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Research into the stages of emotional development in children

Developmental Models

The program uses two models of child development, which offer valuable insights into emotional and social development. These contemporary and optimistic models, based on current research and established theory, are used to inform the Fronting the Challenge approach.

The First Model

This was developed by Daniel Stern, Beatrice Beebe and others, and is described in 'The Interpersonal World of the Infant' (1985). It demonstrates that infants first develop their sense of themselves in relation to other key people. They need to build relationships with other people in order to maintain and develop their sense of self.

Obviously, these key early relationships can have a positive effect on the relationship with the child’s teacher. ENABLE encourages a positive relationship between teacher and child, which will have a positive impact on the child’s future development and education.

The Second Model

The second child development model arises out of the work of Illsley-Clarke and Dawson. Illsley-Clarke received the Berne Award for her work in the field of parenting in 1998. Extending the earlier work of Levin, she suggests a model of building blocks of experience; young people and adults need to complete their ‘building’ in order to fulfil themselves and their potential.

The stages of children’s development are sequential, but developmental tasks can be tackled at any stage of growing up. In successfully experiencing and completing tasks, our sense of safety and uniqueness, our creativity, and our problem-solving and relationship-making skills become more secure. Needs and tasks that have not been addressed satisfactorily - or those that become more urgent because our circumstances change, for instance through bereavement or redundancy – may recur throughout our lives. Thus for a child, the exciting reality is that the interrupted, missed or newly-needed learning can happen at any time, given the right circumstances – or the right tool for the job, such as ENABLE.

The Six Building Blocks  

ENABLE uses a developmental framework to clarify the connections between emotional and social development, behaviour and learning.

Child development can be depicted as six building blocks of experience, each with accompanying tasks and opportunities. These translate into six fundamental aspects of Learning for Emotional and Social Development:

  • Learning to be
  • Learning to do
  • Learning to think
  • Learning to be powerful and to have an identity
  • Learning to be skilful and have structure
  • Learning to be separate and secure in your sexual identity

These can be thought of as six areas of competence. Each area of competence has related tasks and desirable experiences to make the most of learning. The diagram above makes ‘learning to be’ the foundation on which other experiences are built; this is the model that is used throughout the program. Click on the graphic for a detailed illustration. You can download a complete version of the presentation from the downloads area.

Each building block is linked to three learning needs.

  • You can recognize the most urgent learning need by observing the young person's behaviour. 
  • ENABLE then recommends specific one-to-one responses and various teaching strategies, and explores the implications for the school as a whole.
  • You can select School Actions, and these interventions can be included in Individual Education Plans (IEPs) as part of the SEN Code of Practice staged assessment procedures, or within Pastoral Support Programmes (PSPs) for reducing exclusions or making provision for vulnerable students.

Students who need additional or wider-ranging help can be supported through the local services, community organizations and specialist agencies included in School Action Plus.