A systematic literature review exploring the factors identified by children and young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties as influential on their experiences of education

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a systematic literature review investigating the views gathered from children and young people (CYP) identified as having Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD) or Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties. Whilst there is great interest in the area of children’s views, there is limited research in the views of pupils with BESD/SEMH. This literature review seeks to identify areas to consider in future research alongside educational practice with pupils with BESD. This paper systematically reviews seven articles which reflect on the educational experiences of pupils with BESD. The paper will discuss the common characteristics in pupil views reported across the seven pieces of research. Strengths and limitations of this review will be identified and finally how best to facilitate the process of listening to the views of pupils with BESD.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavioural
• emotional and social difficulties (BESD)
• social
• emotional and mental health (SEMH)
• children and young people
• listening
• participation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pandelitsa Cosma

Pandelitsa Cosma is a Trainee Educational Psychologist (TEP) studying at the University of Birmingham.

Anita Soni

Anita Soni works as an Academic and Professional Tutor at the University of Birmingham and as an EP in the West Midlands.