A systematic literature review to explore pupils’ perspectives on key outcomes of the Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) intervention

The Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) intervention aims to build capacity in schools and support the wellbeing of students. This systematic literature review explores pupils’ perspectives of their outcomes from participating in ELSA and how those views were gathered. Twelve papers met the inclusion criteria; the majority explored other key stakeholders’ views alongside pupil perspectives and few studies focused explicitly on outcomes for pupils. Pupil data was analysed using thematic synthesis, producing four themes: communication skills; emotional understanding, management, and outcomes; relational and social skills and positive school experiences. Students highlighted outcomes which the intervention intended to deliver and additional skills. Examination of the approaches taken to gain pupil perspectives identified semi-structured interviews as a frequent method with standardised quantitative measures used in four of the 12 papers. The review highlighted areas to consider in relation to measures that capture progress within the ELSA intervention.