Abstract

In mainstream classrooms, children with challenging behaviours often disrupt their own learning and the learning of other students. The special needs of these students are better met in the mainstream classroom if they can be supported by a teacher’s aide. There is some suggestion that celebrity identification can be viable for the effectiveness of celebrity endorsed programs. Teachers’ aides who are celebrities were used to provide individualized support for targeted students in order to add incentive and motivation for the targeted students in this study. The students, who were identified by their schools as being at risk of failure in their learning were assigned an individual celebrity football player to support their learning within the mainstream class. Qualitative data collection and analysis revealed that the students, as well as the teachers and teachers’ aides, benefited from this program. The important benefits for the students were having good male role models, having assistance from a celebrity to enhance their learning, benefiting from one-on-one support, and gaining knowledge about how to manage their behaviour. Overall an incentive to learn and motivation to behave more appropriately was enhanced by the football players’ celebrity status and influence both in the classroom and in the playground.