A theoretical framework towards understanding of emotional and behavioural difficulties

Children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties are the result of multiple individual, social and contextual factors working in concert. The current paper proposes a theoretical framework to interpret students’ emotional and behavioural difficulties in schools, by taking into consideration teacher–student relationships, students’ social and emotional skills and classroom context. Based on Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, according to which process, person and context are the main sources of children’s development, the current paper combines three theoretical approaches: firstly, in terms of process, the systems communication approach referring to teacher–students’ relationships; secondly, in terms of person, the Social and Emotional Learning, which refers to children’s social and emotional competences and skills; and thirdly, in terms of classroom context, the achievement goal theory, with emphasis on mastery classroom goal structure. The derived framework provides a means to capture the dynamic multidimensional process through which emotional and behavioural difficulties arise. This perspective provides educators with a comprehensive theoretical and practical preventative tool for emotional and behavioural difficulties.