Can Circle Time facilitate the learning of emotional expression and competence in boys with severe EBD? by Georgina Franks.
A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements of the Degree of Master of Education in the Graduate School of Education September 2001
Educating children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) can be a thankless and frustrating task. Faced with daily abusive behaviour it is easy for teachers to get locked into the cycle of negativity that these children live in. For too long the education of children with EBD has concentrated on dealing with behaviour whereas professionals would to better to look to the emotional side of the difficulties experienced by the children.
Recent work on emotional intelligence has brought to centre stage the need for emotional competence and emotional teaching in schools. Although somewhat dramatically playing on the fears of the seemingly increasingly violent age in which we live, Goleman has raised the importance of the education of emotions. Without this emotional intelligence children cannot hope to be successful either in school or beyond and this is especially the case for children with EBD.
Group work is one way in which teachers can help children achieve emotional competence. For this study, a structured group approach, Mosley's Circle Time (1996) was used, as this provided a safe environment in which pupils and staff could look at emotions. It needs to be noted that the study was looking at how teachers can facilitate emotional expression in children, not trained therapists.
The study was designed using action research in which a class of 8 boys with severe EBD took part in ten Circle Time sessions, each of which looked at some aspect of emotions and feelings. The data collected was through classroom observations, interviews and Harter’s Revised Competency Scale.
The study, although small scale, found that the use of structured group sessions, such as that outlined by Mosley’s Circle Time, can help boys with EBD express their emotions.
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