Building productive relationships with young people with SEBD in transition: the role of identity

Abstract

This paper reports a study of the experiences of school-leavers with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), which identified supportive relationships as a key element in the young people demonstrating resilience through this transitional period. Almost all the young people involved in the study had access to potential helpers, but few managed to establish productive relationships with them. Analysis of interviews, conducted over a 15 month period with a group of 15 school leavers, their parents and those who worked with them, suggested that barriers and facilitators to relationship development existed on two levels: institutional and individual. This paper focuses on the individual level, in which identity processes appear to play a key role. These processes are used to explain why some school-leavers built productive relationships and thrived, whilst many failed to do so, and struggled. The findings have implications for policy, practice and theory.Keywords: social, emotional and behavioural difficulties; transition; identity; resilience; relationships 3 Building productive relationships with young people with SEBD in transition: the role of identityThis paper reports a study of the experiences of school-leavers with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD), which identified supportive relationships as a key element in the young people demonstrating resilience through this transitional period. Almost all the young people involved in the study had access to potential helpers, but few managed to establish productive relationships with them. Analysis of interviews, conducted over a 15 month period with a group of 15 school leavers, their parents and those who worked with them, suggested that barriers and facilitators to relationship development existed on two levels: institutional and individual. This paper focuses on the individual level, in which identity processes appear to play a key role. These processes are used to explain why some school-leavers built productive relationships and thrived, whilst many failed to do so, and struggled. The findings have implications for policy, practice and theory.

A systematic literature review exploring the views and experiences of children and young people of the label Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH)

“…In this case, the label of SEMH was perceived as indicative of mental illness. Pupils reported greater awareness of, and spoke about, specific diagnostic labels such as ADHD and dyslexia (O'Connor et al, 2011;O'Riordan, 2015;Sheffield & Morgan, 2017;Caslin, 2019). Similar findings are reported by Kelly and Norwich (2004) who found that only 12% of pupils were aware of the term SEN (special educational need); the authors proposed that pupils lack of awareness of such terms could be because they are less likely to hear these terms in everyday interactions.…”

“…Of the seven included studies, four studies used the term SEBD (Michael & Frederickson, 2013;O'Riordan, 2015;Mowat, 2015;Caslin, 2019), two studies used BESD (O'Connor et al, 2011;Nind, Boorman & Clarke, 2012) and one study referred to the term SEMH alongside the term BESD (Sheffield and Morgan, 2017), highlighting the evolution of this term in the past 10 years as influenced by educational policy. See Table 2 for a detailed overview of the seven studies included for review and their key study characteristics.…”

“…In several of the studies, children and young people referred to formal diagnoses when discussing their experiences and difficulties (O'Connor et al, 2011;O'Riordan, 2015;Sheffield and Morgan, 2017;Caslin, 2019). Sheffield and Morgan's (2017) found that pupils often referred to formal labels, such as ADHD, as a way of understanding and describing SEMH difficulties.…”

“…Some pupils internalised labels used to describe them including labels associated with SEMH (O' Connor et al, 2011;O'Riordan, 2015;Sheffield and Morgan, 2017;Caslin, 2019). Pupils referred to themselves using formal labels such as 'special needs', 'dyslexia' and 'ADHD' and informal labels such as 'different', 'naughty', 'stupid' and 'mischievous'.…”

An appreciative exploration of how schools create a sense of belonging to facilitate the successful transition to a new school for pupils involved in a managed move

“…A move to a new school is a significant transition for any pupil (Evangelou et al 2008) and planned endings of important relationships and careful handover to help establish new key relationships are important aspects of a managed move (Abdelnoor 2007), particularly as pupils who are experiencing difficulties with their social and emotional development and behaviour are likely to find transition and the management of relationships difficult (O'Riordan 2015). This was alluded to by the participants in this study who identified an understanding of the emotions of those involved as a facilitator in creating a sense of belonging for pupils experiencing a managed move.…”