The present qualitative study was focused on educational staff in a Swiss Special School setting and aimed to investigate their understanding of the Nurture Approach and attunement, the effectiveness of training in attunement and the impact of this training on their practice. The study followed staff pre and post training over a total period of 9 months. Data from focus group discussions, questionnaires and participant observations were collected. The tools and guidelines by Education Scotland (2023) were recognized as helpful strategies by educational staff. The results of the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ) and the Neuroception of Psychological Security Scale (NPSS) suggested an increase in self-awareness of staff for their behaviour and for their environment following the training. The participant observations and the statements pronounced by participants in the focus group discussions revealed discordances. This demonstrates the importance for including data from the natural environments of participants in order to bring forward in-depth understanding about the participants in qualitative research. It is implied that staff participation in the training on attunement and their investment of time and effort in the whole research study made a salient impression on them and impacted staff significantly on a personal and professional level. It was discovered that the outcome of staff participation differed depending on their training and existing pedagogical knowledge. The findings infer that the Nurture Approach and the attunement principles, in particular, may be suitable for a whole school approach in a special school setting but without the unity of the whole school community, implementations of new methods or approaches are not possible. The findings suggest that progress is hard to attain if staff do not meet on common ground. The findings also indicate that without training, staff will behave as they have in the past and specific training, to ensure the appropriate application of the attunement principles, is required. Further investigation is recommended to design training for attuned interactions with children and young people with special needs and disabilities (SEND) and to find ways of communication that urge empathic vigilance to staff but focus less on spoken words. In general, the findings propose to actively engage educational staff in training which invite them to take training more seriously. This may lead to positive outcomes and change in practice if there is a continuous use of the newly learned techniques and methods.
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Schaal, Katharina Vivian
Rights Holders: Schaal, Katharina Vivian Supervisors: Colley, David
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
MA Education
2023
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