Elements of a psycho-educational programme

Psycho-educational groups are among the common interventions to help adolescents to cope and gain necessary life skills (Kriščiūnaitė & Kern, 2014:29). This statement might also be true for young adults as it addresses the same problematic dimensions that academically excluded students, as young adults, might experience.

146 The literature review revealed a representative sample of the field of psycho- educational programmes. These include a range of intervention programmes aimed to help young people to cope with a variety of difficulties, such as illness, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and sexual behaviours. Some of these programmes are designed to teach life skills, coping strategies, and self-understanding.

An advantage of a psycho-educational programme lies in the assumption that the participants will generally share a common reason for attending, and that the presenting problem is known and will be addressed from the outset in the group situation. The value of such an intervention will furthermore lie in the communal nature of the intervention; because of the fact the participants will have a shared problem, they will more easily experience a sense of group cohesion and safety, which will in most instances lead to active participation in the group activities.

The sessions to be discussed within the context of the psycho-educational programme described here, aim to support the participants in the programme to become resilient within their contexts as academically excluded students. Hart and Bond (1995:37) describe the aims of these sessions as the improvement of the education and the enhancement of the self-concept of the participants. Participants are subsequently empowered to attain their set goals.

The sessions will therefore also be designed to meet the seven requirements as mentioned by Hart and Bond (1995:37), namely:

1. The context is educational with resilience as an educational outcome.

2. The programme is conducted within a closed group setting (academically excluded persons), and each individual is involved within the context.

3. The resolution of individual problems are pursued and development is stimulated.

147 4. An overt intervention is made to empower academically excluded students to

acquire their goals.

5. Active participation within the group context leads to individual development.

6. A cyclical process unfolds through the process of research, action, and evaluation. Participants work on their own self-development. Evaluation is conducted and participants reflect on their own behaviour, thoughts and emotions.

7. Singular relations are developed between the role-players. Relations are strengthened and the participants and the facilitators get to know each other better.

Order and consecutiveness in the facilitation of a psycho-educational programme are deemed important. However, the researcher is of the opinion that the delineation of the sessions, the description of which is to follow, should not be viewed as an absolute fixed approach. The population for which the programme is envisaged remains, as young people, vibrant and youthful, and the group dynamics may require revisions in the facilitation of the programme, with regards to depth of disclosure, the rate at which the sessions are conducted, the extent of the participation of individuals within the group, and allowances for individual interactions, among others.

The participants in the programme will be those students who have been informed, or have become aware that they will be academically excluded at the end of the applicable semester or year. A once-off intervention, in the format of a workshop consisting of a number of sessions, is therefore recommended to facilitate this psycho-educational programme. This will allow for the participants to share their lived experiences as it becomes evident that they will be excluded, and for the group to immediately share their experiences and activate their resilient selves. A follow-up session is recommended after a determined period of time,

148 acceptable to the group. It is proposed that the sessions are conducted at a maximum of 40 minutes per session.

The number of sessions within the programme intervention is envisaged to preferably not exceed five to six sessions. This would be due to the nature of the intervention being transitionary, the population, and the positioning of the intervention organisationally as an institutional intervention, or a private initiative. As such, it is recommended that the programme is facilitated in a combined format, and that the sessions be facilitated concurrently during a morning workshop, with enough time in-between for short breaks and immediate reflections and awareness building. A morning format will further benefit the participants by minimising possible constraints to participation, such as distance, or time constraints in attending the programme over the duration of a number of weeks. As the programme will be offered to students who have been excluded from further study, it follows that the timing of the programme should be such that participants have gained confirmation of their exclusions, but they have probably not yet vacated their study accommodations, returned to their place of permanent accommodation, or the like. As such, the programme will be offered in real time of the participants’ exclusions and transitions, and may at this time offer the greatest possibility for the assistance to be of significant benefit to the students.

Facilitating a group intervention with academically excluded students may be a beneficial experience for both the students as well as the facilitator. These students, although at a low point in their lives, are intelligent young people, with potential. They might be verbally well spoken and able to participate, but they are also at a stage in their lives where they have to deal with the adversity of being excluded from their further studies, and they share the common experience of having to go through involuntary transitions at this stage of their lives.

Johnson (2009:512) proposes a developmental model for facilitating short-term interpersonal process therapy groups for university students that intends to maximise cohesion and engagement with the process and prevent premature termination. The context in this study refers to academically excluded students

149 within a higher education institution. The timing of the programme is dependent on the academic calendar, and will eventually be offered within the institution to students who have been informed, or students who have been made aware through self-insight, or institutionally, that they will not be admitted to continue their studies within the next period in the university calendar. It thus becomes evident that this psycho-educational programme might be offered to students as they become aware of the finality of their exclusion, as well as another opportunity immediately subsequent to their exclusions, at the beginning of a new academic calendar as it normally unfolds within the South African higher education environment. Notwithstanding the timing of the programme, it is clear that the population remains that of the young adults, the university students, even if these participants are not formally enrolled. Of course, the programme may in future be reviewed to accommodate youth in diverse settings and periods of transition.

The main objective of the programme within the context of a group facilitative intervention remains the facilitation of resilience amongst students during periods of involuntary transitions, or similarly during periods of inaction due to lack of developmental, educational or employment opportunities. As such, the programme, as psycho-educational in nature, may be offered in conjunction with the acquisition of a range of skills, such as adjustment, career planning, employability, and academic development and study skills.

Placing the academically excluded student within the context of the university student, cognisance needs to be taken of the challenges and developmental tasks associated within this period in the lifespan of the student (Johnson, 2009:513).

a) Developmental tasks

Students encounter multiple challenges and developmental tasks during their undergraduate and graduate years (Johnson, 2009:13). Identity formation is of paramount importance, and students at this stage of development also engage in negotiating dependence versus interdependence and independence (Chickering & Reisser, 1993, in Johnson, 2009:13).

150 b) Developmental tasks, arrested development and group counselling

Students who have been excluded from their studies, might find the group environment a safe place for sharing and developing more effective ways to address their challenges, through the interactions they share with other persons experiencing the same conditions. Group counselling affords the psychological space and structure to balance inner exploration with time to pull back and allow others the opportunity when exploration becomes overwhelming (Widseth & Webb, 1992:61).

c) Multicultural considerations

In a diverse student environment, sensitivity should be afforded to students from different backroads within the programme setting. The group situation may lend itself to students from diverse backgrounds to share how they viewed their backgrounds contributing to their perceived lack of preparedness for tertiary study, and their eventual exclusion. The group situation may prove an ideal place to explore and heal from the damaging effects of oppression and exclusion (Johnson, 2009:14).

Conyne (2014:7) also lists five perspectives underlying group work, and notes that these five perspectives are not mutually exlusive; in the real world there is overlap among them:

a. Individual perspective, having its basic origin and primary focus on the individual person.

b. Group perspective, focused on the group unit itself as the main point of referenece, the group.

c. Interpersonal perspective, where the particpant interaction and the relationships among participants is key.

151 d. Contextual perspective, which treats the interactions with each other and with

the group environment as central.

e. Multicultural-diversity perspective, which posits that all group work is multicultural.

Cognition of these factors, challenges and developmental tasks become even more important as the participants in this programme are dealing with the personal challenge of being excluded from further studies, and having to deal with the trauma experiences of being excluded. In addition, the associated emotional consequences, the personal and social consequences, and also real-life consequences such as relocation, financial and debt issues, and being able to take care of the self, also needs to be factored into the equation.

The development of resilience in young people may benefit them to be more hopeful and confident and possess higher self-worth when faced with adversity. Some things that make young people resilient include (Hutchison, 2009:67):

• viewing difficulties as challenges to overcome rather than something to be defeated by;

• goal-setting to resolve problems;

• persevering in overcoming difficulties rather than avoiding problems;

• effective interpersonal and communication skill abilities to elicit assistance from others;

• having realistic expectations;

• knowing and understanding their strengths and weaknesses; and • learning from past mistakes.

152 These perceived benefits that young people may gain by being resilient can be developed through (Hutchinson, 2009:71):

• warm and positive relationships with parents, family members, teachers, psychologists, counsellors, and other significant adults – unconditional positive regard;

• role-modelling words and actions;

• providing a safe, supportive and nurturing relationship/environment; • building self-esteem;

• teaching social skills and encouraging self-control; • developing problem-solving skills;

• encouraging the formation of realistic expectations; • nurturing optimistic thinking patterns;

• sleeping enough and maintaining a healthy diet; and • exercise, especially spending time outdoors.

5.3 DESCRIPTION AND EXPOSITION OF THE GROUP SESSIONS WITHIN