Cooper, Daniel;
(2024)
A Constructionist Grounded Theory of the Roles of Young
People, Parents and School in Recognising and Responding To
Emotionally Based School Avoidance.
Doctoral thesis (D.Ed.Psy), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Official figures for recent academic years indicate a significant rise in the proportion of young people persistently absent from schools across England following the COVID-19 pandemic. Risk factors that contribute to difficulties attending school have been documented in quantitative research, indicating how factors that pertain to the individual child, the family, and the school may contribute to the heterogenous nature of Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). Qualitative research provides further insight into the profile of EBSA, and have discovered how each party perceives the cause of attendance difficulties elsewhere, with young people often seeing school as blameworthy, school attributing EBSA to mostly family factors, and parents often viewing within-child differences as impacting attendance. This research explores the multifaceted nature of EBSA through a qualitative investigation of those with experience of EBSA either as a student unable to attend, a parent of a child who is unable to attend, or an educational professional tasked with giving support for those unable to attend. By gathering perspectives from secondary school students, parents, and educational professionals, this study delves into the diverse factors contributing to EBSA, revealing differing and concurring perspectives. Through grounded theory analysis, a tentative theory of the ‘role’ of young people, parents, and schools emerges. Under each role, key themes are constructed to describe these roles in recognising and responding to EBSA. This study also unveils the role of an innovative local provision, the Alternative Teaching Service (ATS), in supporting EBSA cases with promising outcomes. Through reflective discussion, this theory of roles is examined as to how this fits within existing literature, and what the implications for Educational Psychologists (EPs) and other educational professionals are. Finally, reflections on the research process, including limitations and avenues for further investigation, are described.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Ed.Psy |
| Title: | A Constructionist Grounded Theory of the Roles of Young People, Parents and School in Recognising and Responding To Emotionally Based School Avoidance |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | EBSA, Emotionally Based School Avoidance, Attendance, Grounded Theory |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10195671 |
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