Common characteristics of therapeutic education

The common characteristics of therapeutic education are basically related to the human side of teaching and learning rather than the mechanical or technical process of the so-called ‘curriculum delivery’. Educators, policy-makers and politicians have asked, and continue to ask, for simple solutions to issues such as challenging behavior; thus, a way of teaching that incorporates a number of approaches is not seen to be useful. However, as is presently being recognized by many educators, there are actually no simple solutions to the complex problems that are encountered on a daily basis within classrooms. Additionally, when thinking about what makes good, motivating and inclusive teaching, many factors are mentioned that do not just involve the transaction of knowledge between the educator and learner. These other factors will most likely involve sophisticated human relationships and they will have an enormous impact on the effectiveness of the educator’s teaching. This, of course, is nothing new to educators, as for thousands of years it has been recognized that the inter-personal transaction between educator and learner is fostered by a therapeutic and nurturing ethic. All adults in a classroom want the best for every pupil, but without doubt there are some children who are very difficult to like, to build a relationship with and thus to motivate. It is for these children that simple solutions are constantly sought, but their needs are complex and therefore the solution will out of necessity be complex and will require a variety of approaches. Thus, therapeutic education is essentially about this educator–learner relationship and the various ways it can be developed and enhanced to improve engagement, motivation and learning for children with significant social, emotional and behavioral difficulties (SEBD). It is the quality of this relationship between educator and learner that has an enormous impact on the learner’s ability to learn and access the appropriate curriculum so that his or her true ability can be released. This is not easily achieved, because the learner’s defenses built up to protect him or herself, perhaps over a number of years, mean that it is immensely difficult for the learner to form and maintain relationships with both adults and peers that are conducive to learning and education in the school context.

Case study

When meeting Dillon for the first time to discuss coming to the special school that was on the same site as his residential home, he stood at the other end of the room with his key worker for a few minutes, with his head lowered, swaying from side to side. Without warning he took off, running out of the house and then up on to the roof of an outbuilding from where he chucked available objects down at his key worker and myself. After a little while trying to encourage him to come down and talk or play a game with me, it was clear that he was too anxious to even think about school. I therefore left, but before I did I told Dillon I would return the next day at a certain time and that I was really looking forward to talking to him. On that occasion, his parting cry was I don’t do school. This flight response to my arrival occurred a number of times, but gradually Dillon began to accept my presence with the help of his key worker and I was eventually able to start establishing a relationship with him and thus was able to start helping him with the massive task of facing school and learning. Dillon needed to know that I was reliable, consistent and constant in what I said before he would even risk talking to me about his education. Children with such severe SEBD need to accept and build a relationship with the educator before any curriculum delivery can even be considered. When starting to access learning, the activities chosen were based on his favorite football team and other hobbies and involved many different approaches. He was supported in all activities so that failure was not encountered until a sound learning ethos was established. An extreme case, but one that clearly identifies the importance of the trust required between educator and learner before successful learning can be achieved.

Discussion

Can you think of a situation when your intervention or support has enabled a child to complete a piece of work or have a go at a new activity? What did you need to do or say to enable the child to take the risk? Were the decisions you took based on the relationship you had built up with the child or about the actual learning task?

The case study and discussion clearly show that educators need to compensate for children’s difficulties in forming and developing relationships to enable them to access education. They need to have the ability to implement a range of approaches to their teaching and learning and it is these that come under the umbrella term of ‘therapeutic education’. Educators must be willing to change their behavior first, if they want the children to change theirs. The usual carrot and stick behavior approaches will not be effective ways of helping the children with complex SEBD. Important characteristics of therapeutic education can be expressed using the following words:

■ enjoyment

■ inspiration

■ motivation

■ engagement

■ inclusion.