Abstract:
Despite vast volumes of research into the Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and its impact on students, problems in the classroom which have AD/HD connections continue to be reported. There appears to have been little positive impact on the ability to motivate and moderate the behaviour of students with AD/HD from the plethora of empirical findings and the subsequent increased understanding of the disorder.
This paper makes reference to two independently generated, yet complementary sociologically-based theories concerned with the experience of students with AD/HD and their carers respectively. One aspect of the findings of both studies was strikingly similar, that is that students with AD/HD have active agency in relation to their inattentive and hyperactive behaviours, which cause so many issues in the classroom. In essence, these students choose to act in a particular manner based on a number of conditions which were identified by both the students themselves and by their carers. How these theories might translate to improved classroom practices to benefit the educational and social outcomes of students with AD/HD is discussed.
This paper makes reference to two independently generated, yet complementary sociologically-based theories concerned with the experience of students with AD/HD and their carers respectively. One aspect of the findings of both studies was strikingly similar, that is that students with AD/HD have active agency in relation to their inattentive and hyperactive behaviours, which cause so many issues in the classroom. In essence, these students choose to act in a particular manner based on a number of conditions which were identified by both the students themselves and by their carers. How these theories might translate to improved classroom practices to benefit the educational and social outcomes of students with AD/HD is discussed.