Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.

Looked After Children (LAC) are a potentially vulnerable population who are at risk of negative outcomes such as increased rates of exclusion from school linked to challenging behaviour. Although pupil behaviour may have negative implications for teachers, the literature on staff support suggests th...

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Main Author: Turner, Jennifer
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14593/
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author Turner, Jennifer
author_facet Turner, Jennifer
author_sort Turner, Jennifer
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Looked After Children (LAC) are a potentially vulnerable population who are at risk of negative outcomes such as increased rates of exclusion from school linked to challenging behaviour. Although pupil behaviour may have negative implications for teachers, the literature on staff support suggests that group problem-solving approaches may be a useful mechanism of peer support which can consequently have direct and indirect effects for the school staff and pupils, respectively. One such approach is the ‘Circle of Adults’ (CoA) (Wilson & Newton, 2006) and was the focus of evaluation in the current study. Existing literature suggests CoA can enhance teacher capacity to respond to difficult behaviour. It was hypothesised that the CoA process would have positive effects upon teacher self-efficacy and causal attributions. A mixed-method design was employed, which combined a quasi-experimental component, to quantifiably measure any changes which occurred for the school staff, with a qualitative element to determine the participants’ views regarding the process and perceived outcomes. The study compared the participants’ outcomes from the four CoA sessions (n=10) with those attending two Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings (n=5). The findings indicate that participation in the CoA intervention has no statistically significant effect upon school staffs’ causal attributions or perceived self-efficacy. However, there is some evidence to suggest that participation in the CoA leads to statistically significant increases in the perceived success of actions. Additionally, through a series of focus groups, participants reported that they valued the structure and visual representation of the CoA. However, school staff also highlighted functional difficulties in arranging support processes for LAC young people: in ensuring that relevant staff were present at the meetings and challenges associated with supporting LAC who often experience rapidly changing circumstances.
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spelling nottingham-145932025-02-28T11:31:47Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14593/ Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion. Turner, Jennifer Looked After Children (LAC) are a potentially vulnerable population who are at risk of negative outcomes such as increased rates of exclusion from school linked to challenging behaviour. Although pupil behaviour may have negative implications for teachers, the literature on staff support suggests that group problem-solving approaches may be a useful mechanism of peer support which can consequently have direct and indirect effects for the school staff and pupils, respectively. One such approach is the ‘Circle of Adults’ (CoA) (Wilson & Newton, 2006) and was the focus of evaluation in the current study. Existing literature suggests CoA can enhance teacher capacity to respond to difficult behaviour. It was hypothesised that the CoA process would have positive effects upon teacher self-efficacy and causal attributions. A mixed-method design was employed, which combined a quasi-experimental component, to quantifiably measure any changes which occurred for the school staff, with a qualitative element to determine the participants’ views regarding the process and perceived outcomes. The study compared the participants’ outcomes from the four CoA sessions (n=10) with those attending two Personal Education Plan (PEP) meetings (n=5). The findings indicate that participation in the CoA intervention has no statistically significant effect upon school staffs’ causal attributions or perceived self-efficacy. However, there is some evidence to suggest that participation in the CoA leads to statistically significant increases in the perceived success of actions. Additionally, through a series of focus groups, participants reported that they valued the structure and visual representation of the CoA. However, school staff also highlighted functional difficulties in arranging support processes for LAC young people: in ensuring that relevant staff were present at the meetings and challenges associated with supporting LAC who often experience rapidly changing circumstances. 2014-12-09 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14593/1/THESIS_-_amendments_following_viva_Aug_2014.pdf Turner, Jennifer (2014) Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion. DAppEdPsy thesis, University of Nottingham. Circle of Adults classroom management challenging behaviour looked after children group problem solving
spellingShingle Circle of Adults
classroom management
challenging behaviour
looked after children
group problem solving
Turner, Jennifer
Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.
title Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.
title_full Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.
title_fullStr Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.
title_short Evaluating the outcomes of the ‘Circles of Adults’ intervention on adults supporting Looked After Children at risk of exclusion.
title_sort evaluating the outcomes of the ‘circles of adults’ intervention on adults supporting looked after children at risk of exclusion.
topic Circle of Adults
classroom management
challenging behaviour
looked after children
group problem solving
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14593/