This article reports on a critical policy analysis of discourses related to school exclusions. The management of problematic student behaviour is one of the intractable problems facing education systems today. Despite being ineffective, school suspensions and exclusions are commonly used in many countries as a discipline strategy to manage student…

Proactive classroom management is associated with increased teacher wellbeing and improved student learning outcomes. Yet research indicates that many teachers over-report and underuse practices associated with this approach. The research findings reported here were drawn from semi-structured interviews conducted with 26 government secondary…

Keeping a good disciplinary climate is a key to student learning and well-being. Disciplinary norms need to be clearly established and applied fairly and consistently. Yet, strictness alone cannot optimise student outcomes: students need support and understanding.

When considering the management of student behaviour issues, a substantial body of literature, as well as logical common sense, points to the advantages of whole school policy over the individual efforts of teachers. Less is known, however, about the direct or indirect role school leadership plays in the development of well-implemented whole…

The effectiveness of various management strategies has been of central concern in academic and educational debates on the role and nature of classroom discipline. Educational theorists and researchers have put forth a range of different models, each of which incorporates the use of a number of strategies. This article reports on a study that seeks…

This article examines teachers' views of their management styles, classified as either "coercive" or "relationship"-based, for 145 primary and 363 secondary school teachers in Victoria, Australia. It finds that management that combines punishment with aggressive and hostile behaviour can exacerbate misbehaviour and increase…

Surveyed Year 1 and 2 teachers in Australia about their classroom rules. Found that teachers have about six rules for their classes relating to pupil-pupil relations, completing academic tasks, movement around the classroom, property, safety, and other. Most rules concerned pupil-pupil interactions, and all rules can be seen as a way of…

Discipline is viewed in its broad organizational context as control of behavior. The context of secondary school discipline is analyzed in both its theoretical and practical aspects. Available from: Australian College of Education, 916 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia, $2.50 single copy. (Author/MLF)

To interrogate pedagogical discourses relating to child behaviour as "practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak" this paper features the analysis of three texts through the development and deployment of what might be called a poetics of pedagogical discourse. The principal text is a statement describing…

This booklet looks at two models that apply to problem behavior of students. The medical model defines problems as being within the student, and assumes there is very little that teachers can do about the behavior of these students. An alternative model is often called the ecological or educational model. The educational model targets disturbing,…

This report reviews and discusses the results of an extensive year-long study of school discipline in Western Australian secondary schools. Through its investigation, the committee attempted to determine the nature and extent of disciplinary problems, to ascertain the factors contributing to these disciplinary problems, and to recommend measures…

Managing student behaviour is a primary task of principals and teachers, but it is not their responsibility alone. Parents are also responsible for their children's behaviour inside and outside school. As primary educators and caregivers parents have a duty of care and are responsible for nurturing, disciplining and socializing their children. In…

A case study was conducted of Ryan, an 11-year-old student from New Zealand whose family came to Australia as itinerant fruit pickers. Classroom observations; document reviews; and interviews with Ryan, his teachers, and the school principal indicated that Ryan was a badly behaved student. However, in focusing on Ryan's behaviors and linking poor…

The conference papers in this collection are grouped under the following topics: behavior problems in context; interpersonal relationships; initiatives by systems and schools; and programs in special settings. Papers included are: (1) National Trends in Discipline Policy Development (Roger Slee); (2) Balancing: The Protocols of Discipline (William…

Reports on 2 studies to assess attitudes to and moral reasoning about class rules among 117 Australian secondary students and 87 student teachers. Finds students' moral reasoning to be more advanced than predicted by Lawrence Kohlberg and based on the general welfare of students and teachers. (CFR)