ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some problems of definition, concluding that the categories most widely used by teachers and educational administrators are of little or no value in understanding the needs of the pupils concerned. It considers aspects of school organisation and the curriculum, asking how these may promote behaviour which is socially acceptable to teachers or provoke behaviour they consider socially unacceptable. When teachers or psychologists say that a child is disturbed they are making a value judgement about the child's behaviour. When they say that they find the behaviour disturbing, they are describing their own reaction. The relationship between lack of progress in the curriculum, self-image and disturbing behaviour cannot easily be overstated. The chapter concludes that the evidence points to the need for a whole-school approach, with implications which affect all teachers and all pupils, not just an arbitrarily selected group with special needs.
