Disturbing, problematic, or challenging student behaviour is said to be among the greatest challenges facing today's school life. However, despite the apparent commonsensicalness of the issue, there is no commonly agreed upon definition for such events, and there is often very thin analysis of what actually becomes disturbed, challenged, or problematised in such instances. In this paper, disturbing behaviour is seen as a discursive practice that produces reality; it is a historically and socioculturally formed coming-together of various intersecting power-related discourses that make claims about individuals and contexts. Informed by poststructural approaches, this theoretical paper looks at how ideas of disturbing behaviour come to be formed within the discursive environment of school. The paper argues that behind the idea of disturbing behaviour are the ideas of a normal developmental course and an idealised student, as well as increasing emphasis on management and measurement in school.
Teachers leaving the profession is an increasing trend also in Finland, which is interesting because many of the explanations found in other international contexts do not apply. The Finnish context, in which teachers are not controlled officially in any way, offers a unique context for investigating implicit control mechanisms and their relationship to teacher turnover. The research shows how intersecting discourses work in ways that may lead to self-exclusion of beginning teachers who cannot find a subject position within school. This happens unofficially and implicitly in a context that explicitly emphasizes teacher freedom, autonomy and societal appreciation. Teacher turnover provides tool for making visible the discursive boundaries that might otherwise stay hidden.
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