This article is an exploratory descriptive study by O’Donnell and colleagues.

What They Did

This study explored Irish post-primary teachers’ perspectives on student organisational difficulties and their experiences engaging in an occupational therapy-led professional learning pathway designed to build their capacity to implement an evidence-based organisational skills programme called Getting It Together.

The study aimed to explore post-primary school teachers’ perspectives of student organisational difficulties and their experiences of engaging in an occupational therapy led teacher professional learning pathway, which aimed to build their capacity to implement the Getting it Together programme to support students.

Methods

The study used an exploratory descriptive methodology. The same group of 21 post-primary teachers completed surveys at three different timepoints throughout 2021, allowing researchers to capture how their perspectives evolved over time before, during and after the research period. As it was conducted during 2021, all research activity was completed online due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The intervention itself consisted of three 1.5 hour online training workshops, followed by two community of practice meetings, also 1.5 hours each. An occupational therapist and educational adviser co-facilitated all sessions. The training covered the impact of organisational difficulties on learning and well-being, factors contributing to these difficulties, whole-school and classroom strategies, and detailed instruction on implementing the Getting it Together Programme. The programme itself consists of ten lessons addressing everything from understanding what it means to be organised, to practical strategies like colour-coding systems, managing morning routines, using school journals effectively, and organising lockers. It’s designed as a flexible support teachers can implement with their whole classes, small groups, or intensive individualised support, depending on student needs. Although it is not explicitly described as this, it looks like a programme which supports students with the skills they need to successfully transition to secondary school.

The Results

Twenty-one teachers participated in the training, but survey completion rates ranged from 12-20 participants. Most participants were female (85%), and the majority identified as special education teachers, with smaller numbers of special education coordinators, class teachers, and others. Four main themes were identified by combining the data on all three surveys.

Theme 1 – Challenges with organisational skills leads to frustration and impacts student confidence.

All 13 teachers who completed the initial survey recognised the significant impact of organisational difficulties on students’ emotional well-being, motivation, curriculum access, and school engagement. They described both material challenges such as managing books, bags, journals, and lockers and temporal challenges like following timetables, managing homework time, meeting deadlines, and arriving on time. One teacher said: “Students with academic or diagnosed educational needs often lack basic organisational skills, which further hinders them from progressing and adds to their frustration and lack of motivation to engage with learning.” Nine of the 13 teachers expressed a need to develop their own knowledge and skills around organisational supports, particularly to help students cope with the transition to post-primary education.

Theme 2 – Embedding organisational strategies into everyday teaching.

Following the training, teachers reported incorporating numerous new strategies into everyday teaching. They described adapting the classroom environment by scheduling dedicated time for organisation for example adding two minutes at lesson start for students to prepare, or additional time for notetaking and recording homework. Teachers also reported fundamental shifts in their approach, moving from simply reprimanding poor organisation to investigating underlying causes. As one teacher noted: “I check in with students at breaks and mornings to re-emphasise organisation to find the root of the problem, rather than jump and give out about poor organisation.”

Teachers also described tailoring their teaching style for example, using demonstrations, visual prompts, written reminders, and allowing additional processing time. Eleven teachers specifically identified colour-coding strategies as particularly helpful for supporting students to manage belongings and navigate the school day.

Theme 3 – Organisational skills in out of school contexts.

Teachers valued lessons that helped students recognise how out-of-school factors, for example particularly sleep and nutrition, affected their organisational capacity. They found the video example in the curriculum of a student with organisational difficulties helped students to understand their own needs. Ten teachers highlighted the importance of developing healthy routines around diet and sleep as foundational to school readiness. One teacher described how “sleep was really important for one particular group as lateness and stress from disorganisation due to late-night gaming was a major issue.”

Theme 4 – Facilitators and barriers to implementing Getting it Together

Teachers identified both facilitators and barriers to implementation. They noted that the structured teaching manual and collaborative learning opportunities with colleagues supported implementation. However, environmental factors including, school timetables, student attendance, staff support, and COVID-19 protocols, presented challenges. Teachers demonstrated flexibility when using the programme by adapting across different tiers of support as well.

This study again, has not measured student outcomes, only teacher perceptions. Further research will be required to determine if the programme does make a different to student’s organisational skills. The study design also didn’t allow the researchers to determine which elements of the professional learning pathway were most effective: Was it the structured training, the coaching, the peer learning, or the combination? It would be helpful to understand for resource allocation and programme refinement.

Practical Takeaways

So, what are our practical takeaways. Firstly, this study shows the benefits to teachers and the outcomes of a universal support designed to help with organisational skills. I have searched for the programme but it currently only seems to be available to specific people saw the page on the Irish National Council for Education is password protected. Hopefully it is something that will be available in the future to a wider group of therapists

Next, it demonstrates the value of building teacher capacity rather than delivering direct intervention. Teachers who participated didn’t just learn to implement a specific programme; they fundamentally shifted how they understood and responded to organisational difficulties. This capacity-building approach aligns with contemporary models of school-based practice emphasising consultation and collaboration over direct service delivery.

Finally, the coaching component appears critical. The combination of structured training workshops and follow-up community of practice meetings enabled teachers to individualise strategies according to student and school context. This mirrors implementation science literature highlighting that training alone rarely changes practice ongoing support and collaborative problem-solving are essential. This is something that we need to consider when delivering training and providing universal support packages. It is still beneficial to have the direct link to occupational therapy expertise and sufficient time for this needs to be embedded within our service delivery models.

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