This paper will draw on the findings of a Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) supported project which aimed to provide educational psychologists and teachers with the skills and resources to train professionals working in schools and after school clubs to use an approach, ‘Growing Talent for Inclusion’ (GTI). This approach focuses on improving group dynamics and student self-efficacy to promote and develop learners’ social, emotional and behavioural skills. (Doveston and Keenaghan, 2006). A small focus group of eight participants: three educational psychologists, three primary teachers and two secondary teachers, selected for their stated interest or experience in using the GTI approach, attended four GTI training sessions spread over four school terms. The training sessions developed participants’ knowledge and understanding of how consultation, appreciative inquiry, solution focused thinking and collaborative working can be used to promote affective as well as cognitive development and to cultivate a wide range of social and practical skills (Kirk and Broadhead, p.16). This paper will evaluate the impact of the TDA supported project on the development of consultation skills in teacher participants. The GTI approach begins with a consultation to identify teacher’s priorities for emotional and social skill development in their class and the use of rating scales to monitor and evaluate progress towards desired behaviours. Consultation is a model widely used by educational psychologists in their work with schools (Wagner, 2000) but not so much by teachers in England. Educational psychologists use consultation to help teachers in managing their concerns to achieve outcomes that are practical and achievable in the context in which the problem occurs; it is a collaborative process in which the contribution of each participant has equal value and the first step in the process is a structured conversation based on aspects of Solution Focussed Brief Therapy. (De Shazer, 1985) This TDA supported project involved a focus group of educational psychologists and teachers exploring how consultation can be used as a tool for teachers to collaborate with colleagues to identify priorities for emotional and social skill development in a particular class and to use solution focused rating scales to monitor and evaluate progress towards desired behaviours. This is an important project because of the high incidence of emotional, social and behavioural difficulties in school, the need to understand and apply psychology to address these barriers to learning and the need to skill share when educational psychologists are a scarce resource.

A consultation script was prepared by the researchers, introduced and trialled during the first training session. It was revised in response to participant feedback and then piloted by the teachers in school. This paper will draw on data obtained during the focus group feedback at subsequent training sessions and from individual semi structured interviews with both consultants and consultees to explore teachers’ experiences of the consultation approach and script as a tool to understand and develop learners’ social, emotional and behavioural skills. Interviews were also conducted with the educational psychologists in the group to gather their own perceptions and those of their teacher colleagues use of the consultation process. Data from all the interviews was analysed to identify key concepts which then enabled the researchers to identify issues of common importance to teachers and educational psychologists and also those themes which were specific to particular groups and individuals.

Early findings indicate that teachers found the consultation process a useful way of exploring their ideas & practice in teaching the social and emotional skills which address low level behavioural issues. Special needs Co-ordinators (SENCO’s) found consultation enabled them to support colleagues to identify & draw on their own resources to clarify barriers to participation & learning and plan ways forward. This mirrors the findings of Wagner, 2001 working with educational psychologists. Consultation raised some important professional issues. The consultant’s perceived position in school structure was important in freeing up teachers to be open and candid in their exploration of the issues. Teachers while valuing consultation found the process challenging and this has implications for how the GTI approach is disseminated for it to be effective in supporting teachers to consult to each other. All participants valued the project as a forum for sharing their knowledge,experience and skills of consultation.