Intervention with Children (Routledge Library Editions: Psychology of Education)

Educational psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other professionals are often asked by parents or teachers to intervene when ‘normal’ classroom strategies have failed children in their charge. This title, originally published in 1990, brought together for the first time some of the ‘intervention strategies’ available at the time and offers professionals vital information about the results of each strategy in practice.

The contributors, acknowledged experts in their fields, present a critical and objective overview of the range of approaches available and apply them to the areas of poor school attendance, maladaptive behaviour, and poor reading levels. They stress the need to avoid replacing a traditional approach with an intervention strategy whose results are unproven. They also warn that different problems demand different approaches and that the consultant must avoid the dogmatic application of a single approach when the child’s welfare is at risk. The need for consultants to deal sensitively with the professionals they are asked to advise is also emphasized. Teachers may feel, for example, that an educational psychologist is out of touch with the realities of teaching. Above all else, interventions should offer realistic and effective methods of improving children’s lives.

Intervention with Children provides in one volume practical, effective, and acceptable strategies for working with children. Educational psychologists, LEA advisers, researchers, and other professionals will still find it a valuable source of ideas and a model of good practice from which to develop their own intervention strategies. Written in a clear and accessible style, it will still be of interest to experienced teachers, social workers, and others involved in the management and care of children.

Rajinder M. Gupta, Peter Coxhead