The Role of School Exclusion Processes in the Re-Production of Social and Educational Disadvantage

Abstract

English education policy has increasingly focused on the need to intervene in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and low attainment. The accompanying policy discourse has tended to emphasise the impact of family background on educational outcomes. However, as the capacity of parents to secure positive educational outcomes for their children is closely linked to the quality of their own education, low attainment is rather more closely connected to what happens in schools than this focus suggests. Pupils from groups known to be at increased risk of low attainment are also known to be at increased risk of involvement in the disciplinary processes of schools. This paper draws on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study to highlight some of the limitations in the educational provision accessed by Secondary age pupils involved in school exclusion processes. The assumptions and tensions at practice level that underpinned this provision are also discussed. In the conclusion it is argued that a much stronger focus on the learning of these pupils could improve their attainment and contribute to a reduction in social and educational inequalities in the future.

School exclusion and educational inclusion of pregnant young women

“…As has been highlighted recently by Russell and Thomson (2011), alternative education provision may often only offer vocational options, limiting academic choice, and this, they argue, is a particular problem for girls, who may also be outnumbered by boys and offered stereotypically 'female' vocational options. Gazeley (2010) has also emphasised the limitations of the educational provision made for pupils involved in school exclusion processes.…”

The impact of social class on parent–professional interaction in school exclusion processes: deficit or disadvantage?

“…Although a great deal of previous literature has explored the ways in which social class affects parental engagement in educational processes generally (Reay 1998a;Vincent 2001;Gillies 2005), there has been surprisingly little discussion of the way in which social class shapes the parent-professional interaction that occurs in school exclusion processes specifically. School exclusion processes are complex as pupils who become involved in them can experience a number of different and at times overlapping outcomes (Munn, Lloyd, and Cullen 2000;Gazeley 2010). Parents may have to negotiate not only the formal processes that cover the use of the disciplinary sanctions of fixed-term and permanent exclusion, but also the less well-regulated processes that are associated with early intervention and alternatives to exclusion such as college and work placements (Attwood, Croll, and Hamilton 2004;; Thomson and Russell 2007;Steer 2009;Gazeley 2010).…”

“…School exclusion processes are complex as pupils who become involved in them can experience a number of different and at times overlapping outcomes (Munn, Lloyd, and Cullen 2000;Gazeley 2010). Parents may have to negotiate not only the formal processes that cover the use of the disciplinary sanctions of fixed-term and permanent exclusion, but also the less well-regulated processes that are associated with early intervention and alternatives to exclusion such as college and work placements (Attwood, Croll, and Hamilton 2004;; Thomson and Russell 2007;Steer 2009;Gazeley 2010). As some pupils involved in school exclusion processes also have an identified special educational need, parents may be involved in these processes as well (Todd and Higgins 1998;Warnock 2006).…”

London Education and Inclusion Project (LEIP): A cluster-randomised controlled trial protocol of an intervention to reduce antisocial behaviour and improve educational/occupational attainment for pupils at risk of school exclusion

“…Compared to other countries, for example in Switzerland where school-exclusions are utilized as a 'treatment' strategy, in the UK schoolexclusions are utilized largely as one of the more extreme types of disciplinary measures (Parsons 2005). Despite recent evidence from other countries suggesting that school-exclusions are not only non-effective in achieving behavioural and/or educational improvements in young people, but may in fact be harmful (Gazeley 2010;Osler and Vincent 2003), they continue to be widely used in schools throughout the UK.…”