Using Video Technology To Encourage Reluctant Primary School Children To Participate Actively in the Evaluation and Counseling Processes.

N

58

Behavior Change; Children; Client Characteristics (Human Services); Counseling Effectiveness; Counseling Techniques; Elementary School Students; High Risk Students; Outcomes of Treatment; Primary Education; Speech Communication; Videotape Recordings

A project was implemented which attempted to reduce the number of children from kindergarten through second grade whose counseling services are terminated prematurely, or who receive suboptimal counseling services because their active participation could not be engaged in the evaluation and counseling processes. Seven individual sessions were held with each of four children participating in the program. Using the view-through mode with videocassette recorder (VCR) camera and mointor, children who previously could not be engaged were encouraged to interact with the television on a variety of activities. Evaluative activities involving art, story telling, and play were carried out while interacting with the television. An additional three sessions were held with each child without the use of the VCR equipment. The results of the intervention were encouraging. Participatory behavior for all but one of the children was increased to the point at which they were able to complete all three of the evaluation tasks; the remaining child was able to complete two of the three tasks. Carryover of participatory behavior without the use of the VCR was noted for all of the children. Although none of the children was speaking to anyone in the school at the start of the project, half of the participating children began to speak on a limited basis by the time the project was completed. (Author/ABL)

1992

ED337740