Can Instructional and Emotional support in the Key Stage 1 classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure?
This digest found in
Early yearsInclusion
Implications
In completing this digest the authors began to ask the following questions about implications for practitioners:
- the study reported that the achievement gap between pupils from families with low maternal education and their peers was significantly reduced when these pupils were in classrooms with high instructional or teaching support:
Implication for teachers:
- how do you ensure that the feedback offered to pupils focuses on their specific areas of need? How could you develop strategies to ensure that you are focusing on their understanding in addition to their factual knowledge?
Implication for school leaders:
- how do you ensure that your school identifies pupils at risk of failure or behavioural dysfunction early on in their education? What additional support do you provide to help staff to develop their skills in recognising these pupils so that they can offer them the appropriate support to succeed?
- the study found that pupils who were identified as having difficulties with their attention, behaviour, social skills and academic competence were more likely to develop poor relationships with their teachers:
Implication for teachers:
- how could you ensure that these pupils receive the amount of emotional support they need in order to develop their social skills, and develop more positive relationships with their teachers? Would pupils benefit from lessons that focussed on specific social skills like communication?
Implication for school leaders:
- could you work with teachers in your school to share the strategies used to offer emotional support within the classroom? Could peer coaching for both teachers and pupils help you to develop these strategies further through the use of observation and reflection?
