Managing disruptive student behavior is one of the most pervasive, difficult, and contentious challenges confronting schools today. Despite greatest intentions to create a more inclusive and punitive-free education system, school suspensions and expulsions continue.
According to new research from the University of South Australia, exclusionary policies not only fail to address the fundamental causes of challenging student actions, but also worsen negative issues rather than resolve them.
Professor Anna Sullivan, the lead researcher at UniSA, says schools confront difficult decisions about suspensions and expulsions.
“Suspensions and expulsions have been the mainstay of schools’ behaviour management practices for decades, regardless of research finding that they are ineffective for disciplining bad behaviours,” Prof Sullivan says.
When a student is suspended or expelled from school, we essentially remove them from their education and limit their life opportunities. And, given that vulnerable populations are more susceptible, these exclusion measures are essentially discriminatory.
Prof Sullivan
“In fact, there is a clear relationship between school suspensions and a range of detrimental health outcomes, including alienation from school, involvement with antisocial peers, use of alcohol and smoking, and a lower quality of school life — and this contributes to a higher risk of dropping out of school and possible illegal behaviour.”
“What’s worse is that vulnerable students are more likely to be suspended or expelled, which often exacerbates their conditions and life chances. Boys, Aboriginal students, kids from low-income families, and children with disabilities are disproportionately excluded from education. There is a major blind spot about how school suspensions and expulsions foster broader societal disparities.”
“Schools and policy makers must look beyond challenging behaviours to understand what is contributing to the cause — rather than treating the effect — and it’s this missing information that’s needed to develop new school policies.”
Researchers examined the newly reviewed NSW Student Behaviour Strategy and discovered that, while there was greater behaviour support and management, the new iterations continued to feature punishing methods.
“When a student is suspended or expelled from school, we essentially remove them from their education and limit their life opportunities. And, given that vulnerable populations are more susceptible, these exclusion measures are essentially discriminatory,” Prof Sullivan states.
“We also see situations where children with disabilities — some on prescribed medications — are being excluded from school on the basis that ‘they have problems already’. As a consequence, exclusion appears to be a reasonable solution given schools do not have the time, expertise or resources to manage complex and challenging behavioural needs.
“Removing a ‘difficult child’ from other people’s learning environments contributes to deficit thinking. Rather than assisting these students, the policies exacerbate their problems. What we need is more listening, empathy for at-risk pupils, and a willingness to examine the impact of broader socioeconomic injustices such as poverty, race, housing, and unemployment on society’s most vulnerable members.”
“These issues do not exist in isolation; they touch families and children and cannot be left at the school gate. It’s time to take a fresh look at the complex and tough conditions that many young people face. Only then can we hope to build a more inclusive and equitable educational system.”
