2 days ago
Classrooms in chaos: Teachers need option of excluding pupils
Surely this was an exaggeration, dramatic licence? people asked. The notion that teachers really have no means of enforcing good behaviour seems absurd to those who are a few decades out of short trousers. But ask current teachers if they recognise the scenes and the response is not reassuring. 'There's so little you can do,' one told me, 'and the kids know it.'
Disruptive, abusive and violent behaviour in schools has become a bona fide crisis in Scotland as in England since the pandemic and many teachers feel their hands are tied in dealing with it. Many Scottish schoolchildren feel safe in their schools, thankfully, but not all do and nor do their teachers, against a nationwide increase in disruptive behaviour.
Read more Rebecca McQuillan
Some teachers describe 'lawless' schools where pupils refuse point blank to do what they are told and square up to staff. Forty four per cent of Scottish teachers in a recent survey by the NASUWT teaching union reported experiencing physical abuse or violence in the previous year. Women report experiencing more physical assaults than men. Staff at one East Dumbartonshire school took industrial action earlier this year over 'a culture of abuse and violence from pupils'.
Many teachers are at the end of their tethers.
Mike Corbett of the NASUWT describes how in tackling bad behaviour, the use of restorative conversations is the norm, where children are encouraged to take accountability and repair relationships that have been damaged. But he stresses that this type of approach, while useful, just isn't enough to cope with the range of problems school staff face. Teachers need other options – right up to and including exclusion – and that is what has been lacking.
Or it was until this week. The Scottish Government has now published long-awaited new guidance on behaviour. But will it help?
Teachers have been crying out for a wider range of tools to deal with aggressive behaviour and for schools to have the confidence to use them. The guidance appears to offer that.
It stresses the importance of schools having a culture of positive relationships and behaviour, with clear expectations of pupils, well understood consequences and consistent application of the school rules. But teaching unions, who helped design the guidance, stress that the most important part is the appendix, where a list of exemplars of poor behaviour and possible consequences are laid out. The NASUWT welcomes the description there of 'an escalating set of consequences', including things like detention and, where absolutely necessary, exclusion.
Teachers need other options – right up to and including exclusion – and that is what has been lacking in recent years (Image: free) No school wants to exclude pupils, for solid reasons. Twenty years ago, ministers sought to drive down exclusions, in response to strong evidence that pupils who were excluded had significantly lower levels of attainment and were much more likely to become offenders.
When the use of exclusions fell, it was rightly seen as a positive development.
But some head teachers, fearful of being criticised if they excluded children, started regarding the option as prohibited altogether. That left them with limited options for dealing with instances of serious, dangerous behaviour.
That has contributed to a sense of helplessness among teachers faced with a rising tide of violence.
Exclusion in the new guidance is described as as 'a last resort, where this approach is proportionate and there is no appropriate alternative'. Many teachers will be glad the Scottish Government is explicitly including it in the list of options for teachers but they also know that exclusion was never and will never be the answer on its own.
We've come a long way with the focus today in schools on the 'why' of pupil behaviour rather than just the 'what'. Given the profile of children who are traditionally most at risk of exclusion – those with unmet additional support needs (ASN), looked after children and those from deprived backgrounds – meeting those children's needs more effectively is clearly a huge part of the answer. It's easy for politicians to dismiss such approaches as touchy-feely and call for harsher consequences but disruptive behaviour can't be tackled in a lasting way unless its causes are addressed. Tackling the 'why' is better for the child and for the whole school.
And that is demanding for any school. It requires close collaboration with educational psychology, social work and underfunded mental health services, and it also means thinking differently about the way some children are educated.
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Particularly for children with ASN, the difficulty so many mainstream schools have meeting their needs is raising serious questions about the inflexibility of the system. Some schools, though not all, now have 'wellbeing hubs' or 'nurture spaces' where such children can spend time productively in a supportive environment; we'll need a lot more focus on developing these spaces and staffing them properly in future.
At the same time, and separately from these issues, teachers report a trend for parents and children to value school less. In a survey last year by the NASUWT, one teacher commented that 'it has become more common for learners to see school as optional'. Pity our head teachers: they now face a whole new challenge in persuading those parents to value their children's education more.
Will it work? Will the tide go out on classroom violence and abuse? It could, provided these principles are shared with teachers and embedded in schools, and schools have the staff and resources to better support all children in their care. But the positive headlines may be some time coming.
Rebecca McQuillan is a journalist specialising in politics and Scottish affairs. She can be found on Bluesky at @ and on X at @BecMcQ
