The CSB project was a
longitudinal research study investigating
social behaviour and peer relations in primary school children. In a
unique approach that connected academic research to educational
practice, the CSB project involved a close collaboration between
academic researchers and educational psychologists. The research
project involved following over 300 5-year-olds and 8-year-olds across
three years of primary school, investigating the
way they think, feel, and act in social situations. Our main interest
was
in understanding why children behave in the ways they do, and in
determining
how and why problems in children's social interactions and peer
relations
can occur.
The CSB project was funded by Brighton &
Hove City Council, and involved close collaboration with
staff of the Educational
Psychology Service, notably Bob Daines and Hass Yilmaz. The
research study was coordinated
and led by Dr Robin Banerjee in the
Department
of Psychology at the University of Sussex. The
Research Fellow responsible for the day-to-day management of the
project was Dr
Dawn Watling, now in the Department
of Psychology at Royal Holloway
University of London.
Programme of research
The research programme took place
during the 2002/3, 2003/4, and 2004/5 academic years.
Researchers visited the participating schools at three timepoints in
each year. A variety of measures was used
to investigate children's peer relations and their thoughts, feelings,
and behaviours in social situation. The children completed
questionnaires, responded to hypothetical stories about everyday peer
interactions (e.g., meeting new classmates for the first time), and
provided information about the friendship networks in their
classes. They used an engaging multimedia computer programme,
developed by the project team to provide this information in a
fun yet neutral context. We administered measures of:
1. Peer relations
2. How children think about the social world
3. How children think and feel about themselves
A brief summary of key research
findings is available here.
Applications and intervention
strategies
Running alongside the
longitudinal research study was a programme involving the design,
implementation, and assessment of practical strategies to develop
social skills and to manage and support children who are experiencing
difficulties in peer interaction. Tools and methods for these practical
strategies were informed and shaped by the emerging research findings,
and the
collaboration of academic researchers and educational psychologists led
to innovative and effective applications.
The project team developed an Emotional Literacy
Curriculum for Key Stage 2 children that was launched
to a national
audience of educational psychologists and other practitioners on 21 May
2004. The curriculum is built around 40 social experience
stories about children's
everyday life, based on detailed research evidence regarding children's
emotional and
social development.
Our Emotional Literacy Curriculum has
already been successfully used in primary school classrooms in Brighton
and Hove and in other Local Authorities. The
social experience stories can be used for whole-class, small group, and
targeted individual work. The curriculum can be applied in
lessons across the school day, but most teachers choose to use the
materials in PSHE/Circle Time, Literacy, and Drama sessions.
The
curriculum pack includes: