Becoming Partners: A School-Based Group Intervention for Families of Young Children Who Are Disruptive

Abstract A multiple family discussion group program was implemented and evaluated by school counselors working with families of young children referred by their teachers for aggression and attention problems. The logic guiding construction of the program and the program's unique aspects are described. Outcome data revealed that the program was effective in reducing the children's hyperactive, defiant, and aggressive behavior and improving the parents' management skills. The advantages of school counselors conducting this program are discussed. School counselors often find themselves working with young children like Tim who demonstrate disruptive behavior and attention difficulties in school. These children are often overactive, inattentive, and demonstrate noncompliance, impulsivity, limited self-control, and an impaired ability to interact appropriately with adults and peers. These behaviors often result in academic difficulties, increased risk for rejection by their peers, and stigmatization as problem children by school staff Research on the causes of noncompliance and aggression in children reveal that in addition to differences in temperament that may contribute to their noncompliance, 4 children who are aggressive and disruptive at school often experience harsh inconsistent parenting at home (Brannigan, Gemmell, Pevalin, & Wade, 2002). Moreover, a number of studies report how the challenge of raising a difficult child (e.g. who is unpredictable, irritable, and unresponsive) often elicits a series of increasingly harsh parenting-child interactions that not only increase the levels of parental stress and guilt and diminish a sense of parenting competence, but also create a mutually coercive cycle of interaction (Johnson & Reader, 2002). Without appropriate, consistent parenting for these temperamentally difficult children, early behavior problems escalate to more severe problems and age-appropriate social competencies fail to emerge (Miller, 1998). Our program targets parents/families of primary grade children (e.g. first and second grade) whose child has been identified as demonstrating classroom conduct/behavior problems by their classroom teacher. There are several reasons for targeting this age range. First, teachers complain of problems in these children of noncompliance, limited self-control, and poor relations with peers. Second, these children are at increased risk for rejection by their peers. Third, a significant number of children who become chronically antisocial and delinquent first exhibit conduct problems during the preschool and early school years. We hoped that intervention with the families of disruptive primary school age children could help these parents teach their 7 children to behave appropriately before the child's behaviors resulted in peer rejection, well-established negative reputations, school problems, and academic failure

Influencing Preservice Teachers\u27 Attitudes About Working With Low-Income and/or Ethnic Minority Families

There is a growing literature revealing the complexity of family-school relationships and the significant power imbalances and mismatches between the role expectations of caregivers and teachers who differ by class and race. This study investigates a course at a large research university in the Southeastern United States designed to influence the attitudes of preservice teachers (PSTs) about how they might work with low-income and/or ethnic minority families. Study results on 138 PSTs demonstrate that, after completing the course, their attitudes were less stereotypic, they were more confident about using family-centric involvement practices, and conceptualized student\u27s problems in less blaming terms. © The Author(s) 2012

Personal and contextual predictors of mental health counselors’ compassion fatigue and burnout

This study applied transactional stress and coping theory to explore the contributions of counselor gender, years of experience, perceived working conditions, personal resources of mindfulness, use of coping strategy, and compassion satisfaction to predict compassion fatigue and burnout in a national sample of 213 mental health counselors. Multiple regression analyses revealed that in this sample while perceived working conditions, mindfulness, use of coping strategy, and compassion satisfaction accounted for only 31.1% of the variance in compassion fatigue, these factors explained 66.9% of the variance in burnout. Counselors who reported less maladaptive coping, higher mindfulness attitudes and compassion satisfaction, and more positive perceptions of their work environment reported less burnout. The utility of these findings in understanding the development of counselor burnout and compassion fatigue are discussed, as are directions for future research

Becoming Partners: A School-Based Group Intervention for Families of Young Children Who Are Disruptive

A multiple family discussion group program was implemented and evaluated by school counselors working with families of young children referred by their teachers for aggression and attention problems. The logic guiding construction of the program and the program’s unique aspects are described. Outcome data revealed that the program was effective in reducing the children’s hyperactive, defiant, and aggressive behavior and improving the parents’ management skills. The advantages of school counselors conducting this program are discussed

A qualitative examination of the impact of culturally responsive educational practices on the psychological well-being of students of color

Scholars have shown that educational experiences within the classroom may marginalize students of color which may result in psychological distress. However, the utilization of culturally responsive educational practices (CRE) can create environments in which marginalized students can thrive not only academically, but psychologically. The authors provide a qualitative case study examining the culturally responsive practices of one teacher through a relational cultural theory (RCT) lens. The findings suggest that CRE practices may serve as psychological interventions that are associated with decreased psychological distress and increased psychological well-being amongst students of color. Specifically, students demonstrated behaviors depicting a number of RCT’s five good things, including zest, empowerment, connection, clarity, and self-worth, that improve psychological well-being according to RCT

A Qualitative Examination of the Impact of Culturally Responsive Educational Practices on the Psychological Well-Being of Students of Color

Scholars have shown that educational experiences within the classroom may marginalize students of color which may result in psychological distress. However, the utilization of culturally responsive educational practices (CRE) can create environments in which marginalized students can thrive not only academically, but psychologically. The authors provide a qualitative case study examining the culturally responsive practices of one teacher through a relational cultural theory (RCT) lens. The findings suggest that CRE practices may serve as psychological interventions that are associated with decreased psychological distress and increased psychological well-being amongst students of color. Specifically, students demonstrated behaviors depicting a number of RCT’s five good things, including zest, empowerment, connection, clarity, and self-worth, that improve psychological well-being according to RCT

Examining the Relational Processes of a Highly Successful Teacher of African American Children

Culturally responsive educational practices have arisen as effective means of increasing culturally diverse students\u27 academic achievement and psychological well-being; however, the relational processes involved are not well understood. Using grounded theory, this study examines the relational processes of one culturally responsive teacher and her fifth grade African American students. A dimension that emerged from the data was emotional connectedness. It includes the connective interactions between the teacher and student, the connective interactions between the teacher and the whole class, and teacher transparency and joining. Rich descriptions of each theme are provided as well as implications for teacher practice and preparation. © The Author(s) 2012