Staff sharing:An integrative approach to peer supervision

Schools are increasingly expected to be able to demonstrate standards of emotional health and wellbeing (e.g. Department for Children, Schools and Families 2008; Department of Health and Department for Education and Science 2005). However, when working with students with special educational needs, teachers report high levels of stress and may describe feelings of anger, frustration, and of ‘being at a loss’ (Male and May 1997). Furthermore, OFSTED (2004) concluded that teachers in only a third of secondary schools were considered to be effective in meeting the needs of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The value of supporting groups of teachers in schools to manage pupil difficulties has long been established within psychotherapy and educational psychology practice (Chesner 1999; Farouk 2004), and support groups may be considered a particularly effective method of supervision, as school staff can experience professional isolation (Bedward and Daniels 2005), particularly in relation to social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (Miller 2003).