Seedlings of different soil

I was in a classroom, observing a seven-year-old pupil who we will call Jack. The Head Teacher had raised her concern about the child, because of his 'immature behaviours' – she described 'hitting when he does not get his own way'. At a meeting with her and with Jack's mum, I was given more background about him. Jack was an only child, he didn't have a special friend, and he rarely engaged with peers except in parallel play. Yet, when I observed the class, I realised that I would have found it difficult to pick out Jack if he had not been pointed out. 

Because my role as a Senior Educational Psychologist (SEP) necessitates the unravelling of problem dimensions, I began by teasing apart the unique aspects of this situation in order to rebuild it. I believe this offers new insight into 'what the difference is that makes a difference'. There is no one absolute perspective within multifaceted real-life problems, and no unblemished value system: the perceptions and understandings of the SEP need to be questioned, contextualised and reflected upon continually. I would describe my role as a negotiator of shared meanings; one who listens to and promotes the child's voice by working through the core functions of training, research, assessment, intervention and consultation (SEED, 2002), both as a representative of the Local Authority and an advisor to the same.

So I began to consider Jack's situation in terms of those shared meanings, and context. Compared to a 2019 cohort, most of the children in the class appeared more immature, having less well-developed speech, language, and social skills; a phenomenon evident within the literature, attributable to a reduction in socialisation opportunities during lockdowns (Hogg & Mayes, 2022; Nicholls et al., 2020). I had seen Jack trying to instigate some positive interactions with varying degrees of success. A very well-meaning classroom assistant had stayed close to his side and often interjected, presumably to prevent Jack experiencing failure. Yet, with each interjection, Jack became noticeably more withdrawn and his attempts to engage peers fell in frequency. I needed to triangulate my findings, to develop my understanding of this Pandora's Box of social interactions (SDEP, 2005).

I observed Jack on another occasion. I became less concerned with his behaviours, and more interested in the well-intended yet unnecessarily high level of scaffolding he and others were receiving across their learning. This appeared to be having an impact upon levels of engagement across the class (Cousins, 2006; Lauchlan & Daly, 2023).

During a consultation with the Head Teacher, she lamented how they were such a poor, needy class, with most having experienced trauma and many having ASD and/or ADHD characteristics. The Head was very well versed in the impact of trauma on learning. She felt that Jack, like others, had been traumatised by lockdowns, and therefore he needed this high level of scaffolded support to prevent him from experiencing failure which she felt triggered his negative behaviours.

However, I had observed Jack appearing more withdrawn and frustrated when excessively high levels of adult support were evident. Indeed, Meyer and Land (2003) have argued how this over-protectedness aimed at preventing pupils from the 'troublesome'-ness of the learning can serve to close down 'further avenues of enquiry' (Cousin, 2006, p.382) and disengage learners. Is that what I was witnessing here?

Are all our children traumatised?

Talk of post-pandemic trauma permeates our society. Indeed, nationally there has been a huge drive to become trauma-informed (Scottish Government, 2021). A traumatised person can have difficulties with attention, focus, emotional regulation, trust issues and difficulties in learning. These were, indeed, things that I had observed in Jack's class.

When children are labelled as traumatised, this can often evoke sympathy. There's a place for sympathy, but it can be disempowering for children. Pitied children can be given activities which are far too easy, mistaking appropriate challenge as a potential trigger for escalating behaviours. Lack of challenge leads to disengagement which is far more likely to trigger negative behaviours due to the onset of boredom (McLean, 2008) as I had observed in Jack's class.

I reflected that within school consultations, including Jack's school, I had noticed an increased number of conversations, not only concerning trauma, but also the probability of diagnosable conditions e.g., ASC and ADHD. Yet how could we account for a surge in genetically-based diagnosis? As a Senior Educational Psychologists I have to question the validity and reliability of these assertions. The psychological perspective acknowledges the complexity between variables, taking an ecological systems view of causal factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). We can understand facts using various different theories to interpret behaviour. Indeed, our realities are constructed and multiple.

Instead of seeing trauma, ASD and ADHD everywhere, could their associated attributes be explained in a different way? When we consider everything through a trauma lens, all we see is potential trauma. With the focus on trauma it can be too easy to forget that (1) human's default is resilience (Bonanno, 2019) and that (2) many people, adults, and children had a positive experience during lockdowns (Cloughton et al., 2022). What is different is not necessarily bad. During the pandemic period children were likely to socialise with both adults and peers in a very different way to pre-pandemic times. 

If children have learnt at home on a more 1:1 basis with a parent/caregiver who can offer them their full attention, is it strange that children then find it difficult to pay attention in the unpredictable, loud, and vibrant classroom? Is it strange that children may find it more difficult to trust adults or play with their peers when they were discouraged from interacting with anyone out-with their immediate family groupings for the best part of two years? After all, reduced access to transition planning, isolation, two-metre distancing, limited social experiences and online/remote/distance learning has been the very abnormal norm.

Perhaps 2023 cohorts appear different because our seedlings have grown up in different soil. That's not to say that some children have not experienced trauma – some undoubtably have. But to suggest all children have been traumatised grossly underestimates the capabilities of many excellent care givers and the capacity of the individual to cope. Indeed, an interesting area for further research would be the identification of strengths that the Covid landscape instilled in our children. I believe there will be many, which remain as yet unidentified.

This led me to question Jack's and other schools' expectations. How realistic is it to compare the current cohort of 7-year-olds with those of 2019? Perhaps, we should expect differences (better and worse), and align our teaching accordingly? 

What Schema Theory can tell us

A schema is an organised knowledge of the world. Schema theory describes how this knowledge is integrated with information either given on the written page or verbally in order to add depth and understanding (Anderson, 2004). The following sentence can be used to exemplify the need for schema information: 'Start with a box but add in the cross by subtly moving your torso to the left'. It is difficult to make sense of this sentence unless you have an 'Argentine Tango' schema (I just happen to teach it!). Bransford and Johnson's 1972 research shows the importance of cues and prior knowledge. 

When participants are given a 'trick' passage – either on its own, with a supporting illustration, or with a related but less supportive illustration – sense could only be made of the passage if accompanied by the supportive illustration. Furthermore, the level of comprehension affects the amount that learners would remember; they would only remember what they could understand. In addition, the amount/type of pre-lesson knowledge that the learner has directly impacts upon the type of information that will be retained. For example, in a passage about baseball, those with high knowledge of the sport remembered more information about the strategic play, while those with low baseball knowledge remembered more incidental information (Chiesi et al., 1979).

Clearly, the background knowledge that we have impacts upon our understanding. Given the diverse lockdown experiences, we must acknowledge that children's schemas will be different. Far more different and diverse, perhaps, than teachers have ever experienced before. Pupils' prior knowledge and vocabulary of specific subjects is not going to be equal, and without acknowledging this inequality the attainment gap it likely to increase (Graham et al., 2020).

In Jack's school, I thought that we were seeing a group of children who had a reduced lived experience of knowing how a school works. Well-meaning adults saved what they perceive as traumatised children from failure by over-scaffolding. This reduced child's autonomy, agency and affiliation, which in turn reduced their motivation (McLean, 2009) and increased negative behaviour through boredom. Instead, I suggested that we go back to the basics of good quality teaching and learning that stimulates, excites, and engages students.

The basics of evidence-based Teaching and Learning

Good learning and teaching promotes health and wellbeing (Rehman et al., 2020) partly because it requires the positive relationships and attunement, and partly because successful learning increases our self-efficacy and self-esteem. What children in school need is what they have always needed: educators able to build positive relationships. We know building positive relationships with students is important for engaging them in learning. Teachers can do this by getting to know their students as individuals, showing an interest in their lives, and building trust and rapport (Moir, 2022). This may be more difficult than pre-pandemic, but not necessarily because children are traumatised or have ASC: rather because they have less experience of interactions with adults out-with their immediate family settings.

Jack's school needed engaging, exciting and creative learning opportunities. However, carefully crafting learning experiences to be not too easy and not too difficult, is no mean feat. Therefore, the school needed my support as SEP: indeed, the value teachers place on receiving the right support cannot be underestimated (Donaldson, 2011).  Starting with the research, my role within this school developed towards that of a trainer, implementer, mentoring and coaching. Taking this approach has not only outlined the relevance of psychology research to education but has also ameliorated relationships between EPs and teachers which had suffered during the pandemic due to reduced contact. I believe this approach moves schools away from a child deficit model, towards notions of inclusion, early intervention and universal psychology.

The first step was to work in collaboration with the Head Teacher to plan professional learning. I referred to the evidence-based literature around the components of stimulating and creative environments which fire the learner's desire to learn. Only children with a desire to learn are likely to employ any resource-heavy cognitive or metacognitive skills. I coached staff in picturing classrooms where creativity and curiosity are celebrated, where every child is valued and supported, thereby creating a shared vision. We discussed how the teacher sets the tone as to whether there is a collaborative or a competitive environment (Ryan & Deci, 2017). 

We aimed for the environment where students feel safe, respected and valued, as this undoubtably enables them to better engage them in learning. This also helped pupils have confidence to take learning risks and make mistakes, as we know mistake making is a large part of how we learn. A culture of kindness and respect was promoted, encouraging positive interactions among students, and providing opportunities for student voice and choice. This positive teacher/pupil relationship also enables the educator to differentiate appropriately: this is important, as matching the needs of individual students engages children in learning.

Beyond the basics

It became apparent that when distance learning was the norm Jack, like many of his peers, had missed out on being explicitly taught certain critical thinking, problem-solving and metacognitive skills. Given that all children benefit from effective instruction, I used a self-reflective questionnaire with teachers (Moir, 2022, p.86). This formed part of my needs analysis to identify the teacher's individual developmental goals to achieve the optimum level of scaffolding necessary for effective instruction in metacognitive and cognitive strategies. Careful consideration was given to how strategies should be taught, coaching teachers through each step towards the learner having more of the responsibility for the implementation of their strategy use.

I also coached teachers in prioritising which metacognitive and cognitive strategies should be taught, what language/activities can help embed strategy use, and how to encourage children's active participation in the process of their learning, thereby nurturing their development of creativity. I coached the school in how to encourage critical thinking and problem-solving, which can help students to become more engaged in their learning by making the material more meaningful to them.

This can include asking open-ended questions, giving students opportunities to explore and discover, and providing them with real-world problems to solve. Children also need opportunities to engage in hands-on and interactive activities, making the material more relevant. Children need to understand concepts using concrete tools and real-life scenarios to spark imagination and creativity. Research shows that giving children this bank of strategies in this way can lead to an increase in their level of ownership as they became more autonomous learners (Moir et al., 2020).

Post Pandemic

The pandemic has had an impact on children's learning in schools, but is this about trauma or about living in an unimaginably different reality for two years? I believe we need to revisit the basics of good quality, evidence-informed learning and teaching. It is time to give children the tools to think creatively and innovatively.

To help teachers, or to help EPs help teachers, I wrote How to create autonomous learners: teaching metacognitive, self-regulatory and study skills – a practitioner's guide (Routledge). It's an evidence-based approach, full of examples and templates, in three parts; theory, practice, and implementation. It can be used by Teachers and Educators to bring about positive sustainable class, school or whole authority level change. It can also be used to guide Educational Psychologists who, like me, want to reinforce their role as one of a change-maker, who seeks to empower others, build capacity and promote inclusion, through collaboratively working in partnership with others within the educational context (Boyle, 2011).

As for Jack, and others like him, rather than over-scaffolding him we should be empowering him. Rather than offering Jack only sympathy, we should offer him high expectations. Rather than keeping him in a cotton wool world, we should unlock his full potential to shape the world around him.

- Dr Taryn Moir CPsychol AFBPsS Senior Educational Psychologist at Inverclyde Council and author of How to Create Autonomous Learners (Routledge) 
[email protected] 
Twitter: @taryn2u

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