PRESCHOOLERS WITH ADHD
PSYCHOEDUCATION
Providing education and advice (Psychoeducation) to teachers is a critical initial step to the effective management of children with ADHD in the classroom. Psychoeducation for teachers may support children with ADHD by helping to foster a therapeutic relationship between the teacher and the student. It engages and empowers teachers by educating them about ADHD, its causes, core symptoms, and evidence-based interventions. With the knowledge of the disorder and its treatments, teachers may further serve as a bidirectional source of information on ADHD that helps educate parents on their child’s condition, as well as improve the recognition and management of ADHD.
In Singapore, a study on teacher’s knowledge and perceptions in managing children with ADHD (Yeo, 2012) revealed that 23.3% of teachers reported having received some form of training to teach a child with developmental needs. Evidently, there remains a concerning majority number of teachers who had never received any form of training. Furthermore, even for teachers who have undergone training, the training sessions were general in nature and not specific to children with ADHD.
Research has shown that psychoeducation helps to improve treatment adherence (Corkum, Colom, & Schachar, 1999), promote satisfaction with treatment (Montoya, Colom, & Ferrin, 2011), and improve functional outcomes in children with ADHD (McCleary, & Ridley, 1999). A study by Yeo (2012) on teachers in Singapore revealed that teachers’ knowledge regarding ADHD and its treatment influence their attitudes as well as efficacy in managing children with ADHD in the classroom. Teacher training programme has also been found to be beneficial in improving teachers' skills in addressing attentional and disruptive behavioural problems in the classroom (Froelich, Breuer, Doepfner, & Amonn, 2012).
These findings point to the importance of and benefits in increasing teacher’s knowledge and awareness of ADHD through psychoeducation. Given the plentiful beneficial effects of psychoeducation, it is an important first step to consider psychoeducation for teachers prior to implementation of ADHD-specific classroom interventions.