ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book examines the moves from the spectacle of corporal punishment in the classroom to its replacement with suspension as the ‘measure of last resort’. It aims to evaluate the impact of increasingly influential psychological discourses on the extension of control in schools. The book discusses the construction of professional relationships which isolate, often physically, the student as pathological, measurable and knowable, in need of help, docile and malleable. It explores the discussion of disruptive student behaviour to consider a number of theoretical understandings of the phenomenon. The book looks at alternative ways of framing and responding to student needs as indicative of the priorities to be embraced in the framing of discipline policies. The vulnerability of disadvantaged groups such as students with disabilities and students from non-English-speaking backgrounds is exacerbated by the narrower requirements of competency-based training.
