Understanding and supporting students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties : a practical guide for staff in schools

Abstract

It has never been more important than it is in the modern world for children and young people to possess not only the fundamental skills of self-expression, rational thinking, as well as certain types of technical and scientific understanding, but they must now be equipped with the mind-set and skills necessary for continual adaptation to a challenging world where technological and social change are rapid and unpredictable. Thriving in this modern world depends upon the ability to learn new ways of thinking and skills quickly, and to be resilient in the face of uncertainties that the people of their parents’ and grandparents’ generations could not have imagined. It is, therefore, a potentially troubling time for young people setting out to establish self-sustaining lives. As a consequence a key part of the job of education is to help children and young people to develop the orientations and skills necessary for the management of their own emotional responses to these challenges, along with the skills of self-regulation in social relationships.