A Guide to a Multi-Domain Model of Living and Education

Navigating the complexities of school life can be a daunting task for young people, educators, and parents alike. This book aims to provide practical guidance and insights to those who find themselves struggling in the educational landscape.

While grounded in academic theory and evidence-based research, the primary focus of this book is on offering tangible solutions and real-world examples. Through a series of stories, vignettes, and problem-solving scenarios, the authors explore the challenges faced by students, teachers, and parents from various perspectives. By delving into these narratives, readers are likely to find answers to the questions that prompted them to pick up this book in the first place.

The authors propose a model for change called the Multidomain Model of Education and Living (MDM), which aims to facilitate and enhance collaborative relationships between home and school, as well as within these two domains. Rather than advocating for sweeping, top-down changes that are often met with resistance, the MDM offers a flexible framework that can be adapted in part or in its entirety to suit the unique needs of each school community. The authors draw upon their own experiences in the Irish education system to illustrate how these ideas can be further developed and implemented. By inviting parents, guardians, pupils, and school staff to consider incorporating elements of the MDM into their own schools, the book serves as a catalyst for meaningful dialogue and incremental change. Ultimately, the authors believe that lasting transformation in Irish education will not come from above or below, but rather from the middle, where people come together to engage in open and constructive conversations. This book is a vital contribution to that ongoing dialogue.

Peter initially was awarded a BA Degree in Psychology from University College Dublin. He felt drawn to Youth Work rather than Psychology and this led him to study for a qualification in Community Work in Maynooth University. He has over 35 years’ experience of working with young people and their families in an effort to find solutions to emotional and behavioural difficulties which arise at home and at school and which may inhibit or prevent the young person in participating fully, or at all, in mainstream education. Peter initially worked as a Community Worker attached to a Special School in the North Inner City area of Dublin. Given his reservations regarding the individual model used in Education, when he began working with David Carter in Finglas, he trained as a Family Therapist, and subsequently also as a Systemic Supervisor. Peter is a registered psychotherapist with the Family Therapy Association of Ireland and the Irish Council for Psychotherapy.

David Carter, B.Ed. Hons. studied at Froebel College and Trinity College Dublin before teaching in the inner city of Dublin. In 1989, he then took up a teaching post in a special school dealing with young people of the ages 10-16 years with SEBD (Severe Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties). He has 34 years of experience working in this school setting, teaching, supervising, and providing programmes for and working with at-risk youth, young people with Severe Emotional Behavioural Difficulties and with their families. Since 1998 he moved into a management position as Principal/Director of St Paul’s Youth Encounter Project, Finglas, Dublin 11 and is still there at present. As associate trainer of TCI since 2001, he has worked on the implementation of TCI and adapting it to a school setting and has provided training to new and existing staff since that time. He became certified as a Professional TCI/S trainer in 2014. David has also given presentations and training on managing challenging behaviour and collaborative problem solving at several educational settings, within mainstream and special schools at both primary and secondary levels. David is also director of BEST Consultancy (Behavioural Educational Support & Training) which specialises in delivery of training and consultancy for organisations that provide care or education to children and young people who have difficulty in managing their behaviour in acceptable ways, training teachers, social workers, social care workers and by negotiation directly with families.

Website: www.bestconsultancy.ie