ABSTRACT
Behavioural problems in schools are a perennial area of concern for teachers, local authorities, policy makers and the public at large. This is demonstrated in the media interest which has been devoted to the subject, the publication of the Elton Report (DES, 1989a), as well as in reports from teacher unions and professional associations (e.g. AMMA, 1986). In spite of the emphasis placed by the Education Reform Act (1988) on the entitlement of all pupils to a ‘broad and balanced’ school curriculum, evidence suggests sharp increases in the numbers of pupils who are excluded from schools (and therefore, their entitlement to the National Curriculum) as a result of behavioural problems (ILEA, 1990; Merrick and Manuel, 1991; Pyke, 1991). Research also suggests that pupils become increasingly disaffected from school and critical of their teachers as they advance through formal schooling (Keys and Fernandes, 1993). Furthermore, there is some suggestion that the already considerable difficulties which many schools face in preventing and alleviating disaffection and problem behaviour are being exacerbated as a result of measures introduced in the Education Reform Act, 1988 (Woods, 1990b; Pyke, 1991). The imposition by government of crude performance indicators, such as rates of public examination success and truancy, may well lead some schools to abandon pupils who are likely to bring performance scores down. Individual teachers, too, might be increasingly inclined to seek the removal of disruptive pupils from their classes, rather than attempting to deal with problem behaviour in the classroom. This would be an understandable response if teachers were to feel that their own performance, and possibly their job security,
were to depend, in part at least, on the quality of pupil behaviour observed in their classrooms by appraisers. On the other hand, the provisions of the Children Act (1989) make it a duty of schools and teachers to take careful account of pupils’ welfare needs and, where necessary, pass information to Social Service Departments. This places teachers in a key position, with regard to pupils’ welfare needs. In the light of these circumstances, there has perhaps never been a worse time than the present to be a pupil experiencing emotional and behavioural difficulties in school, or a more challenging time to be a teacher faced with ‘difficult’ pupils. This makes the need for a book such as this all the more urgent.
