Well-Being: Bridging the Gap between the Language of Policy and the Culture of Schools

While there is an increasing interest in the notion of well-being—politically, societally and educationally—it remains an enigmatic, multifaceted concept that sometimes eludes definition in academic articles. This article takes account of policy developments in the area of well-being over the last decade in Ireland, particularly educational policy developments. It presents research findings from a study conducted with primary school teachers on the west coast of Ireland about what well-being means to them as teachers and their challenges in promoting it. The findings highlight that well-being is open to many interpretations, and there is a clear gap between the language of well-being policy documents and the practices taking place in schools

The Evolution of wellbeing in educational policy in Ireland: Towards an interdisciplinary approach

This paper examines how wellbeing has evolved in educational policy over the last decade in Ireland. The influence of the developments in national policy on wellbeing are also considered. While the concept of wellbeing is progressing in educational policy documents and becoming embedded in the language of the school community, a review of literature in the area highlights that it is difficult to define and to understand. Although wellbeing is a central theme in Early Years education and an area of learning in post-primary education for Junior Cycle in the Irish context, presently it can be regarded as implicit in the primary school curriculum rather than a defined theme or area of learning. The Draft Curriculum Framework published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in February 2020 includes wellbeing as one of five broad curriculum areas. This paper presents reflection on the inclusion of wellbeing as an area of learning in a redeveloped primary school curriculum

Experiencing educational inclusion: children with Williams syndrome in Ireland

This thesis explores the educational inclusion experiences of children with Williams syndrome (WS) in Irish primary schools from the perspectives of the children, their parents and teachers. Almost equal numbers of parents chose mainstream and special-education placements for their child with WS, although this choice was complex. Parents were very satisfied with their child’s education regardless of setting. Parental and teacher perceptions of the WS educational profile differed little. Teachers presented a slightly broader profile, yet showed less awareness than parents of anxiety in the children. Findings indicate a capacity in the children to learn Irish and other languages successfully, despite their entitlement to exemptions from language learning in the Irish educational system. Some features associated with WS (such as sociability) enhance the inclusion of learners with WS, while certain maladaptive behaviours impede it. Evidence suggests that maladaptive behaviours may be caused by high anxiety and poor expression of emotion due to poor comprehension of negative emotions. In addition, these children display more internalizing and self-regulatory behaviours, when parent and teacher data is compared, than has previously been noted in the literature, which may actually negatively impact on the child’s educational inclusion. Both parents and teachers support the children’s learning but teachers’ special education experiences and professional development influenced quality of supports and, hence, quality of educational inclusion. Some strategies used successfully by individual teachers to support learners with WS are those traditionally associated with autism, despite the sociability associated with WS. The children had clear images of themselves as learners and could identify personal learning strengths and challenges. Their liking for physical and social activities may be important aids to concentration, participation and, hence, inclusion. Different interpretations of inclusion were evident from parents and teachers. A definition of inclusion was proposed to compare educational placements. Such a comparison showed that Irish mainstream placements should not necessarily be viewed as the most inclusive educational setting for learners with WS. Consequently, a framework, based on the individual education planning process, proposes a way to maximize the educational inclusion of children with WS, regardless of setting

Anxiety, concerns and COVID-19: Cross-country perspectives from families and individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the mental health and well-being of children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) and of their families worldwide. However, there is insufficient evidence to understand how different factors (e.g., individual, family, country, children) have impacted on anxiety levels of families and their children with NDCs developed over time. METHODS: We used data from a global survey assessing the experience of 8043 families and their children with NDCs (mean of age (m) = 13.18 years, 37% female) and their typically developing siblings (m = 12.9 years, 45% female) in combination with data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the University of Oxford, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, to create a multilevel data set. Using stepwise multilevel modelling, we generated child-, family- and country-related factors that may have contributed to the anxiety levels of children with NDCs, their siblings if they had any, and their parents. All data were reported by parents. RESULTS: Our results suggest that parental anxiety was best explained by family-related factors such as concerns about COVID-19 and illness. Children’s anxiety was best explained by child-related factors such as children’s concerns about loss of routine, family conflict, and safety in general, as well as concerns about COVID-19. In addition, anxiety levels were linked to the presence of pre-existing anxiety conditions for both children with NDCs and their parents. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that across the globe there was a raise in anxiety levels for both parents and their children with NDCs because of COVID-19 and that country-level factors had little or no impact on explaining differences in this increase, once family and child factors were considered. Our findings also highlight that certain groups of children with NDCs were at higher risk for anxiety than others and had specific concerns. Together, these results show that anxiety of families and their children with NDCs during the COVID-19 pandemic were predicted by very specific concerns and worries which inform the development of future toolkits and policy. Future studies should investigate how country factors can play a protective role during future crises

Anxiety, concerns and COVID-19: Cross-country perspectives from families and individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the mental health and well-being of children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) and of their families worldwide. However, there is insufficient evidence to understand how different factors (e.g., individual, family, country, children) have impacted on anxiety levels of families and their children with NDCs developed over time.MethodsWe used data from a global survey assessing the experience of 8043 families and their children with NDCs (mean of age (m) = 13.18 years, 37% female) and their typically developing siblings (m = 12.9 years, 45% female) in combination with data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the University of Oxford, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, to create a multilevel data set. Using stepwise multilevel modelling, we generated child-, family- and country-related factors that may have contributed to the anxiety levels of children with NDCs, their siblings if they had any, and their parents. All data were reported by parents.ResultsOur results suggest that parental anxiety was best explained by family-related factors such as concerns about COVID-19 and illness. Children’s anxiety was best explained by child-related factors such as children’s concerns about loss of routine, family conflict, and safety in general, as well as concerns about COVID-19. In addition, anxiety levels were linked to the presence of pre-existing anxiety conditions for both children with NDCs and their parents.ConclusionsThe present study shows that across the globe there was a raise in anxiety levels for both parents and their children with NDCs because of COVID-19 and that country-level factors had little or no impact on explaining differences in this increase, once family and child factors were considered. Our findings also highlight that certain groups of children with NDCs were at higher risk for anxiety than others and had specific concerns. Together, these results show that anxiety of families and their children with NDCs during the COVID-19 pandemic were predicted by very specific concerns and worries which inform the development of future toolkits and policy. Future studies should investigate how country factors can play a protective role during future crises

Introducing the COVID-19 crisis Special Education Needs Coping Survey

Individuals with special education needs have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as they have been shown to be at high risk of losing medical and institutional support at a time when people are being asked to stay isolated, suffering increased anxiety and depression as a consequence. Their families have often found themselves under tremendous pressure to provide support, engendering financial hardship, and physical and emotional strains. In such times, it is vital that international collaborations assess the impact on the individuals and their families, affording the opportunity to make national and international comparisons of how people have coped and what needs to be done to optimize the measures taken by families, associations and governments. This paper introduces one such collaboration