TEACHERS' INTERVENTION STRATEGIES AND SOCIAL INTERACTION AMONG LEARNERS WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL DISORDERS IN SELECTED PRIMARY SCHOOLS, NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA

Eunice Njuhi Ngugi, Beatrice Bunyasi Awori, George Mathenge Wairungu

Abstract


The main aim of this research was to explore intervention strategies used to enhance social skills in learners with Emotional and Behavioural Disorder in selected regular primary schools in Kayole zone, Embakasi sub-county, Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was guided by Vygotsky's theory of social development. It employed a mixed-method research approach, adopting a descriptive research design. Questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were used as the main instruments of data collection. The targeted population was 102, which included 12 school administrators and 90 teachers teaching in the zone. The study utilized a simple random sampling technique to select two schools and the educationists who participated in the study. The sample size of the study comprised 16 teachers and 8 administrators. Qualitative data was analysed thematically and then presented narratively. Quantitative data were coded and fed into SPSS software for analysis. It was reported using frequencies, descriptive statistics, graphs, and charts. The study concluded that teachers appreciated conventional strategies but did not adequately utilize them. This was mainly due to poor training and unfavourable teacher-to-learner ratio. The study recommended that teachers, through in-service training, need to be provided with better training on social skills interventions in order to build their confidence in these techniques so that they actually implement them within their classrooms. The study also recommended more emphasis on the Guidance and Counselling department through employing trained counselors who can assist in addressing emotional and behavioral challenges by learners.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


teachers' intervention strategies, social interaction, emotional and behavioural disorders

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alberto, P. A. & Troutman, A.C. (2010). Applied behavior analysis for teacher (7th ed.). Merrill: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Applied_Behavior_Analysis_for_Teachers.html?id=-4NOAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y

Bradley, R., Henderson, K., & Monfore, D. A. (2004). A national perspective on children with emotional disorders. Behavioral Disorders, 29, 211–223. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/23889470

Department of Education. 2001. Special Needs Education: Building an inclusive education and training system. Education White Paper 6, July 2001. Pretoria: Government Printers.

Farley, J., Duppong Hurley, K., Lambert, M. C., & Gross, T. J. (2022). Profiles of Behavioral, Academic, and Demographic Characteristics of Middle School Students with Emotional or Behavioral Needs. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266221099241

Forber-Pratt, A. J., Hanebutt, R., Minotti, B., Cobb, N. A., & Peagram, K. (2022). Social-Emotional Learning and Motivational Interviews with Middle School Youth with Disabilities or At-Risk for Disability Identification. Education and Urban Society, https://doi.org/10.1177/00131245221110557

Forness, S. R. (2010). School characteristics of children and adolescents with depression. In R.B. Rutherford (Jnr.), C. M. Nelson & Forness, S. R. (Eds.). Bases of severe behavioral disorders in children and youth. Boston: Little Brown. Retrieved from https://galileo-georgiasouthern.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=01GALI_GASOUTH:GASOU&search_scope=MyInstitution&tab=LibraryCatalog&docid=alma995562463802950&context=L

Gathua, J., Muthee, J., Murugami, M., & Tesfu, T. (2015). Assessment on Challenges Teachers Faced in Managing Learners with Selected Behavior Disorders in Primary Schools in Thika Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya, Gathua Joseph. Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 5(2249–9598), 90–104. Retrieved from https://www.oiirj.org/oiirj/nov2015-special-issue/11.pdf

Gresham, F. M., Lane, K. L., & O'Shaughnessy, T. E. (2002). Serving students with or at-risk for emotional and behavior disorders: Future challenges. Education and Treatment of Children, 25(4), 507-521. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/42899725

Hayes, L. (2019). Self-Monitoring Interventions for Elementary Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders and the Effects on Improving On-Task Behavior. Dissertations, Theses, and Projects. 222. Retrieved from https://red.mnstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1240&context=thesis

Hukkelberg, S., Keles, S., Ogden, T. et al. (2019). The relation between behavioral problems and social competence: A correlational Meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 19, 354 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2343-9

Humphrey, A. U. (2014). Challenges faced by teachers when teaching Developmental Disability. University of Oslo, USA.

Jensen J. R. (2005). Digital change detection, Introductory Digital Image Processing: A Remote Home. India, South Zonal Branch | Published by Wolters Kluwer.

Jiya, J. (2022). Contextual Counselling Treatment Effect of Social Skills on Secondary School Students in Minna, Niger State of Nigeria. Retrieved from https://www.africanscholarpublications.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AJERLP_Vol24_No8_March_2022-1.pdf

Kutash, K. , Duchnowski, A. J. , & Friedman, R. M. (2005). The system of care, twenty years later. In M. H. Epstein, K. Kutash, & A. J. Duchnowski (Eds.), Outcomes for children with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families: Program and evaluation best practices (2nd ed., pp. 3—22). Austin, TX: PRO-ED. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-07452-000

Lehr, C. A., & McComas, J. (2006). Students with emotional/behavior disorders: Promoting positive outcomes. Impact 18(2), 2-5. Retrieved from https://publications.ici.umn.edu/impact/18-2/students-with-emotional-behavioral-disorders

Maina, G. J. (2015). Analysis of interventions teachers use to manage learners with selected behaviour disorders in primary schools in Thika Sub-County, Kiambu County, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, Kenyatta University).

McLeod, S. A. (2018, August 5). Lev Vygotsky. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

Mestry R., Moloi K. C., Mohammed A. (2007). The efficacy of a zero-tolerance approach to managing learner discipline. In: Oosthuizen I. J., Rossouw J. P., Russo C. J., van der Walt J. L., Wolhuter C. C. (eds), Perspectives on learner conduct: Proceedings of the first International Conference on Learner Discipline, 2–4 April 2007, at the North-West University, Potchefstroom.

Mooney, P., Epstein, M. H., Reid, R., Nelson, J. R. (2003). Status of trends in academic Intervention Research for students with EBD. Remedial and Special Education 24, 273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/07419325030240050301

Orodho, J. A. (2003). Essentials of educational and social science research methods. Masala Publishers, Nairobi.

Scheuermann, B. K. & Hall, J. A. (2008). Positive behavioral supports for the classroom. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill / Prentice-Hall. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/positive-behavioral-supports-for-the-classroom/P200000001784/9780135948859?srsltid=AfmBOopUgQO6yvM5AFIb90cbrENl7pIGaJSuc14gybU9vrklPcEn3bdx

Seidman, A. (2005). The learning killer: Disruptive student behavior in the classroom. Reading Improvement, 42, 40–47. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ711792

Sensing perspective, Pearson Prentice Hall, New York (2005).

U. S. Department of Education. (2005). 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004.Washington, DC: Author. Unpublished. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED499020.pdf

Walker, H. M., Ramsey, E., & Gresham, F. M. (2004). Antisocial behavior in school: Evidence-based practices (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Antisocial_Behavior_in_School.html?id=Q0olAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v11i2.6042

Copyright © 2015 - 2026. European Journal of Special Education Research (ISSN 2501 - 2428) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).