school climates and help-seeking

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to explore pupils’ perspectives on school climate, with a focus on help-seeking from teachers when experiencing unsafe incidents. Fifty-nine focus group interviews were conducted with pupils from two public schools in grades 1–9 (i.e. ages 7–15 years) in Sweden and analyzed with constructivist grounded theory. The findings address how the organizational support structure was crucial and three main categories were conceptualized from pupils’ perspectives: (1) teachers as sources of support; (2) availability of support; and (3) consistent and responsive support. The way in which pupils perceived these three dimensions, and thus the organizational support structure, were crucial to whether they considered help-seeking from teachers when they experienced unsafe incidents such as violence, bullying or conflicts. To conceptualize the pupils’ perspectives on the organizational support structure and help-seeking we adopted a social-ecological perspective as a theoretical framework. Social-ecological factors such as scheduling, and information provided (exosystem) and the pupil-teacher relationships (microsystem) were found to be especially important in relation to the organizational support structure and pupils’ help-seeking. Our findings suggests that it is imperative for schools to pay attention to the organizational support structure and especially consider the teacher-pupil relationship quality and how scheduling, information about support sources, and a consistent and responsive approach from all teachers affects pupils’ help-seeking and the building of a supportive school climate and safety for all pupils at school.

Positives and Negatives of Distance Education from the Perspective of Teachers with Practical Experience

The COVID-19 pandemic had overnight affected all areas of traditional life. In the field of education, the classic face-to-face teaching was replaced by distance education at all levels of the educational system not only in Slovakia but in all countries of the world. Teachers, pupils, parents, teaching assistants, special educators or professional staff had had no experience with distance education up to that point. In today’s vulnerable world, the possibility of a combined educational process, in which teaching would be divided between face-to-face and distance education, is being raised more frequently mainly in connection with the energy crisis. Setting the right balance between face-to-face and distance education requires, among other things, defining the positives and negatives of these forms. Given the existing extensive theoretical elaboration of the issue of face-to-face teaching, our study focuses on the positives and negatives of distance education, while using the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through interviews, we collected the views of primary school teachers experienced in distance education. We focused on questions dealing with advantages, disadvantages, forms, methods and overall attitudes towards distance education. The study concludes by categorising the advantages and disadvantages of distance education. Based on the analysis of the responses obtained through semi-structured interviews with six teachers, we found that distance education has more negative than positive aspects. The main negatives include the lack of physical contact and the absence of social interaction. Furthermore, we found that there is low motivation, skipping lessons and lack of attention among upper grade students. Parental support for pupils in the upper grades was rather low. Teachers mainly used Slovak online platforms for distance learning. This study was done in Slovakia.

Exploring the role and experience of classroom assistants supporting pupils with visual impairment

ABSTRACT The role of the classroom assistant (CA) is considered pivotal in inclusive provision for pupils with additional needs. CAs’ support of pupils who have a visual impairment (VI) is greatly underreported in the literature. Scaffolding theory was applied to investigate the role of CAs in supporting pupils who have a VI in mainstream schools in Northern Ireland, UK. Focus groups were conducted with 18 CAs who were embarking on an accredited VI-focused professional development programme. Findings revealed the majority of assistants had received no formal training to work with these pupils although they provided support in a wide range of ways to ensure their educational, social and physical inclusion in school. Although positive aspects of their contribution were described in inclusive terms, challenges were identified that mainly impacted on the participatory options of pupils with VI. Most prominently, minimal access to professional development engendered uncertainty that pupils were being appropriately and effectively supported. Viewed through the lens of scaffolding theory, CAs occupy a predominantly supporting role, with paucity in upskilling opportunities and hierarchical structures limiting further professional progression. More strategic consideration of the CA role could contribute to greater equity of access to education for children with VI.

Modele edukacji włączającej w wybranych placówkach oświatowych w Czechach – edukacja włączająca a kultura organizacji

Employees and managers of educational institutions have been dealing with numerous challenges related to changes in nowadays world for years. The idea of striving for “excellence in teaching” based on Fullan’s paradigm of school culture transformation has become a reason for deeper reflection in this area. Using the comparative analysis method, a picture of work models in educational institutions within the same system guidelines has been obtained. In order to make comparisons, strategies focused on providing the most effective support for pupils with special educational needs and the process of evaluating activities were taken into account. Based on three experiences of implementing the idea of inclusive education, some strategies for coping with required changes were shown. The presented case studies showed that while the strategies of each educational institution varied, they aimed to offer functional and effective counseling services which enhanced the personal and social development of children. The differences between them are related to specific practices: whether they are occasional or systematic, focused on teachers or problems, communication or action, part of the school daily work routine or applied to deal with emerging problems. The research results present a certain type of narrative related to eliminating resistance to change and monitoring its effects in a positive way according to the specific culture of organization.

How able did newly qualified teachers in England feel to support pupils’ mental health in the late stages of COVID 19? A qualitative study of teacher perceptions

ABSTRACT The prevalence of mental health problems in school children has grown, especially during the pandemic, detrimentally impacting the lives of those affected. In the UK, primary school teachers and schools are well-placed to spot and support pupil mental health. This preliminary research completed during the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic, addresses a gap in the literature to understand whether primary school teachers feel they have personal and professional resources to manage and support pupil mental health. Six recently qualified primary school teachers took part in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis of these data generated three themes (a) The impact of school on pupil mental health (b) Where does the expertise lie? and (c) School approaches to mental health. The themes show that teachers varied in how prepared they felt to support pupil mental health and this was related to a degree to the way in which their school approached mental health support. Our participants felt well-placed to support pupils’ mental health but also concerned about their ability to do so. These findings and the suggestions for change from our participants have clear implications for how teachers can be better enabled to support pupil mental health during and beyond COVID-19.

인공지능 적용에 관한 교실 기반 연구: 초등영어 학습 부진아의 기계번역기 사용과 인식을 중심으로

This study aims to explore the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support struggling young learners and provide insights for applying AI to teaching and learning English in the primary classroom. AI is suggested to be an innovative technology that will shape the future of education. Special attention is paid to how the future of education can be unveiled in real classrooms that adopt AI and how teachers and students can benefit from it. The participants of this study were three pupils with learning difficulty, a homeroom teacher, two English subject teachers, and two external experts. Data was collected via Q-sort, classroom observations, interviews with the participating students, a diagnostic test, a sentence completion test, student performance, and a research log. The triangulated analysis of the collected data revealed that the students heavily relied on AI in the beginning, then gradually developed their routines with AI use, and finally used it less, which gave them a sense of independence. It is further shown that AI relieved the anxiety of the low-achieving English learners and gave them confidence by providing them with options when faced with difficulties in class.
 These findings provide insights for understanding the directions of AI applications in English learning and teaching, leading to support for low-achieving pupils’ learning and policy for basic education guarantee.

Parental Roles in Attending Schools’ management Meetings and Pupils’ Academic Performance in Uganda

Pupils’ Academic Performance is wanting in many primary schools in Uganda. The public primary schools in Ndorwa County, Kabale District- Uganda is one of the case scenarios in perspective. This research sought views of internal and connected stakeholders regarding parents’ attendance of school administration meetings, in support of pupils’ educational performances. The study was aimed at developing a parental involvement school partnership model. The researcher used cross sectional survey design supported to collect and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data. A sample size of 322 was derived from a population of 2000 using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The research data was analyzed by way of frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. Qualitative data was analyzed using content and thematic analysis. The results show that students of highly involved family members in schools management meetings and functions significantly outperformed those with family members who were not involved based on scores of the PLE for class 7. Parents of low-come levels, and negative attitude towards their children’s education were the main challenge. To improve pupils’ academic performance, the research recommends that parents need to consider regular attendance of school meetings and functions. Also, the government of Uganda should create policies that ensure implementation of parental involvement welfares, building of schools, family, and community partnership programs to empower parents and support their Children’s learning. The practice of parents’ attendance in school meetings and functions in support of pupils’ studies needs to be in tandem with deliberations from the ministry of education policies, district education regulations and schools’ administration directives. Parents need to check what they aid to pupils with schools’ advice.

Psychological support of the process of adaptation of pupils during the transition to the level of basic general education

The article deals with the problem of psychological support of 5 form pupils to the secondary school. The necessity of developing such adaptation components as psychological, educational, motivational and social through the implementation of the developed programme is shown. The results of a ascertaining experiment conducted on a sample of 90 fifthformers using the following diagnostic tools are presented – Beeman N. Phillips' School Anxiety Scale, the questionnaire “Studying school motivation of pupilsˮ by Natal’ya Luskanova, methodology for studying the motivation of teaching schoolchildren during the transition from primary to secondary by Margarita Luk’yanova and Natal’ya Kalinina, questionnaire for assessing the attractiveness of the classroom staff, expert assessments of teachers. The analysis of the data showed that some of the children of younger adolescence have a high level of school anxiety, a negative attitude to school, positional and marking motives of teaching, the pedagogic staff is not interesting and attractive for them, they systematically violate the rules of school life, showing some unsociability, which indicated the expediency of developing and implementing a programme for psychological support of pupils during the transition to a new stage of school education. There were 25 group classes with pupils using role-playing games, psycho-gymnastic exercises, mini-lectures, discussions, situation analysis, art therapy, fairy-tale-therapy and relaxation techniques; a parent meeting and two pedagogic councils on creating conditions for successful adaptation of fifthformers. The control experiment, as well as the use of mathematical statistics methods, showed the effectiveness of the work done – the presence of changes in all components of adaptation, in particular, the number of children with higher indicators of educational motivation, communication skills, positive attitude to school, the normative level of school anxiety increased.

Individual behavior support in positive behavior support schools in Finland

One objective in Finnish basic education is for pupils with disabilities or behavioral problems to be able to participate in mainstream education and ordinary classrooms. Positive behavior support (PBS) is an approach that offers multi-tiered behavior support for pupils. In addition to providing support at a universal level, educators need to have the necessary skills to provide more intensive individual support for pupils who need it. Check-in/Check-out (CICO) is a research-based individual support system that is widely used in PBS schools. The Finnish application of CICO includes an individual behavior assessment process for pupils with persistent challenging behaviors. In this article, we examined which pupils in Finnish PBS schools are provided CICO support, and in particular, how many have identified needs for specific pedagogical support or behavior-related disabilities, and whether educators find CICO to be an acceptable way of supporting behavior in an inclusive school setting. CICO support was found to be used the most in the first four grade levels, and support was offered mainly for boys. The number of pupils receiving CICO support in participating schools was much lower than expected, and CICO seemed to be secondary to other pedagogical supports. The social validity of CICO was equally high for all grade levels and pupil groups. The experienced effectiveness was somewhat lower among pupils with a need for pedagogical support in basic academic skills. The results suggest that Finnish schools may have a high threshold for starting structured behavior support despite its high acceptability. Implications for teacher education and the development of the Finnish version of CICO are discussed.

The Teacher's Influence on the Writing Support of Beginning Schoolchildren

The research study is related to the period of initial writing in elementary school, which in the teaching of writing focuses on mastering the writing of graphic shapes, not written letters. This period is extremely important for the subsequent writing of complete graphemes, and thus also for the overall learning of the pupil. The research focuses on identifying the writing support of pupils after entering the first year of primary school, which is implemented by primary school teachers in Slovakia. In the study, we present selected research findings of quantitative research using a questionnaire in which 275 primary education teachers participated. The research findings present teachers' statements about supporting the student's writing based on knowledge of the current level of graphomotor development, which may or may not eliminate the student's writing difficulties. Based on this, the research findings initiated the need for a deeper investigation focusing on knowing and interpreting the relationships between the variables. Specific indicators on pedagogical decisions to support student writing identified by quantitative research create a range of topics for subsequent qualitative research.