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Disciplinary exclusion: issues for practice

Resource material for Multiverse

Louise Gazeley

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Inclusion

Exclusion

Illustration One

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Exclusion

Illustration Two

Inclusion

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Social

Policy level

School level

Socio-economic

and

cultural factors

Teacher

level

Illustration Three

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Disciplinary exclusion as a process

• Recorded exclusion - either fixed term or permanent. This is a formal process that is monitored and regulated

• Internal exclusion/ isolation/ seclusion. • Alternatives to exclusion - college placements, work

experience, managed moves• Other disciplinary sanctions and behaviour

management strategies

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Inclusion or exclusion?

1. Being withdrawn from a specific curriculum area?

2. Being required to work outside the head teacher’s office for a day?

3. Attending a work experience placement for one day a week as part of an Increased Flexibility Programme?

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National Statistics• Government collects and publishes data on the

recorded exclusion of pupils • Rates of recorded exclusion are lowest in Primary

schools • Rates of recorded exclusion are highest for pupils in

Years 9 and 10• Schools are required to collect data on the exclusion of

particular groups of pupils and to use it to inform their own policies and practices

• There is a tendency in schools to think of pupils as individual problems rather than as members of specific social or ethnic groups

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Issue 1 ‘The exclusion gap’

• Pupils from Black backgrounds are at least two and a half times more likely to be excluded from school than White pupils.

• Measures to address this over-representation have been identified at policy level as ineffective

“Exclusion from school represents the most stark and absolute denial of education. Even with the best efforts to improve provision for excluded pupils, the continued existence of the exclusion gap means that Black pupils are disproportionately denied mainstream education and the improved life chances that go with it.”

(DfES, 2006, p.15)

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Issue 2 Gender inequalities

• Boys are more likely than girls to be identified as having behavioural needs.They are also four times more likely to be excluded from school than girls

• Professional attitudes towards girls and boys with behavioural needs differ and this encourages different responses

• There is a shortage of specialist provision for girls identified as having behavioural needs

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Issue 3 Hard-to-place pupils

• Hard-to-place pupils are those that schools are reluctant to accept on roll. The need for local protocols to share these pupils between schools suggests the status of these pupils

• Schools are under pressure to raise attainment. Measuring a school’s success by the proportion of pupils achieving 5 GCSE A*-C grades diverts attention from those pupils furthest from this threshold

• Schools may feel the need to compete for those pupils - and their parents - who will bring them academic success

• There may be disagreement about the most appropriate placement for a pupil and appropriate provision may be hard, or impossible, to find.

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Issue 4 Intergenerational disadvantage

• There is no consensus about how social class can be measured in schools and professionals may resist talking explicitly about pupils in terms of their social class

• There is a strong correlation between maternal levels of educational attainment and those of pupils

• Very few excluded pupils come from middle class backgrounds

• Growing up in poverty makes it more likely that you will live in poverty as an adult

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Issue 5 Support for parents

• Parents who are able to be support their child’s education proactively are much better positioned to intervene before a crisis occurs

• Although parents have rights in relation to disciplinary exclusion, they may not always know what these rights are

• Parents do not always know what advice or support is available, and they do not always take advantage of it

• The parents of excluded pupils may feel powerless, guilty or blamed

• Pupils who do not have proactive parents are dependent on (proactive) professionals

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Who benefits from disciplinary exclusion?

• The excluded pupil may reflect on the situation and make a fresh start

• The excluded pupil might access more suitable provision

• Other pupils might experience less disruption to their learning

• Other pupils will see that standards of behaviour have been enforced

• Some parents may prefer a school in which there are few ‘difficult’ pupils

• Some teachers may welcome being able to concentrate on teaching

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Some big questions…

• What is the relationship between disciplinary exclusion and low attainment?

• To what extent is an increased risk of exclusion an indicator of poor parental experiences of education?

• Are there school practices that increase the risk of disaffection and disciplinary exclusion?

• What is the relationship between educational inequalities and social inequalities?