Psychology Department, College of Health and Human Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin 0810, Australia.
Perth Psychological Services, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jan 26;17(3):771. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17030771.
Boarding schools can provide quality secondary education for Aboriginal students from remote Aboriginal Australian communities. However, transition into boarding school is commonly challenging for Aboriginal students as they need to negotiate unfamiliar cultural, social and learning environments whilst being separated from family and community support. Accordingly, it is critical for boarding schools to provide programs that enhance the social and emotional skills needed to meet the challenges. This study evaluated a 10-session social and emotional learning (SEL) program for Aboriginal boarders and identified contextual factors influencing its effectiveness. The study combined a pre-post quantitative evaluation using diverse social and emotional wellbeing measures with 28 students between 13-15 years (10 female, 11 male, 7 unidentified) and qualitative post focus groups with 10 students and episodic interviews with four staff delivering the program. Students' social and emotional skills significantly improved. The qualitative findings revealed improvements in students seeking and giving help, working in groups, managing conflict, being assertive and discussing cultural issues. The focus groups and interviews also identified program elements that worked best and that need improvement. Secure relationships with staff delivering the program and participation in single sex groups stood out as critical enablers. The findings lend evidence to the critical importance of collaborative design, provision and evaluation of SEL programs with Aboriginal peoples.
寄宿学校可为来自澳大利亚偏远原住民社区的原住民学生提供优质的中学教育。然而，原住民学生在进入寄宿学校时通常会面临挑战，因为他们需要在离开家庭和社区支持的情况下，适应陌生的文化、社会和学习环境。因此，寄宿学校提供能够增强社交和情感技能的项目至关重要，这些技能是他们迎接挑战所必需的。本研究评估了针对原住民寄宿生的 10 次社交和情绪学习 (SEL) 课程，并确定了影响其有效性的背景因素。该研究结合了使用多种社交和情感福祉措施的前后定量评估，共有 28 名 13-15 岁的学生（10 名女性、11 名男性、7 名未识别）参与，并对 10 名学生进行了焦点小组讨论和对 4 名提供该课程的工作人员进行了案例访谈。学生的社交和情绪技能显著提高。定性研究结果显示，学生在寻求和给予帮助、小组合作、处理冲突、表现自信和讨论文化问题方面都有所改善。焦点小组和访谈还确定了效果最好和需要改进的项目要素。与提供项目的工作人员建立安全的关系以及参与男女分开的小组活动被认为是至关重要的促进因素。这些发现为与原住民合作进行 SEL 项目的设计、提供和评估的重要性提供了证据。
