BackgroundAll children have the right to express their views about matters affecting them and participate in decision-making for their future irrespective of their intellectual ability. This study explores the adult role in understanding the views of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties who are not using a formal communication system and require adults to speak on their behalf. MethodsThe study employs a qualitative multiple case study design involving three children with profound and multiple learning difficulties attending one special school. Social constructivist grounded theory approaches inform data gathering and analysis. Eight interviews are conducted with parents and professionals to explore how they understand the children's views and how this understanding informs person-centred planning, combined with observations of the children in school and observations of their person-centred planning meetings. FindingsAdult participants consider the children in the study to have agency and ability to affect the world around them. They believe the children can express their likes, dislikes and what they want but they think the children would have difficulty communicating their views about their health, medical needs and disability. They describe a range of observable actions made by a child to which they give meaning when interpreting the child's views. The actions a person takes as a child's communication partner can enable the child to develop and communicate their views. A process of observation and comparison allows adults to explore different interpretations of a child's views. Perspectives offered by professionals from different fields enable a child's views to be understood in different ways. ConclusionsAdults develop their understanding of the children's views over time in relational and social contexts. Different interpretations of a child's communication are considered when adults collaborate, leading to socially constructed understandings of a child's views. Adults infer the meaning of a child's views about what is important to them for the future from their understanding of the child's views in the present, which informs person-centred planning.

AimsThis research explores the curriculum, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)Skills in Schools: Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (STEPS-A)(Mazza et al., 2016). It aims to trial STEPS A, exploring its impact on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), in addition to understanding facilitative implementation conditions for the programme.RationaleThe rationale for the study lies within the potential of the programme to be a universally accessible tool for change in nurturing the SEL of adolescents within the secondary school context.MethodsUsing a mixed method case study design, six sessions were delivered in two mainstream mixed secondary comprehensive schools to key stage three groups by trained staff facilitators. Focus groups were carried out, alongside the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) (Greco, Baer, & Smith, 2011) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale – Short Form (DERSF-SF) (Kaufman et al., 2016) pre and post intervention.FindingsData informed the development of an implementation framework, alongside a consultation tool for EPs to support STEPS-A planning in schools. Impact results are promising; mixed ANOVAs revealed two significant and two non-significant time* intervention interactions. Follow up t tests demonstrated intervention group changes in mindfulness and emotional regulation skills in schools 1 and 2 respectively.ImplicationsThe study has implications for the adoption of the STEPS A curriculum to support SEL within secondary schools, whereby school staff are actively supported by EPs to use an implementation framework to maximise efficacy. The encouraging impact findings provide psychological and ethical weight to the use of the framework.LimitationsDue to a small sample size and short intervention period, the need for replication of the quantitative results with a larger sample over a longer period is acknowledged. The implementation framework requires validation across contexts.ConclusionsThe study found that the STEPS-A programme, the first curriculum-based DBT programme designed to be taught in schools by teachers, was well-received by participants. It indicates that, within the context of empirically supported implementation conditions, skills which were initially designed for teaching to clinical populations as part of a comprehensive therapy programme have value and can potentially effect change for adolescents with and without additional identified needs.

AimThis study evaluated a maths intervention programme, devised by the first author from psychological research into maths learning, difficulties, and intervention.MethodUsing a case series design, the first author collaborated with a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo) and seven teaching assistants (TAs), who delivered the intervention to nine children (between four- and ten-years-old) of most concern to their teachers. Eight hours of training was provided for the adults, on the psychology of maths learning and use of a diagnostic assessment and intervention framework. Personalised intervention programmes were planned for the children. The adults worked one-to-one with the children, for 15–20 minutes a day, up to five times a week, over ten weeks. Researcher support and observational monitoring visits were provided each week. Pre- and poststandardised assessments were used to assess the intervention’s impact on the children’s maths achievement. Impact on the adults and children, and possible causal mechanisms, were explored through individual interviews.FindingsPre-/post-assessments, interview and observational data showed that children’s maths levels and attitudes had improved significantly. Thematic analysis evidenced that adults’ knowledge, skills, and confidence had increased.LimitationsLimitations include the small-scale nature of the study, coherence across structural elements (diagnostic assessment, framework, plans), lack of specific training on instructional methods, generalisability from out-of-class learning to classroom teaching, and problems associated with the operationalisation of mathematical constructs.ConclusionsThis study provides tentative evidence for the programme’s effectiveness, feasibility, and potential to address both moderate and severe maths needs, justifying larger-scale evaluation.

This paper aims to contribute a framework for EPs to draw upon when working with schools and organisations where support is needed to facilitate change at group and organisational levels. A critique is offered of in-service training (INSET) and its use of an approach for facilitating organisational change, which considers supporting factors and barriers. The introduction of an Implementation Framework gives guidance to educational psychologists in their planning discussions with schools and other stakeholders. This can support discussion about a range of ways EPs can work (beyond training) to help facilitate change at different levels. Research and literature informing the development of the Implementation Framework is shared as well as examples of the application of the framework in practice within an educational psychology service.

Mathematical skills are essential for young people to attain academic results needed for further study and employment. Recent changes to the English National Curriculum have put an increased emphasis on pupils explaining the reasoning behind answers in maths. This is a skill that can be developed by improving metacognitive skills. The authors report on an in-class programme for small group work, based on prior studies that utilised metacognition to support maths. An evaluation was conducted including a focus group interview and observation, modelling and feedback sessions over approximately 10 weeks. Results from interview analysis showed a positive impact both on staff practice and pupils' independent problem solving. Adaptations based on research findings were made to the programme and handbook. This programme represents a flexible, inclusive and low resource option for schools to address new challenges posed by the National Curriculum in times of budget cuts and increased time pressure.

This paper reports on what has happened since Elliott ("Dynamic Assessment in Educational Settings: Realising Potential", 2003) in those applications of dynamic assessment that he considered. There continues to be two broad applications, one, largely researcher led, and the other, largely practitioner led, although there are examples of researcher-practitioners. Since Elliott, arguably, it is now relatively easy both to reach consensus over constructs and assessment processes and also to mutually respect differences through clarity over professional and assessment purposes. There is a fuller account than Elliott provided of educational psychologists' practice in the UK, which partly serves to highlight the difference in purpose and imperative to research and evaluate outcomes that persists for researchers and practitioners. The paper concludes by arguing that the premise in Elliott's title of "realising potential" was always contestable.

This article reflects on the experience of applying a person-centred approach to promote organisational change in an educational context. A detailed example is drawn from a Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH) process with a group of school staff. The article considers existing research into person-centred approaches and explores key factors that may help or hinder the effectiveness of these approaches. A number of implications for professional practice are discussed.

Research has shown that teacher consultation groups increase teachers' behaviour management skills through discussion and collaborative problem-solving. Unlike the United Kingdom, at the time of this research consultation groups were not widely used in Irish schools. This research introduced Farouk's process consultation approach in three Irish mainstream primary schools and evaluated the consultation groups over one academic year. The schools were selected based on their level of referrals to the educational psychologist (EP) for pupils presenting with behavioural difficulties. The study utilised a mixed methods design comprising mainly qualitative and some quantitative analysis. The data were obtained from participant and researcher reflections, interviews and questionnaires. Thematic analysis was used to derive themes from the data. The results suggest that the groups provided the teachers with an organised time for discussion, information-sharing and learning, which enhanced their behaviour management skills through the sharing of strategies and their implementation through teamwork. However, due to the poor return of teacher questionnaires it is not possible to derive any definite conclusions.

The desire to be a part of a wider social network is a basic human need and research has found that possessing a strong ‘sense of community’ is associated with a range of positive outcomes, both in terms of physical and mental health. In adults and adolescents alike, it has been argued that four factors contribute to an individual’s sense of community, namely; membership, influence, shared emotional connection, and reinforcement of need (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Given that pupils’ sense of community in primary school has been relatively neglected by the literature, a new measure of the construct was developed for this age group. The impact of pupils’ gender and year group on sense of community was also explored. A focus group with Year 5 and 6 pupils was used to develop the Sense of Community Index-Primary (SCI-P) and following piloting, 452 Year 5 and Year 6 pupils completed the measure in school. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor model of sense of community, which represents a departure from McMillan and Chavis’s (1986) framework. A significant main effect of gender was found, while a year group hypothesis was only partially supported. Practical applications and limitations of this research are also discussed.

This article very helpfully describes the experience of an Educational Psychologist (EP) in meeting the requirements of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), having been selected as part of the first sampling of EPs. The authors refer to the HCPC website and the exemplar Continuing Professional Development (CPD) logs that can be seen there for psychologists. Readers will be interested to know that the DECP Committee has been developing exemplars for EPs, for the different career stages referred to in this article.

This article outlines what we have identified as ‘invisible psychology’ – the elements of our practice as applied psychologists that tend not to get noticed. We suggest that there are at least three manifestations of invisible psychology: it can be invisible to us; it can be invisible to those that might not receive a direct service but who have a stake or interest in our profession; it can be invisible to those who receive a direct service. We also consider ways in which our practice of psychology can become more visible.

In this article we outline the development of a community educational psychology orientation in the educational psychology service in Hampshire. In light of recent initiatives and legislation by central government in Britain and what appears to be a lack of clarity about the role and functions of professional educational psychologists, we set out an argument about why the need to reconstruct educational psychology practice has never been greater. Further, we argue that to reconstruct professional practice as community educational psychology provides us with the possibility of a shared vision, unity of purpose, and political focus. We briefly review what we believe has contributed to a lack of clarity about what educational psychologists do, and the part that community psychology theory and practice has played in our thinking in Hampshire. We describe the context in which we work, and we provide examples of some of the activities that we are doing that are consistent with the values and principles of community psychology and that also contribute to the outcomes for children set out inEvery child matters: Change for children.