YoungMinds Magazine 55 ] 2001

Time to go back to school

Bruce stevenson argues that until the education system sees troublesome pupils holistically,

inclusion policies are doomed to failure

I used to teach a 14 year-old boy one-to-one'

@tnttru,
Some would regard a perioo

He had a long criminal record and used

to

swagger down the corridor towards me, enjoying tre fear he instilled in tte other kids'
One daY he exPloded: "Bruce, manl You

ln my experience, educational psychologisb understand the cognitive factors that play a part in leaming, but not the crucial
emotional and psychological development on urrtrich leaming is based. Similarly' child and adolescent psychiatrists, who have no obligatory fiaining in psychotherapy, otten medicalise the dilemmas pupils face by labelling them wffi a specilic condition or
disorder. Such diagnoses may have value as part o{ an overall assessment but clinicians gutside tend trained io see children from the to grasp only external tactors' So ofien, thgy

-' '' 'not the most apposite time i: - . - ' - -:'

--

strategic approach to the pro- -:

don't know hourl angry I am with $e previous teacher!" Spontaneously, I asked him ii he was afraid ot his anger' He replied immediately: "Yes." I suspect ftis was the lirst time he had ever admifted to being afraid, I could see him melt out of his imitation of power and Iall back inside the body of a vulnerable 14 year-old boy, separated lrom his father who was living abroad' Many of the pupils I see are helplessly

tal health among children. bu: -: "i-=. Rees would beg to differ' time, weshould, morethan E,:'
winning

--

'"

: :' :'' -; : : - : -' out where we stand and mai -; . the war and for esia: .mental health firmlY for the tu:-'. For Colonel Rees, medicin: 1-:-' -=:' "been fartoo much a matte!' 0' patching people uP". The futu': : he predicts, will be largely pro!-.
:

:'-l

1:'

fail to connect to the child himself, who

experiences himself as being on the inside' Fupils like Robert have learnt to react in

acting out conllicts lrom the past that

gravely hinder their ability to engage with edueation. ln some cases, their attempts to escape leelings they tind intolerable have led to serious consequences, such as imprisonment or being sent away to a residential school. Many haue not been remotely adequately assessed. For example, the statement of

our field, the imPortant thing s :- : -- positive aspects of mental hea ' L ': on concenirating our interest

:-

-.'
-:

'::: -" :-=

a way that is a desperate attempt to gain

Ever keen to look ahead, he

::

'

'i

have often been too sPasmodic need a long-term plan. '.The

i ] ::I'[-: "=

we need be in any way apologei: people's interest to questions of

*.-: - - l: :- - :'' fc' ready is Practically everybody

Rees urges Practitioners ro: : their own fears in a very' --'-:--= to up world "if we are to pull our
-

: =" : ':':1.[

special educational needs tor one of my puBils - I shall call him Bobert - says attempts should be made to reduce his
anxiety and to encourage him to work independently at structured tasks' These are

support - in his ease, by refusing io cooperate with any authority and feeling he has to provide it all himselt' lnside, such
pupils are crying out for support and recognition and respect 0utwardly, more often

the war period, we must be

sur:

""i

l- --'-; --: :

laudable aims, but they fail completely to address the severity ol the developmental tasks that he faces. Yet the entire school system is founded upon takiflg such developmental achievements lor granted. So inevitably, it fails t0 diagnose adequately and fails to offer the

our own personal fear" - but to and ever more creative wa1ls cate the impoftance of mental benefit of future generations

_:il :- _. ,-

ti - : r::
.

&an not, they are obiectitied and quantified.

So, wiat can be done to help pupils like Robert? For a start, ditferent pro{essionals must be prepared to work together to build a picture of the rxhole ehild. Such pupils need a safe adult who can see through their reactions to tieir underlying fuelings' without humiliating them. ll they feel seen and supported - that adults can contain them and respect ihem - then ihey can hegin to

"

suppori pupils need, The young people I teach have often had such difticult experiences that they are unable t0 see themselves as a whole: they oannot hold together their need to connect and their anger at

Ihe filanic: Coultesy of Soufiampbn ffit} adfrr

Sewices

the same time. The picture they have of

themselves is fragile: il anyone quesiions ihem too deeply, they feel persecuted. Robert, for examplen is split between two images: on the one hand, everyihing should be pedect and he should get exactly what he needs when he needs it, and on the other, he fears that he is bad and hopeless

get on with life. But above all, the educational FsYchology sen ice needs to review its current prae-

through Parliament, MPs

tise, which is frequently limited to the

application of standardised tests as a part of a very long and bureaucratic process

that faits to diagnose the child properly

and, tragically, fails to identify the support they actuallY need.
ERUGE SIEUEI{SOII

by harnessing PoPular medium. Yet Colonel Rees "',a: than twelve months after the s::: -- :- 1-'' --- Second World War. His comr:-:: -- an address to the annual me:: = :' - - -: National Council for Mental

anC:-: cultur: 1:

::::"

:'::: :-: I " -:

and will neuer get anything he needs'

Unable to trust, he veers beiween depres' sion and violence, especially when he leels that he is being threatened by reiection*

Bruce Stevenson is a home tutor and psychotherapist

Bruce.Stevenson@Tesco.net

1940, and Published four mo::-' October issue of Mental Hee':'

'ir

'-'1-: - : ::
-

Historian Morris Berman Te?:-:: .: Second World War to find

--

)i''-