Ron Best

Deliberate self-harm in adolescence: A challenge for schools.

ABSTRACT Acts of deliberate self-harm (DSH) by adolescents are thought to be on the increase. Many of those who self-harm are of school age and it is to be expected that schools (and their teachers) will be aware of the problem and will respond appropriately as part of their pastoral-care provision. However, a recent survey of research in pastoral care and personal-social education undertaken by the author found virtually no reference to DSH. It appears that empirical evidence about schools’ experience of, and responses to, DSH does not exist. This paper reports some of the findings of a Nuffield Foundation-funded study undertaken in England in 2003/2004. A variety of self-harming behaviours, from cutting to unnecessary risk-taking, were reported by the 34 teachers and other professionals interviewed in schools, pupil referral units and support agencies such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The findings indicate that teachers’ awareness of DSH is patchy and that their reactions are often those of shock, panic and anxiety. The implications of the findings for those in education are considered in the context of a discussion of the literature. The contested status of the concept of deliberate self-harm, the need for a cautious raising of awareness, and the importance of supervision for front-line workers in schools are amongst the issues considered.

The impact on pastoral care of structural, organisational and statutory changes in schooling: Some empirical evidence and a discussion

Abstract Against the historical background of institutionalised pastoral care in schools, the results are reported of a questionnaire survey of 159 members of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) with regard to the impact of post-1988 changes on pastoral care and personal and social education (PSE). Five hypotheses are generated concerning the likely effects of the 1988 Education Reform Act, the National Curriculum and associated developments in educational policy and management. The data reveal that, for the sample surveyed, the importance, time and resources given to pastoral care and PSE are considered not to have declined in the way predicted. Respondents were also more positive than expected about the impact of a range of related changes, including school-centred initial teacher training, teacher mentoring, the introduction of statutory training days, National Curriculum cross-curricular elements, and SCAA and OFSTED guidance. However, there were some developments which wer...

Recognising and managing pupils with mental health difficulties: teachers' views and experiences on working with educational psychologists in schools

The role and future directions of the educational psychology services are being re‐examined and there is a drive to build a more integrated system of services for children and young people that incorporates education, health and social care. This qualitative study examines teacher’s perspectives on their professional involvement with educational psychology services. The results indicate that while it was clear that educational psychologists are highly valued by teachers, there are a number of issues that teachers believe constrain service provision. We suggest that greater cross‐system consultation is needed in order to more closely examine how the roles of professionals working in education, health and social care services impact on each other.

Self-Harm: A Challenge for Pastoral Care

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) has received a considerable deal of recent publicity in the press and through the creation of a National Inquiry into Self-Harm and Young People, and there are grounds for believing that it is on the increase. Little is known about how DSH impacts upon schools or how teachers and support staff respond. This paper begins with seven extracts from 34 research interviews undertaken in 2003/4, which illustrate the experiences of DSH in educational contexts. The complex nature of DSH is examined, and the challenges that it poses for pastoral casework, the pastoral curriculum and the school as a community are considered. Issues raised include the need for training and support for teachers, problems of confidentiality and the boundaries between professional and personal involvement. The paper ends by considering the implications for schools that wish to make better pastoral and curricular provision in response to this disturbing phenomenon.

The Whole Child Matters: The Challenge of "Every Child Matters" for Pastoral Care.

Pastoral care embodies the idea that schools should not limit their activities to the transmission of knowledge but should educate the whole child. This paper outlines five ‘pastoral tasks’, casework, preventive work, pastoral curriculum, community building and management, and considers how each might contribute to the five desired outcomes of Every Child Matters (ECM). Collaboration between schools and agencies, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, is stressed, and self-harm is considered as an example of the kind of challenge which ECM poses for schools. A review of pastoral care in schools in the light of ECM is advocated.

The Impact of a Decade of Educational Change on Pastoral Care and PSE: A Survey of Teacher Perceptions

This paper reports an investigation via questionnaire into the changes in pastoral care and PSE since 1988 and the Reform Act. The author outlines the key changes since 1988 and constructs several hypotheses. These hypotheses predict that the effects on these two areas will have been negative. However, the results obtained from the survey were more positive than expected. Many respondents saw the changes as having increased the perceived importance of pastoral care.

Education, support and the development of the whole person

different: the impact of fathers (present or absent) on the young person’s attitude and adjustment to schooling (Geddes); sexual orientation and the role which teachers and counsellors can play in the quest for a personal and public identity (Cooper); schools’ support for children coping with death and loss (Holland); the concept of emotional well-being and how it may be promoted in schools (McLaughlin); the task of the school in developing resilience in young people (Johnson); and the supreme importance of relationship in everything that a school does to promote personal, social and emotional development (Harris). This collection does not, of course, claim to cover all the challenges facing education, but it does typify the kinds of issues which teachers, counsellors and others in support roles in education find themselves dealing with, and they do remind us of the British tradition of schools (and their staff) being in loco parentis, and therefore concerned with the all-round well-being of their students. But as Harris points out, such a concept of education is one head of a monster which, at the other end, pressures schools to produce outcomes which have little to do with what it is to be a person. My purpose here is to say something about this ‘monster’, to identify some current trends and challenges, and thus provide a context for the papers which follow. Teaching the student: supporting the person The contrast is vivid indeed between the concept of the person entailed in the idea of education as promoting personhood, of facilitating learning experiences which will lead to human flourishing, and of initiation into intrinsically worthwhile activities, and the restricted and highly selective notion of the student or pupil which is in most people’s minds when they think of their experience at school or college. The former conceives the person as a whole which is more than the sum of its parts, but whose parts are manifold including the intellectual, social, emotional, moral, political, bodily and sexual selves, and (we may add) the self as a learner (Watkins, 1985,

Therapeutic practice in schools. Working with the child within: a clinical workbook for counsellors, psychotherapists and arts therapists

French and Klein have done a splendid job in assembling and editing the 20 chapters which make this a comprehensive guide to its subject, not least because they really know their field. They are, respectively, an art therapist, counsellor and psychodynamic psychotherapist, and a former educational journalist (her name will be familiar to past readers of the Times Educational Supplement), now practising as a psychodynamic psychotherapist working with children and adolescents. As well as the Introduction and an Afterword, each editor contributes four chapters. There are eight other contributors, all of whom bring to their writing a wealth of experience in counselling and psychotherapy applied to young people in school settings. As the sub-title declares, this is a clinical workbook. It is not a report of empirical research, nor the advancement or critical analysis of an educational theory, but a training manual for therapists and counsellors aiming to work in schools. It does not deal with the full range of services that therapists might deliver in schools, but

Students who self‐harm: a case study of prevalence, awareness and response in an English university

Deliberate self‐harm (DSH) is a perplexing and distressing phenomenon that has received considerable publicity in recent years. It takes many forms, some of which are culturally acceptable while others are considered to be anti‐social and/or mental health problems. It affects a significant proportion of the population, with previous studies in the United Kingdom and elsewhere finding between 5% and 15% of young people with a history of self‐harm. However, there is little published research on DSH in educational settings and how it is handled in schools and universities. This paper reports a mixed‐method study of DSH amongst students in a university in the Greater London area. The methodology took the form of a questionnaire survey (n = 348) of mainly undergraduate students, semi‐structured interviews (n = 30) with students and staff, and two focus groups (n = 9). Significant levels of self‐harming behaviours were found, including cutting, binge‐drinking, risk‐taking, eating disorders and substance abuse. Form and prevalence were found to vary by gender, ethnicity and programme of study, although neither the statistical nor the policy significance of these variations appeared to be great. Interviews accessed case descriptions and perceptions of prevalence, awareness and institutional response, and raised questions about the impact of DSH on other students and on the staff who provide support. Professional and ethical issues raised by cases of DSH were a major topic for discussion at interview. The preliminary findings were presented to two focus groups that considered their implications for policy and practice, including counselling, student induction, and training and supervision for staff. The paper concludes with a typology of self‐harming behaviours in terms of their severity, visibility and cultural acceptability. It is hoped that this may be of use to universities and other institutions in developing policies and procedures for dealing with this issue.

In defence of the concept of ‘spiritual education’: a reply to Roger Marples

In a paper published in Volume 11, no. 2, of this journal, Roger Marples argued that the term ‘spiritual education’ is at most superfluous and at worst entirely meaningless. He suggested that the use of the term is unhelpful and will continue to be so unless and until we can identify some body of spiritual knowledge and understanding, linked to experience, which is distinct from, and in some sense ‘beyond’, those of moral, aesthetic and other forms of experience. This paper critiques Marpless thesis. It examines his ploy of admitting only certain forms of knowledge and understanding, and of privileging certain languages, when determining the rules of engagement with the concept of ‘the spiritual’. It is further argued that to require some empirical evidence in the form of personal experience before the words ‘spiritual’ and ‘spiritual education’ can be meaningful is fundamentally misguided. In conclusion, it is suggested that a willingness to embrace the spiritual as concept, experience and awareness is essential to the education of the child as a whole person.