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Evaluating a schools' service for children with a facial disfigurement: the views of teaching and support staff
Author(s) -
O'DELL LINDSAY,
PRIOR JESS
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
support for learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1467-9604
pISSN - 0268-2141
DOI - 10.1111/j.0268-2141.2005.00358.x
Subject(s) - disfigurement , thematic analysis , psychology , medical education , coping (psychology) , service (business) , qualitative property , qualitative research , intervention (counseling) , service delivery framework , pedagogy , medicine , sociology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social science , surgery , economy , machine learning , computer science , economics
In this article Lindsay O'Dell and Jess Prior present the findings of a small survey, organised as a collaborative project to evaluate a schools’ service, set up in 1998 by the charity Changing Faces 1 to assist pupils with facial disfigurements. Twenty schools responded, each of which had a pupil in their school, aged between 3–16 years, with a facial disfigurement. Qualitative and quantitative questions addressed schools’ expectations of the service, ratings of visits from Changing Faces, helpful/unhelpful aspects of the service and suggestions for improvements, as well as information about the child and school. The data was analysed using both quantitative data and a qualitative thematic analysis. Findings point to reasons for initial contact, and effectiveness of any intervention. Whilst many families and schools seek support in times of crisis, sometimes contact is made to try and prevent future difficulties. Professionals working in education may have much to learn from cases where the child, school and family are all coping well. Future research plans include extending this pilot survey to include the views of a wider range of schools as well as those of the children and families involved.