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Excluding problem children from school 'is not effective'
Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 02/03/2010.
Tags: Education And PoliticsExpelling or suspending schoolchildren for misbehaving does not help them or their parents, it has been suggested.
Sue Fieldman, regional editor of the Good Schools Guide, said youngsters who are excluded from the classroom are usually "delighted" about it.
"It is best for them to stay in school but only if there's a system that is geared up specifically to cope with them," she explained.
Excluding children is an easy way out for schools and does not solve any problems, Ms Fieldman commented.
She added: "It's a short-term solution but there is no long-term good consequence out of it."
The more behavioural training teachers have, the more able they are to deal with problem pupils, Ms Fieldman continued.
It was reported by the Irish Independent earlier this year that the majority of parents that appeal against their child's expulsion from school fail to get the decision reversed.
Written by Donal Walsh
benner
(07/03/2010 14:13)
If a child is a 'problem' in school or anywhere else there is a reason - it is usually a problem/difficulty in the school or home & can be elsewhere, maybe abuse, bullying, fear of failure, feeling that the family is getting rid of you by sending you to school, feeling lost, teacher not liking child, child not liking teacher,attention, allergys etc etc. Children spend more time with teachers than their parents and all teachers should be trained to help these children and educate them properly. It is again pointing to the fault of the poor training teachers recieve, overcrowding of classes, lack of teacher assistances, lack of proper contact with the students parents and poor leadership from the school principle. All national schools in Ireland have a Doctor, Nurse & Dentist that visits the school, this looks after their physical well being why is there nobody to look after their emotional side??? This cannot be done by a visiting doctor/Nurse, it must be done by someone familar to the child and parents!!!
JulieHogs
(07/03/2010 23:58)
I agree with you benner in that there can be a whole host of reasons why a child presents with bad behaviour in school. I am a parent but have also been teaching for close to 30 years and working as principal of a large primary school for many of those years. The training regime for primary teachers has always been demanding but all the training in the world may not be sufficient to contain an extremely disruptive (sometimes violent) child in a classroom situation who is disrupting the education of all his/her classmates.
Sadly, we are living in very different times, with a whole host of social problems. Some people are very fast to jump on the bandwagon and lay the blame for the problem at the door of the school. Sometimes, reasons wiithin the school may be responsible. Time and time again, however, I have seen parents castigating teachers that children are not sleeping at night etc etc and blaming the school, only for the school to discover that there has been a marital breakdown at home or some very difficult situation that has nothing to do with the school.
I am only saying this, after several years of experience, that the vast majority of schools can and do help significantly, behind the scenes. Also, while most parents are wonderful and are very supportive of the schools, some lay the blame on schools, teachers, principals, when this is very often unfair.
The provision of Assistants is a huge help but also the NEPS psychological service can be of significant benefit. The problems for the school are that the wheels of bureaucracy turn very slowly and often these supports are very hard to come by (and getting harder). Sometimes, there can be denial on the part of parents which can also thwart the process. (Having said that, many parents are wonderful and know that the best way forward is by home and school working together).
The exclusion, suspension, expulsion of pupils is more of an issue at second level. In truth, at primary level, this very rarely happens but instead, most schools do their level best to deal with disruptive children, within the school setting.