SENDI and Counselling Students Experience International Perspectives

Third year Special Educational Needs, Disability & Inclusion (SENDI) and Counselling students at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) were joined by Education Erasmus students from Germany and Czech Republic for a special learning session.

Led by Dr Maria Efstratopoulou (Senior Lecturer in SENDI) and Jenny Hamilton (Program Leader for Counselling) the students were given school case scenarios on a child or young person experiencing different issues and asked to deliver presentations in small groups to say how they would approach supporting both the student and the family from a Counselling and/or SENI perspective.

Students were able to learn from each other and gain insight into how different professionals within a school context might approach supporting the student. Following a positive response from the students involved, who felt they gained different perspectives and enjoyed working together, similar activities will be arranged for other groups of students/professionals within the School of Social Sciences.

In addition to encouraging European educational cooperation, Dr Efstratopoulou has been working alongside the Department of Psychology from San Paolo University, Brazil to translate the English version of the Motor Behaviour Checklist for Children (MBC) into Portuguese. The MBC (Efstratopoulou, Janssen, Simons, 2012) is a valid and reliable instrument for teachers to rate challenging behaviour in their primary students using observation protocols in school settings.

The MBC checklist has already translated into numerous languages (including Greek, Polish, Chinese, Flemish, and Arabic) and has been used in many research studies. Following this new translation the first article applying the MBC to Brazilian students has been published in TRENS in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Journal.

Courses at BGU are packed with unique learning opportunities and led by academics with international expertise. To find out how you can become a part of the BGU community, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team.