24TRA481 Emotion Coaching - Online Training for Post Primary SNAs

DATE:      TUESDAY, 18TH JUNE 2024
TIMES:     9.30AM - 11.00AM & 11.30AM - 1.00PM
VENUE:   ONLINE VIA ZOOM

TARGET AUDIENCE: POST PRIMARY SNAs

Session 1: 9.30am – 11.00am - Background & Rationale for Emotion Coaching

• Understand the basic neuroscience of emotional regulation and how the stress-response system operates
• Increase emotional awareness and recognise adults' different styles of responding to emotions in children and young people

Session 2: 11.30am – 1.00pm - The 4 Steps of Emotion Coaching

• Explore the 4 steps of Emotion Coaching and understand how to integrate this approach into current practice:
  - Recognising emotions underlying behaviours and empathising
  - Labelling emotions and validating the young person’s experience
  - Setting expectations for behaviour
  - Problem-solving with the young person

What is Emotion Coaching?
Emotion coaching is a whole-school approach to supporting sustainable emotional health and wellbeing adopted by an increasing number of Primary and Post-Primary schools in Ireland and is a specific way of adults interacting with all pupils in school.

Initially developed by John Gottman in relation to parenting, Emotion Coaching has since been promoted and researched in relation to education, for example by psychologists Janet Rose, Lisette Gus and Louise Gilbert in the UK. It is a relational, skills-based approach for staff to use during moments of heightened emotion and resulting behaviour to guide and teach pupils about more effective responses.

Emotion coaching has been found to have positive benefits on staff feelings of competency and calmness, pupils’ emotional literacy and regulation and pupil-staff trust. Positive effects are also noted in pupil behaviour, attainment and staff wellbeing (Gus & Kilby 2016). Schools even notice an improvement in family wellbeing and a decrease in parental complaints.

Benefits of implementing Emotion Coaching in a school include:

• It is a universal, sustainable provision and can be overlaid on a school’s existing system (Gus et al 2015). There is no curriculum, resources to be purchased, timetabling or staffing implications (aside from initial training).
• It is a simple approach – with only four key steps.
• As it is an integrated approach rather than a discrete “programme”, staff need not fear that it will be abandoned or usurped without time to make an impact.
• Emotion coaching is inclusive as the focus is on the nature of the communication between adult and pupil and doesn’t require a time-slot for the pupil to go and have their individual “session”.
• It improves the quality of teacher-pupil relationships.
• It is mindful in that it occurs in the moment. The focus is on the emotion being felt in that instance and emotion coaching adults notice the pupil’s emotion in a non-judgemental manner.
• It provides a framework for teaching pupils about emotions and how to handle them. It also enables a coherent approach to the development of social/emotional skills and positive mental health which can be implemented over a long period of time.
• The range of staff a pupil encounters in a school means that some access to emotion coaching is likely even if it is not applied consistently by all staff.

Bio of Presenter: Lucy Mannion, Director of TINT Education

With extensive experience in using Emotion Coaching within therapeutic special schools, Lucy has effectively supported numerous children and young people facing emotion regulation challenges due to trauma, ADHD, autism, and other conditions. Her postgraduate studies in psychology and psychotherapy have enriched her understanding of pupil behaviour and wellbeing. Through collaboration with various therapists and clinicians in special school settings, Lucy has refined her skills in Emotion Coaching, helping pupils of all ages learn to regulate their emotions to facilitate learning. As the Director of TINT Education, she integrates psychological theory with educational practice, providing training and consultancy for trauma- informed, neuroinclusive, and therapeutic strategies in schools.