Behaviour and Discipline in Schools

Memorandum submitted by Dr Richard Crombie, Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist: Social and Emotional Development

Perspective: I am an Educational Psychologist with 25 years of experience specialising in children's social-emotional development and behaviour. My PhD is entitled 'Managing Behaviour in Mainstream Schools: Changing the Culture'. These are my views, and not necessarily those of my employing authority.

Supporting and reinforcing positive behaviour

For most children this is dependent on:

· Clarity and consistency

· Fairness and respect

· Strong, collegial leadership

This will ensure that they gain a strong sense of themselves as learners and affiliation to their school.

Beyond that there is huge scope for children - as part of the 'Big Society' agenda – to contribute within schools and communities. They are an important untapped resource, and will benefit themselves and others now and in the future, if schools can engage them in e.g. supporting the learning of others.

Challenging behaviour

This arises from three main sources:

· Response to a failure to provide the above

· Culture and peer relationships

· Failure to learn good enough self regulation

As a psychologist my focus is primarily on the latter. It is the foundation for understanding how children come to behave in challenging ways and for working out how best to respond to that.

Impact

Of course the impact of challenging behaviour is generally addressed in terms of teachers teaching and children learning. That is, the primary functions of schools. However, it may be more fruitful to consider it in terms of the impact on teachers personally rather than professionally. It is those personal responses that are most problematic. We need to support teachers to respond to children's challenging behaviour in a professional, not a personal, way. Feelings of frustration, failure, lack of knowledge and skills quickly lead to ill considered responses and to efforts to shift responsibility.

This is not to criticise teachers who are often faced with very difficult situations without appropriate training or support. Training in child development and an understanding of how children come to behave in challenging ways is crucial. As is access to high quality consultation.

Approaches

There are three essential pillars for managing children's challenging behaviour in schools:

· Understanding child development and learning processes

· Establishment of appropriate, professional relationships

· Clarity over responsibility, supported by a sense that everyone is doing the best they can under difficult circumstances

Beyond that it is usually not difficult to predict which children are likely to present very challenging behaviour. It is essential that everyone – the pupil, parents and staff – knows what will happen in the circumstances of a serious incident. We plan for children's learning needs; why not for the most difficult challenges teachers face?

I also wish to highlight the critical importance of attending to repairing relationships when a child is left feeling criticised, thwarted etc. This is too frequently ignored. I should like to propose, as a first step, that following a permanent exclusion the child and family is offered a Restorative Conference which has the potential to go some way towards repairing the damage done, and paving the way for the child to move on positively. It may lead to schools recognising the potential to use Restorative Approaches as an alternative to exclusion.

Special Education

SEBD frequently masks (other) SEN. Clarification of the full range of needs a child may present is dependent on good quality assessment.

Defining SEBDs as SEN is dependent on the need for differentiation. This can be in terms of pupil: adult relationships, curriculum or pedagogy.

Alternative Provision

Efficacy is determined by purpose, and I think we need to address that first. Who is alternative provision designed to benefit?

There is substantial scope for schools to develop alternative provision based on identification of pupil need. Alternative provision by PRUs should, in my view, arise from the need to take control of a deteriorating situation within a school. There is no reason why access to PRU provision could not be made available to schools on a quota basis. Schools could 'trade' such access.

Access to special school places should arise from parental preference, not pressure from schools. Access to residential placements should be the responsibility (in every sense of the word) of Children's Social Care and Health, as well as Education.

September 2010