The increased diversification of classrooms in recent years has placed additional demands upon teachers who strive to facilitate the learning and participation of all pupils. The aim of the current study was to explore how primary teachers across Europe understand and respond to diversity in their classrooms. A total of 35 teachers from 7 countries (Czech Republic, England, Germany, Holland, Lithuania, Malta, Sweden) participated in semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data yielded several key themes: (i) the need for caring and inclusive attitudes and school ethos, (ii) facilitating inclusive values and solidarity in pupils, (iii) building collaborative networks, (iv) organising 'responsive' teaching, and (v) facing challenges in responding to diversity. The implications of these findings for the development of inclusive practices are discussed.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills and resilience in explaining mental health in male and female adolescents, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three self-report questionnaires were administered to 778 participants aged between 11 and 16 years (mean age = 12.73 years; SD = 1.73) and recruited from 18 schools in Northern Italy. The SSIS-SELb-S and the CD-RISC 10 assessed SEL and resilience skills respectively, while the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to measure mental health in terms of internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. We found that SEL and resilience skills were positively and significantly associated with each other, negatively associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, and positively related to prosocial behavior. Three linear regression analyses showed the significant role of resilience, age, and gender in explaining the variance of internalizing problems; the significant role of SEL skills, resilience, age, and gender in explaining the variance of externalizing problems; and the role of SEL skills, age, and gender in explaining prosocial behavior. Importantly, we found that resilience fully mediated the relationship between SEL skills and internalizing problems, partially mediated the relationship between SEL skills and externalizing problems and didn't mediate the relationship between SEL skills and prosocial behavior. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study as well as its practical implications.

This article discusses the dilemma faced by psychologists in responding to diversity. It is based on a qualitative review of relevant literature over the past decade. It first describes psychologists as frontrunners in recognizing the uniqueness and autonomy of each of their diverse clients but within the biomedical model that locates problems within clients. This raises a dilemma vis-à-vis diversity issues which are associated with discrimination suffered by minority groups who are best supported by changes in social structures and processes. An account is then given of an increasing adoption of a biopsychosocial model, with further influence of the social model of disability and mental health. Evidence of the trend is explored in a new commitment to the human rights agenda, changes in ethical codes, and in psychologists’ engagement with intervention at macro systems levels as in the promotion of inclusive education. The review concludes with the implications of these trends for greater changes in training institutions to reflect openness to diversity, and in training programmes to promote an understanding of, and skills in, using social approaches to addressing the needs of clients who are at risk of being misunderstood, devalued, and discriminated against.

It is a hard task for professionals to give and parents to receive the bad news about a child's developmental disability. This study describes how findings about four preschool children, with difficulties suspected to lie within the autistic spectrum, were negotiated with parents by two multiprofessional groups, one in a Medical (Site M) and one in an Education setting (Site E). Each assessment was undertaken over half a day, the professionals jointly interacting with the child and family. All assessment discussions were audiotaped and each participant was interviewed after the assessment. Conversation analysis showed the activation of three major social-interaction frameworks: professionals at both sites applied a parent-friendly frame, but this was complemented by a hopeful-diagnostic-formulation frame at Site M, and a defocusing-of-bad-news frame at Site E.

The SSIS SEL Brief Scales (SSIS SELb) are multi-informant (teacher, parent, and student) measures that were developed to efficiently assess the SEL competencies of school-age youth in the United States. Recently, the SSIS SELb was translated into multiple languages for use in a multi-site study across six European countries (Croatia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, and Romania). The purpose of the current study was to examine concurrent and predictive evidence for the SEL Composite scores from the translated versions of the SSIS SELb Scales. Results indicated that SSIS SELb Composite scores demonstrated expected positive concurrent and predictive relationships with scores from the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and negative relationships with scores from the problem behavior scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Although there were a few exceptions, these patterns generally were consistent across informants (parents, teachers, and students) and samples providing initial validity evidence for the Composite score from the translated versions of the SSIS SELb Scales. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.