Factors and barriers influencing poor educational experiences in young people with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties

Many young people with SEBD (social ,emotional and behavioural difficulties) have poor educational experiences including inadequate quality educational provision across various settings, exclusion and poor societal and attainment outcomes.

A systematic review was carried out to investigate the views of this population about the factors which influence positive outcomes across a range of educational settings.

The findings of this review indicated a number of common factors perceived to influence positive outcomes such as positive relationships between pupils and staff, class size and individualised support.

The factors discussed widely across the studies were broadly congruent with factors found to influence positive outcomes for young people in education such as a sense of connectedness and an individualised learning environment.

A number of methodological limitations were identified and there was also found to be a dearth of studies focusing on alternative provision.

The empirical paper sought to address the lack of research which utilises the views of young people with SEBD about the facilitators and barriers to positive outcomes from alternative provision. It investigated the association between these and factors found to promote positive educational outcomes, not done in previous research.

In this mixed-methods study 16 participants took part in a semi-structured interview, the data from which was analysed using thematic analysis.

Correlation and multiple regression analysis of questionnaire scores from 50 young people were used to investigate the relationship between perceptions of positive outcomes and two psychological factors: a sense of connectedness and perception of individualised learning environment.

Findings indicated that higher levels of school connectedness are associated with perceiving positive outcomes from alternative provision.

In addition a range of facilitators and barriers to positive outcomes were identified, largely relating to relationships and the individualisation of the learning environment.