Beyond Disruption: identifying effective behaviour support in schools

Behaviour in schools is a continuing policy concern internationally (Hue, 2010; Ball et al., 2012). Many countries develop policies to promote inclusion of all pupils, including those whose behaviour is considered as ‘challenging’, in mainstream schools (Wearmouth and Glynn,2004). Much of the literature suggests that the most common form of pupil misbehaviour is low-level disruptive behaviour which includes talking out of turn, work avoidance, hindering other pupils and making distracting noises intentionally (Sullivan et al.,2014; Scottish Government, 2016). In Scottish schools, there is an increase in low-level disruptive behaviours, and class exclusion and internal exclusion are some of the different practices adopted by schools in terms of exclusion (Scottish Government, 2016). However, rates of disciplinary exclusion/expulsion have reduced (Scottish Government, 2015), representing schools' and councils’ efforts to adopt a range of approaches to engage pupils in their education. Research shows the different approaches that are used in schools to achieve greater inclusion including restorative and nurturing approaches, but also illustrates the challenges that schools experience (Black et al.,2012; Mouroutsou,2017). Those approaches employ different strategies and practices. For example, a restorative approach employs practices such as emotional and social literacy skills, circle time, solution focused interventions, relational pedagogy training for teachers, restorative ethos building, use of restorative language informal restorative conversations, and restorative group work with students and/or families (McCluskey, 2018). Taking the Scottish Attainment Challenge into consideration, the emphasis on positive relationships and behaviour (Scottish Government, 2013) as well as the link between learning and behaviour (Head, 2005) (such as for example the association of school-level behaviour approaches with improvements in attainment), it is important to explore the practices that schools have adopted and are considered to be effective and the adaptations that make a difference in practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify practices that are considered to be effective and the characteristics that make an approach effective. This project was funded by the British Academy. This short report presents a summary of the key findings. The study sought to answer three key research questions: 1. What approaches and practices are considered by teachers to be effective in terms of behaviour support? 2. What are the differences in the adaptations of similar approaches adopted by different secondary mainstream schools? 3.What are the important characteristics that can make an approach effective

Pre-service primary teachers’ understandings of inclusive practice in Scotland and Finland.

This study aims to explore Finnish pre-service teachers' self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education and their resilience. Survey data were collected from 105 pre-service teachers studying in a teacher education programme in one university in Finland. The relationships between pre-service teachers' self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices, their perceived resilience, and background variables were examined using structural equation modelling. The results confirmed a three-factor structure for self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices among the pre-service teachers. In addition, pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy was the strongest variable that related to their resilience. The findings would be beneficial for developing pre- and in-service teacher education

Inclusion as Ethics, Equity and/or Human Rights? Spotlighting School Mathematics Practices in Scotland and Globally

Mathematics education has been notoriously slow at interpreting inclusion in ways that are not divisive. Dominant views of educational inclusion in school mathematics classrooms have been shaped by social constructions of ability. These particularly indelible constructions derive from the perceived hierarchical nature of mathematics and the naturalised assumption that mathematisation is purely an intellectual exercise. Constructions of ability, therefore, emanate from the epistemic structures of mathematics education as predominantly practiced worldwide, and the prevalence of proceduralism and exclusion in those practices. Assumptions about ‘ability’ have become a truth to mathematical aptitude held by mathematics teachers in schools. This includes schools across Scotland. In Scotland, the government owes the ‘included pupil’ a legal obligation to provide additional support for learning under section 1(1) of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. However, classroom practices deployed around socially-constructed notions of ability have seen schools moving away from an emphasis on ‘additional’ to an expansive interpretation of ‘different from’ in the language of section 1(3)(a) of the Act 2004. This shift, therefore, reinstalls exclusionary effects to school mathematics practices by creating the conditions for some pupils, constructed in terms of disabilities or low ability, to be afforded a more inferior education than others. While philosophical conversations around whether these practices are ethical, egalitarian or democratic might ensue, there is also the human rights angle, which asks whether such practices are even lawful

The Normalcy of Racism in the School Experience of Students of Colour: "The Times When it Hurts"

The paper focuses on racism in Scottish schools drawing on data from focus groups with secondary students of colour. The study explores racial inequity in schools through students’ reflections on enactments of bias and privilege. Findings demonstrate that 1) students of colour experience racism but race is being ignored or deflected in their interactions in schools; 2) students feel discriminated against due to race; and 3) they do not feel that they are heard and supported by their school. Employing a Critical Race Theory (CRT) perspective, the article argues for the necessity of race talk in schools and the need for student voice. The study concludes with implications for teachers, research, and educational policy, and suggestions for more explicit focus on race in the classrooms, curriculum and policies

Working with the National Framework for Inclusion: a guide for teacher educators

This companion resource accompanies the National Framework for Inclusion 3rd edition and was developed by the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group (SUIG) and edited by Di Cantali (SUIG Chair). SUIG is a working group of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education

Working with the National Framework for Inclusion: a guide for teacher educators

This companion resource accompanies the National Framework for Inclusion 3rd edition and was developed by the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group (SUIG) and edited by Di Cantali (SUIG Chair). SUIG is a working group of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education

National framework for inclusion

Inclusive education is the cornerstone of Scottish education and, as such, must be of the highest priority for the Scottish Government and for all those involved in education in Scotland. There is clear recognition of the fact that teachers need to be well prepared and appropriately supported throughout their careers if they are to succeed in developing and sustaining the desired inclusive practice which will enable them to meet the increasingly diverse needs of all children within schools in Scotland

Policy implementation in inclusive education: a complexity perspective

Inclusion is a major focus of government policies worldwide. It is promoted by international agencies aiming to transform education systems in order to respond to the diversity of all learners. However, this research argues that not enough attention has been paid to the values that underpin the policies that promote inclusion, as well as to the beliefs of significant actors that participate in the policy process and which are considered to affect practice. Hence, the extent to which the move to inclusive education is substantive or linguistic is not clear. The complex conceptualisation of policy implementation as well as the need to study the conditions under which education policies work, encourages the use of complexity theory, which focuses on the idea that the interaction of multiple constituent agents has as an impact the emergence of phenomena-forms and events. The number of educational researchers who adopt sociomaterial approaches such as those developed by complexity theory and actor-network theory has increased. It is believed that complexity theory could contribute to our conceptualisation of policy processes, enhancing our understanding of how education policies become implemented and work. Underpinned by policy sociology and complexity theory as a conceptual framework, this cross-sectional and mixed methods research explores the way that the behaviour policy Better Relationships, Better Learning, Better Behaviour is interpreted and translated in mainstream secondary schools in Scotland. Additionally, this study examines whether complexity theory could contribute to our understanding of policy implementation in order to understand the extent to which the shift from behaviour to relationships in Scottish inclusive education is substantive and based on beliefs that promote inclusive education. In addition to questionnaires distributed to secondary mainstream schools in Scotland, data collection entailed interviews with policymakers, support teachers, support staff and education officers, and focus groups with pupils. The analytic framework is based on complexity theory in order to explore the implementation of the policy