The Ideal Classroom: Perspectives of Young People Attending a Nurture Group
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THE IDEAL CLASSROOM: PERSPECTIVES OF YOUNG PEOPLE ATTENDING A NURTURE GROUP By Faye Morgan-Rose A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctorate Volume 1 School of Education The University of Birmingham June 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This study sought to gain the views of a very specific group of eight young people who attended a Nurture Group, within a special school. Through a multiple case study design using semi-structured interviews, and a model-making activity with personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955), the contrasting poles of ideal and non-ideal classrooms were elicited. The rationale guiding the study was to ensure the views of the students were included in the interior design stage of a purpose built nurture group facility at their school. Methods included two model-making activities with LEGO® for each participant, with a photograph of each model annotated together, along with a series of nine questions for both models. Thematic analysis shows that employment and independence are most important as are the opportunities for kinaesthetic learning styles. The nurture group approach to schooling, when compared with overarching themes of the ideal classrooms does reflect the ideal classroom construct of the participants from this study, except in the area of language development. The implications of the study indicate LEGO and personal construct psychology can be a useful combination in exploring contrasting poles of a theme. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorise or endorse this research. I dedicate this to my late Mum, Julie Dunnett xx Your kindness and modesty meant you always played down the role you took in me achieving my dreams but without you, this certainly would not have happened. Thank you for encouraging me, even through the tough times, and for always believing that I could achieve what I wished for. It’s so unfair that you won’t see the end of this journey for me, but it will be to you that I smile first when I do reach it xx ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Heartfelt thanks to the wonderful students who gave me their time, enthusiasm and views for this study. You are a true inspiration and it was an honour to spend time with you. Sincere thanks to the welcoming and supportive Nurture Group staff, Deputy Head and Head Teacher of a certain, very special school. I thank Colette Soan for her endless support, and for so enthusiastically supporting the LEGO idea! Thank you to the lovely cohort of 2012-2015 who always showed great compassion and warmth through some very tricky times! Finally, to my wonderful Dad (Pops), brother Clivey, the Helens (T1/T2) and Rachna (RB) for being there when I needed you (which was often!), and for your huge amounts of patience, reassurance and support xx CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction to the Thesis…………………………………………………….. 1 1.1 Aims and rationale of the study………………………………………………. 1 1.2 Research Questions……………………………………………………………4 1.3 The structure of the Thesis..…………………………………………………..4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW: PUPIL VOICE 2.0 Introduction to the Literature Review…………………………………………...5 2.1 Search Strategy…………………………………………………………………...6 2.2 Overview of the Chapter……………………………………………………….. 7 2.3 Pupil Voice for all children and young people, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)…………………………….. 7 2.4 Pupil views on life in special schools…………………………………………. 11 2.5 Extended Methods to elicit pupil views on life in school………………….. 12 2.5.1 Talking Mats …………………………………………………………………. 12 2.5.2 Story writing…………………………………………………………………… 14 2.5.3 The Draw and Write and Draw, Write and Tell techniques…………… 15 2.5.4 Model-making as a tool to support pupil voice........................................ 17 2.6 Personal Construct Psychology……………………………………………….18 2.7 Personal Construct Theory Methods…………………………………………. 21 2.7.1 A Drawing and its Opposite………………………………………………... 22 2.7.2 Drawing the Ideal Self…………………………………………………….... 22 2.7.3 Drawing the Ideal School………………………………………………….. 23 2.8 Concluding Critique…………………………………………………………….. 25 CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW: UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR NEEDS 3.0 Introduction to the chapter………………..…………………………………… 28 3.1 Young people with learning difficulties: definition and processing………… 28 3. 2 Young people and Autism: definition………………………………………… 29 3.3 Young people with Autism: expressing their views…………………………. 30 3.4 Young people and attachment: theoretical underpinning of nurture groups………………………………………………………………………………... 32 3.5 Concluding Critique…………………………………………………………….. 34 CHAPTER 4 LITERATURE REVIEW: NURTURE GROUPS 4.0 Introduction to the chapter……………………………………….………….. 36 4.1 The context of Nurture Groups………………………………………………. 36 4.2 The function, structure and features of a nurture group………………….. 38 4.3 Pupils’ experiences of nurture groups……………………………………… 43 4.4 Concluding Critique…………………………………………………………... 47 CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN 5.0 Introduction to the chapter ……….……………………………………….... 48 5.1 Research aims……………………………………………………………….. 48 5.1.1 Research questions……………………………………………………….. 49 5.1.2 Research Methodology…………………………………………………… 49 5.1.3 Ontological Perspective………………………………………………….... 49 5.1.4 Epistemology………………………………………………………………. 50 5.1.5 Positionality of Researcher……………………………………………….. 52 5.2 Personal Construct Psychology (PCP): Rationale and the Dichotomy Corollary…………………………………………………………….. 53 5.3 Case study design ………………………………………………………….. 56 5.4 Methods ……………………………………………………………………… 60 5.4.1 Semi-Structured Interviews………………………………………………. 62 5.4.2 Model-Making Activity……………………………………………………...63 5.5 Pilot Study…………………………………………………………………… 63 5.6 Procedure ……………………………………………………………………. 64 5.7 Participants…………………………………………………………………... 66 5.7.1 Introducing my participants………………………………………………..66 5.8 Key Ethical considerations..…………………… …………………………. 68 5.9 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………70 5.10 Chapter summary…………………………………………………………. 75 CHAPTER 6 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 6.0 Introduction to the chapter …….…………………………………………... 77 6.1 Data…………………………………………………………………………… 78 6.2 Themes……………………………………………………………………….. 78 6.3 Research Question 1: What are the key themes of an ideal classroom construct for young people attending a nurture group?...............79 6.3.1 Theme 1: Kinaesthetic Learning styles…………………………………. 81 6.3.2 Theme 2: Classroom environment………………………………………. 83 6.3.3 Theme 3: Responsibilities and characteristics of others within the classroom……………………………………………………………………. 86 6.3.4 Theme 4: Future Life……………………………………………………... 87 6.3.5 Theme 5: Play…………………………………………………………….. 88 6.3.6 Theme 6: Feelings……………………………………………………….. 89 6.4 Research Question 2: What are the key themes of the non-ideal classroom construct for young people attending a nurture group?............................................................................................ 90 6.4.1 Theme 1: Characteristics of others within the classroom……………………………………………………………………….. 92 6.4.2 Theme 2: Restrictions…………………………………………………... 93 6.4.3 Theme 3: Disorder of environment……………………………………. 95 6.4.4 Theme 4: Punishments and enforcements of rules………………….. 96 6.4.5 Theme 5: Feelings………………………………………………………. 97 6.5 Participants models – individual case studies………………………….. 98 6.5.1 Poppy ……………………………………………………………………. 98 6.5.2 Aston …………………………………………………………………….. 101 6.5.3 Clive ………………………………………………………………………104 6.5.4 Brian …………………………………………………………………….. 107 6.5.5 Helen ……………………………………………………………………. 110 6.5.6 Natalie ………………………………………………………………….. 113 6.5.7 Chyanne ………………………………………………………………… 116 6.5.8 Leo ………………………………………………………………………. 119 6.6 Research Question 3: Does the nurture group model of schooling reflect the ideal classroom construct of those attending it?…………....... 122 6.7 Chapter summary………………………………………………………… 125 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION: LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND FUTURE RESEARCH 7.0 Introduction to the chapter ….…………………………………………… 126 7.1 Limitations.………………………………………………………………….126 7.2 Critique of methodology………………………………………………….. 128 7.3 Implications for future practice……………………………………………130 7.4 Implications for future research…………………………………………..132 7.5 Conclusion…………..…………………………………………………….. 133 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………137 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………..156 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Analysis of Data Process Figure 2. QSR NVivo 10: Verbatim quotes identified for Ideal Classroom: Helpful Staff node (code). Figure 3. QSR NVivo 10: Verbatim quotes for Question 6, Non-Ideal Classroom. Figure 4. QSR NVivo 10: Bar Graph showing most frequently occurring nodes for Question 6 Non-Ideal Classroom. Figure 5. Hand coding of nodes for Theme: Responsibilities and Characteristics of others within the classroom. LIST OF DIAGRAMS Diagram1. Key themes of an ideal classroom construct for young people attending a nurture group. Diagram 2. Word cloud of most frequently