Project description

It is estimated that one in five pupils has significant impairments in their psychosocial health (e.g. Kieling et al., 2011; Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2016). These problems have an enormous negative impact on the academic, emotional and social development of the affected pupils. In addition, they often go hand in hand with academic failure and social exclusion (Krull, Wilbert & Hennemann, 2018; Reid, Gonzalez, Nordness, Trout & Epstein, 2004; Reinke et al., 2008). At the same time, the problems of pupils also pose an enormous challenge for educational staff (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002).

School-based prevention programmes that are holistic and school-wide offer a solution. They can demonstrably lead to an improvement in pupils' psychosocial health and thus support both educational success and social participation.

The Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support (SW-PBS) approach is one such school-wide prevention approach. It creates a conceptual framework that includes systemic and individualised strategies for diagnosing and promoting important emotional, social and academic skills, thus creating a safe teaching and learning environment for pupils, educational staff and other stakeholders (Horner et al., 2004). Study results indicate positive effects on student behaviour (e.g. a reduction in internalising behaviour problems; Lane, Wehby, Robertson & Ann Rogers, 2007) as well as factors inherent to the school system (e.g. the satisfaction of educational professionals; Farkas et al., 2012; Sanetti & Collier-Meek, 2015) of the approach.

In our Schoolwide Positive Behaviour for Mental Health (SESAME) project, we are adapting the SW-PBS approach presented to promote psychosocial health in secondary schools for different European contexts.

The SESAME model is intended to provide a culturally sensitive and APP-supported prevention approach for different European contexts, which improves the psychosocial health of pupils, reduces the burden on educational staff and shapes the school system as an educational environment that promotes learning and development.

The following project objectives are being pursued in this context

- A culturally sensitive and technologically advanced adaptation of SW-PBS for secondary schools in different European contexts;

- The development of an innovative training programme for educational professionals in inclusion based on SW-PBS;

- The development of a SESAME-APP for the successful implementation of SW-PBS methods;

- The implementation and piloting of the SESAME model in secondary schools.

By implementing the SESAME model, we hope to achieve improvements at three school levels.

1. the level of school administration (especially improved school climate, increasing digitalisation)

2. the level of teaching staff (especially increased expertise in preventing and dealing with psychosocial problems, increased job satisfaction)

3. the level of the students (especially improvement in psychosocial health and social integration, reduction in feelings of stress, reduction in dropout rates).

Sources
Avramidis, E. & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers' attitudes towards integration/inclusion: a review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(2), 129-147.

Farkas, M. S., Simonsen, B., Migdole, S., Donovan, M. E., Clemens, K. & Cicchese, V. (2012). Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support in an Alternative School Setting: An Evaluation of Fidelity, Outcomes, and Social Validity of Tier 1 Implementation. Journal of Emotional and Behavioural Disorders, 20, 275-288.

Horner, R. H., Sugai, G., Todd, A. W. & Lewis-Palmer, T. (2004). Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support: An Alternative Approach to Discipline in Schools. In L. M. Bambara & L. Kern (Eds.), Individualised Supports for Students with Problem Behaviors. Designing Positive Behaviour Plans (pp. 359-390). New York: Guilford Publications.

Kieling, C., Baker-Henningham, H., Belfer, M., Conti, G., Ertem, I., Omigbodun, O., Rohde, L.A., Srinath, S., Uluer, N. & Rahman, A. (2011). Child and adolescent mental health worldwide: evidence for action. Lancet, 378(9801), 1515-1525.

Krull, J., Wilbert, J. & Hennemann, T. (2018). Does social exclusion by classmates lead to behaviour problems and learning difficulties or vice versa? A cross-lagged panel analysis. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 33(2), 235-253.

Lane, K. L., Wehby, J. H., Robertson, E. J. & Ann Rogers, L. (2007). How Do Different Types of High School Students Respond to Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support Programs? Characteristics and Responsiveness of Teacher-Identified Students. Journal of Emotional and Behavioural Disorders, 15, 3-20.

Ravens-Sieberer, U., Klasen, F., & Petermann, F. (2016). Child mental health - results of the BELLA cohort study. Childhood and Development, 25(1), 4-9.

Reid, R., Gonzalez, J. E., Nordness, P. D., Trout, A. & Epstein, M. H. (2004). A meta-analysis of the academic status of students with emotional/behavioural disturbance. The Journal of Special Education, 38(3), 130-143.

Reinke, W. M., Herman, K. C., Petras, H. & Ialongo, N. S. (2008). Empirically Derived Subtypes of Child Academic and Behaviour Problems: Co-Occurrence and Distal Outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(5), 759-770.

Sanetti, L. M. H. & Collier-Meek, M. A. (2015). Data-Driven Delivery of Implementation Supports in a Multi-Tiered Framework: A Pilot Study. Psychology in the Schools, 52, 815-828.