Socioemotional instruction in learning support staff across Italian primary schools: a call for using the ‘multidimensional, scaffolding framework’ in training programmes

International research has illustrated that learning support staff (LSS) play a crucial role in the instruction of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND): they support the children’s classwork while teachers manage the whole-class instruction. However, fewer research studies have explored LSS’s role in the children’s socioemotional learning, although this support is highly important for pupils’ regulation of negative emotions, effective participation in whole-class conversations, and academic learning. The current research explores LSS socioemotional practices in a relatively unexamined country (Italy), providing LSS with a high level of training. Thirty-one primary-school-LSS members completed a questionnaire and interview. The LSS reported infrequently supporting the socioemotional learning of children with (and without) SEND despite their difficulties. Also, they appeared to overly control the children’s peer interactions and emotions, minimising their self-management. The participants associated their infrequent socioemotional instruction with their limited socioemotional training and preparedness, and insufficient persuasion by the national curriculum to promote socioemotional education. Findings are largely interpreted using a new ‘multidimensional, scaffolding framework’ linking LSS socioemotional practices and related children’s learning. Findings also suggest that the framework could usefully guide LSS training.