Attachment Theory ‑ The Availability of the Secure Base as a Container of Anxiety Arising from Fear.

· Bowlby and maternal deprivation

· Primary carer and the secure base

· Attachment behaviour

- maternal sensitivity

- proximity

· Empathic attunement

· Internal working model

· Research and patterns of Attachment Behaviour

Attachment Patterns Identified by the Strange Situation Procedure

· Secure

· Insecure / Anxious:

o Anxious / Avoidant

o Anxious / Resistant Ambivalent

o Anxious / Disorganised Disorientated

The Avoidant Attachment pattern of behaviour demonstrated in the learning situation

Stage 1 - Approach to school/classroom

· Apparent indifference to anxiety in a new situation

Stage 2 - Response to the teacher

· Denial of need for support and help from the teacher

· Sensitivity to the proximity of the teacher

Stage 3 - Response to the task

· Need to be autonomous and involved in the task, independent of the teacher

· Hostility felt towards the teacher is directed towards the task

· The task is the emotional safety barrier between the pupil and the teacher

Stage 4 - Skills and difficulties

· Likely to be underachieving

· Limited use of language

· Limited use of creativity

1:

The Resistant/Ambivalent Attachment pattern

of behaviour demonstrated in the learning situation

Stage 1 - Approach to school/classroom

· High levels of anxiety and uncertainty

Stage 2 - Response to the teacher

· Need to hold onto the attention of the teacher

· Apparent dependence on the teacher

· Expressed hostility towards the teacher

Stage 3 - Response to the task

· Difficulties in attempting task unsupported

· Unable to attend to task because of concerns about loss of teacher attention

Stage 4 - Skills and difficulties

· Likely to be underachieving

· Language may be well developed

· Learning may be accompanied by hostility

Features of Disorganised / Disorientated

Attachment Behaviour

• May live with constant overwhelming fear and anxiety

• Experience helplessness in the face of the absence of a secure emotional and physical base

• Cope with helplessness by taking control

• Hyper‑vigilant and on the lookout for danger

• Have not experienced being held in mind or thought about ‑ affective attunement

• Absence of self awareness and empathy with others

• Brain `hot‑wired' for fight / flight

Implications for the pupil:

· Heightened state of anxiety

· Constant state of vigilance

· Absence of trust in the authority of adults

· Overwhelming sense of affect which has no apparent meaning

· Extreme sensitivity to criticism and implied humiliation

· Little development of the capacity to think

The Disorganised / Disorientated Attachment pattern

of behaviour demonstrated in the learning situation

Stage 1 - Approach to school/classroom

· Intense anxiety which may be expressed as controlling and omnipotent

Stage 2 - Response to the teacher

· Great difficulty experiencing trust in the authority of the teacher but may submit to the authority of the head of the school

· May be unable to accept being taught and permitting the teacher to know more than they do

Stage 3 - Response to the task

· Task may seem like a challenge to their fear of incompetence, triggering overwhelming feelings of humiliation and rejection of the task

· Difficulty accepting `not knowing'

· Appear omnipotent and to know everything already

Stage 4 - Skills and difficulties

· Likely to be underachieving and at a very immature stage of learning

· May seem unimaginative and uncreative and finding conceptual thought difficult