Ensuring SEND education is a whole-school responsibility

South African schools are faced with a serious problem of indiscipline. The available literature reveals that despite the efforts of school administrators and teachers to instil discipline among learners, indiscipline still abounds to the extent of getting out of hand. Based on the intention of this study, a qualitative study was adopted. A qualitative-based study underpinned by the interpretive research paradigm was employed to explore the perspectives of educators in their collaborative roles in managing discipline. The sample comprised twelve educators who were purposively selected from four secondary schools in the Ilembe District, KwaZulu-Natal. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect the data. The findings revealed that educators should apply the school code of conduct as a whole-school approach to managing discipline to create meaningful relationships with parents as stakeholders and communicate expected behaviours with learners. It is recommended that in implementing strategies to manage discipline, learners, educators, school managers and the school governing boards of all schools should take a collaborative approach to the management of discipline in secondary schools

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Increasing demand for school counselling through a lay counsellor-delivered classroom sensitisation intervention: a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial in New Delhi, India

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003902 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (6) ◽

pp. e003902

Author(s):

Rachana Parikh ◽

Adriaan Hoogendoorn ◽

Daniel Michelson ◽

Jeroen Ruwaard ◽

Rhea Sharma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Low Income ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

New Delhi ◽

Stepped Wedge ◽

Whole School ◽

Cluster Randomised ◽

Randomised Controlled

IntroductionWe evaluated a classroom-based sensitisation intervention that was designed to reduce demand-side barriers affecting referrals to a school counselling programme. The sensitisation intervention was offered in the context of a host trial evaluating a low-intensity problem-solving treatment for common adolescent mental health problems.MethodsWe conducted a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial with 70 classes in 6 secondary schools serving low-income communities in New Delhi, India.The classes were randomised to receive a classroom sensitisation session involving a brief video presentation and moderated group discussion, delivered by a lay counsellor over one class period (intervention condition, IC), in two steps of 4 weeks each. The control condition (CC) was whole-school sensitisation (teacher-meetings and whole-school activities such as poster displays). The primary outcome was the proportion of students referred into the host trial. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of students who met mental health caseness criteria and the proportion of self-referred adolescents.ResultsBetween 20 August 2018 and 9 December 2018, 835 students (23.3% of all students) were referred into the host trial. The referred sample included 591 boys (70.8%), and had a mean age of 15.8 years, SD=0.06; 194 students (31.8% of 610 with complete data) met mental health caseness criteria. The proportion of students referred in each trial conditionwas significantly higher in the IC (IC=21.7%, CC=1.5%, OR=111.36, 95% CI 35.56 to 348.77, p<0.001). The proportion of self-referred participants was also higher in the IC (IC=98.1%, CC=89.1%, Pearson χ2 (1)=16.92, p<0.001). Although the proportion of referred students meeting caseness criteria was similar in both conditions (IC=32.0% vs CC=28.1%), the proportion weighted for the total student population was substantially higher in the IC (IC=5.2%, CC=0.3%, OR=52.39, 95% CI 12.49 to 219.66,p<0.001).ConclusionA single, lay counsellor-delivered, classroom sensitisation session increased psychological help-seeking for common mental health problems among secondary school pupils from urban, low-income communities in India.Trial registration numberNCT03633916.

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Dissemination of EAACI food allergy guidelines using a flexible, practical, Whole School allergy awareness toolkit.

Allergy ◽

10.1111/all.14871 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jennette Higgs ◽

Kathryn Styles ◽

Sarah Bowyer ◽

Amena Warner ◽

Audrey Dunn Galvin

Keyword(s):

Food Allergy ◽

Whole School

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Towards a Model for Integrating Informal and Formal Learning for Children in Refugee Camps: The Example of the Lesbos School for Peace

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci10030111 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 111

Author(s):

Ephrat Huss ◽

Smadar Ben Asher ◽

Tsvia Walden ◽

Eitan Shahar

Keyword(s):

Lived Experience ◽

Single Case ◽

Refugee Children ◽

Refugee Camps ◽

Arts Based Research ◽

Whole School ◽

School Based ◽

Research Interviews ◽

Post Disaster

The aim of this paper is to describe a unique, bottom-up model for building a school based on humanistic intercultural values in a post-disaster/refugee area. We think that this model will be of use in similar contexts. This single-case study can teach us about the needs of refugee children, as well as provide strategies to reach these needs with limited resources in additional similar contexts. Additionally, this paper will outline a qualitative arts-based methodology to understand and to evaluate refugee children’s lived experience of in-detention camp schools. Our field site is an afternoon school for refugee children operated and maintained by volunteers and refugee teachers. The methodology is a participatory case study using arts-based research, interviews, and observation of a school built for refugee camp children in Lesbos. Participants in this study included the whole school, from children to teachers, to volunteers and managers. The research design was used to inform the school itself, and to outline the key components found to be meaningful in making the school a positive experience. These components could be emulated by similar educational projects and used to evaluate them on an ongoing basis.

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