Using the mosaic approach to listen to the voices of young children reported as having social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in school

Abstract

This research study proposed to use the Mosaic approach to uncover the voices of young children reported as experiencing SEBD. Five young children attending a nurture group participated in this study, along with two parents, their Head of school, the nurture group teacher and the nurture group Learning Support Assistant. In accordance to the framework of listening proposed by the Mosaic approach, different types of communication tools were used to uncover the children’s school experiences. These tools combine verbal, visual and gestural media in order to tap into the children’s different ways of communicating. Semi-structured interviews were used to uncover the adults’ perception of the children’s school experiences. This served the purpose of initiating dialogue between children and adults about their lives. Through the analysis the participants were able to voice their enjoyment of lunchtime at nurture group and of their schoolyards. They also expressed that other people such as friends, teachers and parents were central to their school experience. They also shed light on their motivation to ‘be good’ and their disappointment when they are not. The listening involved in this research had implications not only for future research in educational psychology, but also for day-to-day practice.