PsychINFO Teacher Reference Center ‘Nurture Group’ Peer Reviewed Only & Age: ‘Adolescence’ (13-17 yrs) 3 In of criteria for inclusion, a final stage of the process deemed only articles that had been peer reviewed should be included, thereby establishing a level of quality appropriate for the research. Researchers can bias the results of a literature review by excluding data that is methodologically questionable, based on their own personal, subjective judgement (Ogawa & Malen, 1991). Therefore in an attempt to be objective, all 21 resulting peer reviewed articles were analysed and critiqued. ‘Nurture’ and ‘Group’ as separate entities in the same search returned 1,343 results across all five databases, a large majority of which were extraneous. The phrase ‘Nurture Group’ then returned 317 results, whilst at the same time terminologies for other variant NGs were considered. Given the focal NG of this research had breakfast as the nucleus of the intervention, the phrase ‘Breakfast Club’ returned 495 results. However, these studies appeared to focus solely on the provision of breakfast before school as an intervention and detracted from the six previously defined principles of NGs and hence were not considered for analysis. In addition to peer reviewing, an age bracket of ‘0-12 years’ was set as a criterion, as this would incorporate all existing NG research from primary whilst overlapping and exceeding the secondary age group (11/12) for this research. 2.4.1 Variant Nurture Groups Two studies focused on NGs that followed variant two - ‘new variant’ NGs - as previously described by Cooper, Arnold & Boyd (1998). Scott & Lee (2009) looked at part-time nurture groups, established in four different primary schools within the same Scottish local authority. 50 children were assessed using Boxall Profiles against control groups; for those in the NGs, statistically
Table 4.1: Bradley’s super-ordinate and emergent themes Super-ordinate Themes Line(s) Key words Social skills Communication Patience Flexibility Theory of Mind 181-182 358/ 594 610 415 Associating/ talking Wait I have/ someone else has Took time off as sanctuary Extension of home Safety Confidentiality Therapeutic Freedom of expression Empowerment through choice Rituals 392-393/ 630-638 467 7-8 383-386/ 401 5-7/13-14/97-98 375-376 220-221/ 406-407 Room in house/ kitchen at home/ same thing Not even threatening Stays in room Relax/ calm Can just say it Choose what to do Shook hands/ normally Construct of self Identity Self-esteem Meaningful role Emotional regulation Quantifying experience 65/ 261 200/ 450/ 617 152-153 70-71/ 271/ 281-282 54 Friends/ Dyslexic Proud/ Confident Team work Temper/ nerves/ five mins out Million Interpersonal relationships Family Community Relationships with peers Modelling 303 356 40/ 222-227 134-135/ 288-290 Home with family Round a table Hard/ Friends Like Miss said
Figure 4.4 Spatial orientation of Jack’s emergent themes Using the iterative process encouraged by IPA analysis, emergent themes from each of the above lists were revisited and those with the most intepretive poignancy (defined through IPA analysis techniques of abstraction, numeration or function) were selected from groups to form four main themes: Table 4.4: Jack’s emergent and super-ordinate themes
Super-ordinate Themes Line(s) Key words Personal development Communication Empathy Moral compass Organisation 41 - 44 78 - 79 431 27 Wanna talk Speaking more Tell the Early to school Identity Self-esteem Pride 185 - 188 149 – 150 Couldn’t talk Just leave Relationships Togetherness Interactive bonding 96 – 98 119 – 120 You/ with them talk Special place Exclusivity 133 - 134 Our own place 4.6.1.1 Super-ordinate theme 1: Personal Development In the case of Jack, research questions were resonant. Interpretations of four emergent themes that gravitated towards one another all appeared to link to social, emotional and behavioural aspects of Jack’s own personal development: Communication – Social Empathy – Emotional Moral Compass – Emotional Organisation – Behavioural Communication
lens’ perspective of all case themes eventually lead to the theme of ‘Identity’ being succeeded by ‘Emotional Regulation’, as interpretations were seen as more potent and contained greater meaning for the participants and to the researcher. As per the introduction to this section, group themes are clustered together in the table below and reinterpreted through a series of visual models in the following chapter, linking analysis with both the original three questions for research and previous/ contemporary literature. Table 4.5: Master table of group themes Themes Phenomenological Evidence Appendix Lines Home Extension of house Increased family involvement Invitations to home Reciprocity of care Bradley: ‘It’s just like my house really, it’s just like some room in my house’ Abdul: ‘…it’s made me like, want to do more things at home and, yeah…and helping my family as well, doing things.’ Jack: ‘I told him to come to my and then think it turned out to be my enemy, and he was my friend, now’ Gary: ‘Umm yeah breakfasts cos normally when it’s Mothers Day, well it’s self-explanatory’ 10 12 A 12 B 12 C 392 – 393 164 – 165 239 - 240 477 - 478 Communication Freedom of speech Modelling Template for introductions Bradley: ‘Like…like we can talk to each other, we don’t have to [stutters] keep something on our mind we can say it.’ Abdul: ‘I see other people talking and it’s makes me want to talk a bit more.’ Jack: ‘it you feel like you wanna talk to other people that you don’t know’ 10 12 A 12 B 97 – 99 8 – 9 42 - 43
References Adera, B.A. & Bullock, L.M. (2010). Job stressors and teacher job satisfaction in programmes serving students with emotional and behavioural disorders. Emotional & Behavioural Difficulties, 15(1), Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Anderson, J. A., Kutash, K., & Duchnowski, A. J. (2001). A comparison of the academic progress of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities and students with learning disabilities. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 9(2), 106-115. Anderson, M.L. (2003). Embodied cognition: a field guide. Artificial Intelligence, 149, 91 – 130. Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL, 2013), Disruptive behaviour in schools and colleges rises alongside increase in children
Appendix 3: Research Diary Extract Week 33 – October 2014 ‘Whilst transcribing interviews, I’ve felt particularly conscious of my voice (and therefore position as a researcher) as empirical ‘noise’, and how weighted semi-interview structures can seem in raw format. Semi or unstructured interviews can feel like a deviation from core research question principles, yet then occasionally a young person will surprise you. Gary’s final closing comment – warm appreciation for Breakfast Club despite disliking the social side – is one example that stands out and restores my faith in the process. That said, IPA prompts around feelings and experience have unearthed what at the moment feels like meaningfully rich data.’
Relationships with peers Communication Self-esteem Rituals Relationships with peers 190 195 200 205 210 215 220 I: Probably...making, well when I first start I thought the best thing was making friends, and talking and, making stuff for the teachers and the other students R: Ok, and how does that feel, making things for people… I: Yeah I feel like and proud of myself for making them R: Fantastic…and what about the worst thing about breakfast club? I: There’s nothing really worse about breakfast club R: Yeah? There’s nothing you would change about breakfast club if you could? I: Nothing. Nothing. R: Ok, I’ve got a few more, just a couple more questions here…these ones are about behaviour, so how did you behave before the breakfast club started? I: Like…[stutters] just like normal to how I [stutters] behave, like I’m like…I can’t really explain like it’s like hard, like, it was hard like, the first ever one was like hard. I [stutters] didn’t know none of them and we all shook hands, I said my name and they said their name [stutters] and we all shook hands, and then after the third and fourth and following on we made lego and, ate together… R: Ok Order of importance? 1. Friends, 2. TALK 7 3. Making presents for others Making x 3 – poignant Verb ‘To Make’ – correlation between making food/ objects, and making friends? Pride - reciprocal exchange of gift for emotion No stutters – positive topic lowers anxiety? Again, immediate, reinforced and assured Able to reflect Like x 9 – behaviour an emotive topic, real struggle to explain Hard x 3 – difficulty integrating into new social environment School as hard place, magnified for SEMH Verbalising social gestures as learned ‘steps’
Emotional regulation Family Therapeutic Communication 290 300 305 310 315 320 R: Slow breathing, fantastic yeah, ok…how do you behave when you’re in breakfast club itself? I: Good, I feel like it’s better, and stuff R: Yeah? You’re more comfortable? I: Yeah, it’s like…[stutters] being at home really with my family R: Yeah, you feel like you’re at home? I: At home yeah when I’m at breakfast club. Cos it’s so like, quiet and not like a whole class, mmm hmm R: Ok, so you get like a chance to… I: Yeah talk and stuff R: Fantastic. How do you behave when you’re in school but not in breakfast club? I: Good R: Ok, and how about at home? I: Yeah good, same R: Cool, ok so if there was a scale of 0 – 10, where naught is useless and ten is excellent, which number do you think you’d circle for the breakfast club? I: Cor ten it’s – referring to his behaviour, i.e. angry temperament? The environment? QUOTE ‘Home’ and ‘family’ – specific, verbalised bridge created BC a reflection of family nucleus – what if nothing to reflect? reasons for benefits – noise a stimulus for arousal, tighter knit ‘community’ TALK 9 Shrift response – truthful? brevity as behaviour may not always transfer to home life Immediate praise
Language acquisition Language acquisition Self-esteem Food production as a metaphor 515 520 525 530 535 540 545 I: Cutlery and spoons…and after, we stuck it all in the…and bowls are in here R: Ok, and what else have we got in there? I: Like we got some pots that we made it in and like frying pans…and that’s it really R: So how do you feel about using all of this, this stuff now? I: I’m sort of used to it really R: Used to it now? I: Yeah, cos I’ve made all that in there and after, come out and made some more R: Ok, so what about…you use some of the equipment here now, can you use some equipment at home? I: Yeah, all of it! R: All of it? Ok so what sort of things have you cooked at breakfast club that you can now cook at home? I: Umm…bacon sandwich, umm, omelettes R: Bacon sandwich, omelettes, nice! You make them at home do you? Knows nouns and locations – ordered Two stories conflicting – explanation of utensils vs memories of cooking Conflict may represent how thoughts are easily entangled Accustomed to equipment Grounded/ confident Referring to recipes/ food produced Making = continually topping up Confidence in transferable skills More complicated cooking procedure
Rituals Patience Meaningful role Flexibility Self-esteem 580 585 590 595 600 605 I: Blazer, take your blazer hang it up, and then apron stick on your apron, and then you tuck the hair if you’ve got long hair, and then hands you wash the hands R: Ok and then what would you do after that once you’ve washed your hands? I: You have all the ingredients laid out and then wait for Miss’ instructions to go R: Ok, you have the ingredients left out ok, so you’ve got, you have a role I: Yeah R: To play in, if you’re making something do you all have different parts to play in cooking? I: Er, sometimes yeah….like other people cut the mushrooms you’ll stick the bacon on R: Uh huh I: And then I have the mushrooms someone else has the bacon R: Ok so how does that feel to you, having that role having that, sort of everything organised does that make you feel…like you know what you’re doing? I: Confident, mmm Hygiene perfect example of routine providing structure Planned and patient Description of roles – cooperation Flexibility of roles/ duties
Relationships with peers Emotional regulation Safety Merges home and school Therapeutic 610 615 620 625 630 635 R: What being around other people in breakfast club that you wouldn’t normally be around…? I: Yeah, most of the time…to be honest I’m used to it R: Ok, whereas before… I: Before I wasn’t R: Ok, so how does it feel in this room now? I: It feels like I’m in my kitchen at home R: In your kitchen at home? Ok… I: Yeah, well it’s all the same R: Uh huh… I: …yeah it’s all the same thing R: Does it make you feel more hyper, more calm, more angry… I: No…just calm R: Just calm? Ok, that’s nice. Ok Bradley I’ll let you go now, thanks very much I: Cheers, that’s alright! Confidence – first use New people not so Acclimatised to this group, but transferable social skill? Being ‘used to’ the unknown MAJOR QUOTE – similar to previous re room in house My kitchen – like literally same room Symbolic and poignant – BC is an extension of safe base at home Again, wide range of language prompts Linguistic synopsis of BC for Bradley, pause for thought, onomatopoeic