As the US student population continues to become increasingly diverse, educators have encountered difficulties in distinguishing between cultural differences and genuine disability indicators. This concern is clearly evident in assisting students from diverse backgrounds who demonstrate chronic challenging behaviours. Past practices (e.g.…

It has been estimated that 9 to 13% of children and adolescents have a mental disorder that causes significant functioning impairment and that only one fifth of those who need mental health services actually receive them. The majority of children and adolescents are enrolled in schools, where they spend a considerable amount of time, and this is…

Since 1870, levels of pupils' absence from maintained schools in Wales have always been higher than those in England. Since devolution in 1999, the Welsh government has tried exceedingly hard to improve this situation. Despite much effort, improving school attendance in Wales is proving stubbornly difficult to achieve. The present article…

Defining "emotional illiteracy" is a task located within the broader context of expert (and subsequently public) assumptions regarding the normally expectable competencies of the age group concerned. In the late 1990s a series of neuroscientific studies reporting adolescents' limited ability to recognize emotional states from facial expressions…

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that can be diagnosed and for which medication and treatment are often prescribed, with the implication that a person can be "made better". However, the problems and challenges facing children with ADHD may not be overcome and may continue into adulthood, affecting life chances. In…

The Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is an investigative process that examines the context of challenging behaviours in the classroom. Information gleaned from the FBA process is used to develop a behaviour intervention plan to address the challenging behaviour and teach a socially acceptable replacement behaviour. However, the FBA has…

Immigration is currently high on the political agenda, yet there is a lack of information regarding the number of children who migrate to the UK and how their needs can be best met. There are many claims in the media that the influx of immigrants from newly endorsed EU countries is becoming a drain on resources, in terms of education and health…

In Canada, there is a recent trend toward non-categorization of services of students with emotional and behavioural disabilities (EBD). Yet in Alberta, the coding of students with EBD provides opportunities to diagnose students' learning difficulties but is hindered in this process, in large part, by being tied into special needs funding. Current…

Large numbers of adults and children have emotional difficulties that are severe enough to be classified as mental health problems. This places a current and future economic drain on society and prevents individuals from leading fulfilling lives and has led to a call for more therapists to work with those affected. However, there are insufficient…

"Growing a nurturing classroom" is an awareness training programme presented by educational psychologists in Leicestershire for professionals working in primary schools with the aim of promoting an optimal environment for learning and emotional well-being. The training helps primary school staff to take a holistic approach to education; see…

This article presents one English local authority's educational psychology service's approach to supporting children and young people's psychological well-being. Evidence for the effectiveness of the therapeutic approaches adopted by one intervention (the Child Behaviour Intervention Initiative [CBII]) is presented. The statistical analysis…

Childhood anxiety is a common condition which, if untreated, can cause considerable distress and impairment and increase the likelihood of mental health problems in adulthood. Developing good emotional health in children is therefore an important objective which has been emphasised in recent governmental initiatives and policies. In particular,…

This paper describes staff perceptions of the implementation of an alternative curriculum, Skill Force, for disaffected pupils in the UK. The perceptions of Skill Force and school staff were compared based on data from questionnaires completed by 62 Skill Force and 84 school staff, and interviews with representative samples of each. While the data…

In this paper, a response is made to the assertion that discourses surrounding attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are dominated by those who choose to frame such difficulties within a biomedical paradigm, and that valid alternative explanations are often marginalised as a result. It is suggested, however, that if such a discontinuity…

This article presents an extended vignette describing a good practice model for implementing SEAL small group work at "Mellington Primary", a fictional school. The vignette/model was developed from in-depth case studies at five primary schools in the north-west of England during a national evaluation of primary SEAL by the authors. The case…