Improving Concentration

Elvie Brown is a Chartered Educational Psychologist, registered with the British Psychological Society and the Health Professions Council. She is also a member of the Association of Educational Psychologists. She graduated from Exeter University with an MEd in Educational Psychology in 1984 and following this began working for Somerset County Council as an Educational Psychologist. Since leaving the Local Authority, she has built up a private practice as an Educational Psychologist. Alongside individual parental referrals she provides a consultancy service and training to many schools. Over the years she has trained teachers, schools and business organisations on a range of topics including all aspects of SEN and a range of management and personal development topics. Dr Roy Bailey is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Society of Expert Witnesses. Dr Roy Bailey has written many papers and books on Counselling, Stress and Coping. He is the author of books/manuals/and software resources on psychological stress, relaxation, counselling, confidence, anger management, and neuro-linguistic programming. His publications have been translated into Arabic, Hebrew, Indonesian, Swedish, Czech, Mandarin, Polish and Russian.

"The authors of this practical resource have produced it as a companion volume to their earlier Speechmark publication on assessing concentration. Bailey and Brown are highly experienced psychologists who have worked with teachers and schools to produce and refine this guide to improving concentration. It is designed to help students to develop an understanding of the concept and it provides explanations of how concentration can be improved and managed in relation to performance.Part 1 outlines the theoretical perspectives on the subject and describes the model the authors have developed. In Parts 2 and 3, a mindful approach to coaching is introduced that covers aspects such as attention, openness, curiosity, patience and thinking. A range of photocopiable activities is also provided. These can be used singly or combined as part of a structured intervention to improve an individual’s concentration skills.This book would be useful for those working with secondary age students who may have a diagnosis of specific learning difficulties or weaknesses in aspects of monitoring their own levels of attention and performance.The activities are well designed and the book is written in a user-friendly workbook format." — Mary Mountstephen, MA(SEN) Associate Editor, SEN Magazine

• Preface, Introduction, Part 1 Understanding concentration, Part 2 Pathways to improving concentration, Part 3 Concentration skills training, References