ABSTRACT
In this chapter I explore the processes which get in the way of growth and learning. It focuses on what can happen to inhibit learning, on making sense of what can go wrong. The better we are able to understand what is getting in the way of learning for children with emotional/behavioural difficulties, the more we are able to provide effectively for their needs in a way which helps them to participate in the learning process. So what we might call ‘process-blockers’ are examined in this chapter. Manifestations of process-blockers in the interaction between teachers and pupils are identified. Phenomena which seem to affect communication are related to the experience of key relationships, in both the present and the past, and to the pictures of reality, personal constructs or emotional frames of reference which are developed to make sense of relationships. The way in which adults relate to children in the present is very important in providing opportunities for children to restructure their emotional constructs, or frames of reference.
