Relational competence regarding students with ADHD – An intervention study with in-service teachers

Abstract

Research suggests that supportive teacher-student relationships are a prerequisite for student development. Developing such relationships requires teachers to observe, interpret, and reflect on teacher-student interactions and on teachers' relational competence in practice. Although teacher-student relationships are especially challenging with students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), few studies have examined how these relationships develop. In this qualitative study, teachers from two Swedish elementary schools comprising one intervention (n = 33) and one control group (n = 20) completed pre-and post-tests in which they analysed videos of teacher-student interactions. We explored how the teachers understood relational competence in relation to students with ADHD before and after the video-based intervention, which included a presentation on the concept of relational competence and a model for analysing such competence. Our findings suggest that the intervention promoted teacher development regarding relational competence. Compared with the pre-test period, participants i) used more nuanced relational language, ii) substantiated their claims with concrete cues regarding interpersonal communication, and iii) adopted both teacher and student perspectives regarding the relationship. Finally, new understanding regarding relational competence was combined with knowledge regarding the importance of teacher sensitivity and responsiveness when working with students with ADHD.

Decision‐making modes regarding the inclusive dilemmas of students with educational challenges in mainstream classrooms

“…Previous research (Ansari, Hofkens, and Pianta, 2020; Aspelin and Jonsson, 2019; Ewe and Aspelin, 2021) has shown that teachers' sensitivity to students' needs is directly related to students' academic and social success. Teacher‐student relationships are even more challenging for SECs (Ewe and Aspelin, 2021). Aspelin and Jonsson (2019) defined teachers' relational competence as teachers' sensitivity to the feelings of their students, their empathy and sense of openness, and respect for the students and their parents.…”

“…Teacher-student relationships are even more challenging for SECs (Ewe and Aspelin, 2021). Aspelin and Jonsson (2019) defined teachers' relational competence as teachers' sensitivity to the feelings of their students, their empathy and sense of openness, and respect for the students and their parents.…”

“…Previous research (Ansari, Hofkens, and Pianta, 2020;Aspelin and Jonsson, 2019;Ewe and Aspelin, 2021) has shown that teachers' sensitivity to students' needs is directly related to students' academic and social success.…”

Pre-Service Special Educators’ Understandings of Relational Competence

“…The results from another study with a similar purpose and design but a focus on experienced teachers (n 53) showed that the participants, with the support of the intervention, shifted from making assertions about relational qualities solely on the basis of the teachers' behavior to acknowledging the students' perspectives. The teachers also shifted from making unsupported claims about relationships to supporting their interpretations with behavioral markers, and from an everyday discourse on interpersonal relationships to a more precise relational discourse (Ewe and Aspelin, 2021).…”

“…An interesting difference between the results of the present study and those of another Swedish study (Aspelin and Jonsson, 2019) is that the pre-service special educators in this study were already focusing on pedagogical practice in their first analysis, whereas the pre-service teachers in the other study focused on applying "external" and "internal" explanatory models, for example explained the activity in terms of curricula or the teacher's personal characteristics. Another Swedish study (Ewe and Aspelin, 2021) showed that inservice teachers had an initial focus similar to that of the preservice special educators. These findings indicate that experienced educators focus more on actual teaching processes, while pre-service teachers tend to seek more abstract explanations.…”