Spotlight: Update on the project “Behavioural disorders among children and young people”
Luxembourg continues to pursue its ambition of a more inclusive education, as evidenced by the fact that less than 1% of students are enrolled in a competence centre or abroad. At the same time, the number of students receiving support has been increasing since 2019, whether through ESEB teams or through specialised ambulatory interventions from a competence centre. This development is reflected in the classroom by an increasing diversity of student profiles. According to field reports, this diversity—particularly the management of behavioral disorders—poses a significant challenge for teaching teams (OEJQS, 2023; OEJQS, 2024).
It is within this context, where the development of support measures coexists with the need to better equip and support teaching teams when dealing with behavioral disorders, that the OEJQS launched its “Behavioral disorders among children and young people” project in summer 2024. This project aims to identify, through a rigorous meta-analysis of international research, the most effective intervention models. The goal is to compare school-based, extracurricular, socio-pedagogical, and psychotherapeutic approaches in order to assess their respective strengths and limitations.
To carry out this study, the OEJQS is collaborating with two international institutions: the Interkantonale Hochschule für Heilpädagogik (HfH) in Zurich and the Deutsches Jugendinstitut (DJI) in Munich. These collaborations ensure specialised methodologies for reviewing scientific literature and analysing best practices at both the international and European levels. The study also explores the theoretical models underpinning the different interventions and identifies factors that influence their effectiveness.
Concurrently, to ground the project within the Luxembourg’s educational landscape, the OEJQS is undertaking a situational analysis to map existing structures and practices. This includes an inventory of existing programs at local, regional, and national levels, as well as a survey targeting the presidents of the inclusion commissions (commissions d’inclusions, CI) of both primary and secondary schools. Focus groups are also being organised with stakeholders from the educational and related sectors to identify best practices and adapt interventions to the specific needs of the country.
The next steps include the completion of the meta-analysis by summer 2025, followed by an analysis of the results to identify relevant intervention approaches in autumn 2025. The OEJQS is committed to presenting concrete, evidence-based proposals that can inform the reflections and practices of education professionals in addressing behavioural disorders in the school environment.