Parent-teacher collaboration for the development of strategies to support the emotional well-being of Foundation Phase learners with ADHD
Abstract
This dissertation aimed to explore how collaboration between parents and teachers could support the emotional well-being of learners with ADHD. The emotional difficulties that go along with ADHD are often overlooked, all the while influencing many other aspects of the learner’s life. The participants in this study together addressed a gap in the available literature with respect to sustainable support for the learner’s emotional well-being by means of collaboration, ultimately benefitting the learners, parents, and teachers.
The emotional challenges learners with ADHD face first prompted my interest in undertaking this study. My interest in this topic grew once I started working as an educator at an underprivileged school. Here I encountered learners with ADHD who had severe difficulties with the control of and understanding of their own emotions. The study examined whether parent-teacher collaboration could offer an avenue to support learners with these difficulties. Parents and teachers seldom actively collaborate to provide support to these learners. In this dissertation, I point out how sustained collaborative efforts could improve the emotional well-being of these learners and how this is beneficial to all parties involved.
This study used a Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) design with nine participants. The participants and I formed an action learning set where we collaborated to gain an understanding of the challenges learners with ADHD face. We developed strategies and guidelines to support these challenges from an early age, with the hope that it will positively affect the learners’ emotional well-being into adulthood. Visual artefacts and transcripts from the action learning set meetings were analysed to generate data, supported by relevant literature. The collaborative and participatory approach to this study gave each participant an opportunity to have their voices be heard.
The primary research question was: How can teachers and parents collaborate to support the emotional well-being of FP learners with ADHD? The study was conducted in three cycles to answer the primary research question. In Cycle One, data were generated in action learning set discussions to answer the following sub-question: What challenges do teachers and parents face in providing support to ensure the emotional well-being of FP learners with ADHD? After the data analysis, the following themes emerged: cognitive challenges, behavioural challenges, emotional challenges, and physical challenges. The
findings from this cycle revealed multiple challenges that were faced by the parents and teachers when supporting the learner with ADHD. From here, we continued to Cycle Two of the research, during which we used asset-mapping to generate data and address the second research sub-question: What collaboratively developed strategies are effective to support the emotional well-being of FP learners with ADHD? The findings from this cycle revealed the strategies that were necessary to support these learners and led us to the final sub-question in Cycle Three: What guidelines for collaborative parent/teacher support can be derived from the findings to enhance the emotional well-being of FP learners with ADHD? The findings from the final cycle revealed the guidelines that could be useful to support the emotional well-being of FP learners with ADHD.
The research process and findings from this study, this being the identification of challenges, and the development of strategies and guidelines, added to parents’ knowledge and brought changes to their attitudes. This had a positive effect on the learners and led to improvements in their emotional well-being. This study contributes valuable information towards the theoretical body of knowledge on ADHD and the emotional difficulties learners and the parents and teachers who support them, experience.
Collections
- Education [1687]