The Scottish Government

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Chapter One Introduction

Background

1.1 Pupil behaviour in our schools has been an issue of concern for many years and is one that has been the subject of extensive research in recent decades. In December 2000, the then Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs, established a Discipline Task Group in response to concerns regarding indiscipline in Scottish schools. The remit of that group was to provide recommendations to the Scottish Executive of strategies focused on ensuring 'purposeful and orderly' conditions in schools that would enable all those involved in education 'to participate positively and appropriately in the processes of learning and teaching' (Scottish Executive, 2001).

1.2 The report produced by the Discipline Task Group, Better Behaviour - Better Learning (Scottish Executive, 2001) recognised the challenges that teachers and other professionals face in delivering education to young people and acknowledged the wide-ranging causes of indiscipline, stating that 'there is no single overall solution which can solve all problems'. It noted that young people are more likely to engage positively with learning when the factors that impinge on it are taken into consideration. Similarly, Kinder et al., (1995; 1999), in the course of their research on pupil disaffection, observed that the reasons young people do not engage with school can be 'highly complex and multi-faceted' and highlighted the influence of school factors (curriculum, ethos and relationships with teachers), individual factors relating to the young person themselves, and family or community factors.

1.3 In the light of Better Behaviour - Better Learning (Scottish Executive, 2001), funding was made available to local authorities across Scotland for the implementation of the recommendations made in the report, and to produce action plans as to how this would be achieved. The 36 recommendations to the Scottish Executive, local authorities and schools, aimed to promote positive behaviour through the provision of a range of strategies to support the needs of young people, and by effectively targeting support and resources to help teachers in delivering education.

1.4 As a result of the recommendations, the Scottish Executive committed to supporting a range of initiatives, as well as making resources available for professional development purposes. Local authorities were asked to prioritise the establishment of in-school support bases and the innovative use of additional support staff (for example, classroom assistants and home-school link workers). Other strategies introduced to promote positive behaviour and create a positive school ethos included: increased multi-agency working; the development of whole-school discipline policies; reward and praise systems; and a focus on involving pupils, for example through pupil councils and buddying schemes.

1.5 In addition, the Executive supported the piloting and subsequent development of a range of behaviour schemes or approaches in Scottish schools. For example, a number of schools have been involved in the Staged Intervention ( FFI) scheme, which promotes peer support amongst school staff. A member of staff is trained as a behaviour coordinator to provide support to colleagues to manage behaviour in the classroom more effectively. Other schemes have included: 'Cool in School', a resource pack for teachers and pupils to use together to help pupils manage their feelings and develop their communication skills; 'solution-oriented schools', a whole-school approach where headteachers work with staff teams to develop problem solving within the classroom and throughout the school; 'the motivated school' which is aimed at developing a systematic profiling system to aid early intervention within an ethos of self-motivation; and restorative practices, which include peer mediation and circle time.

1.6 Three years after Better Behaviour - Better Learning (Scottish Executive, 2001), the Policy Update on Behaviour in Scottish Schools (Scottish Executive, 2004a) reviewed the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the former report, in order to decide if the current policy direction and priorities were appropriate. The Policy Update drew on a range of survey evidence and research findings relating to behaviour in school, including a Scottish Executive commissioned survey conducted by Edinburgh University in 2004, which had been previously conducted in 1990 and 1996. The 2004 survey found that most indiscipline encountered by teachers constituted low-level, 'irritating' behaviour that the majority do not find difficult to deal with. However, the survey did show some areas where perceptions of the seriousness of indiscipline, as well as the time spent in dealing with it, had increased since the 1996 and 1990 surveys. At the same time, teachers in the 2004 survey expressed concern about the level of pupil-on-pupil aggression (Scottish Executive, 2004a).

1.7 The Policy Update on Behaviour in Scottish Schools (Scottish Executive, 2004a) concluded that progress had been made on implementing the recommendations of Better Behaviour - Better Learning (Scottish Executive, 2001) and on introducing a range of behavioural strategies in schools. However, it recommended that further approaches to prevent, and respond to, pupil-on-pupil violence or aggression be developed. Furthermore, following a review of data collection, Violence and Anti-Social Behaviour in Scottish Schools (Scottish Executive, 2004b), the Minister for Education and Young People expressed concern that information on indiscipline in schools was 'not sufficiently robust' to provide a clear enough picture of what was taking place in Scottish schools. As a result, after consultation, the Scottish Executive committed to instituting 'regular major surveys of teachers' and pupils' experiences and perceptions of behaviour and discipline in schools' (Scottish Executive, 2004a).

The study

Aims

1.8 The overall aim of the current study was to provide clear and robust information on behaviour (including positive behaviour) in publicly funded schools in Scotland. The study also addressed the following objectives associated with behaviour in schools, to:

• provide evidence on the nature and prevalence of indiscipline
• provide evidence on the extent of positive behaviour
• examine what is effective in preventing and responding to indiscipline
• consider what is effective in promoting positive behaviour.

Methodology

1.9 The study was designed to build on the previous work conducted by Edinburgh University, but to expand its scope by providing a wider picture of behaviour than that provided by teachers and headteachers alone. Thus, in addition, the study also sought the views of education authority representatives, additional support staff and pupils, and comprised 3 complementary strands:

Strand One: Telephone interviews with local authority representatives

Strand Two: Questionnaire surveys to school staff in primary and secondary schools

Strand Three: Fieldwork (comprising a questionnaire survey to pupils in 7 schools, pupil focus groups and a contextual staff interview in these 7 schools, and 8 focus groups with school staff).

Strand One: Telephone interviews with local authority representatives

1.10 Letters were sent by the Scottish Executive to Directors of Education in all 32 local authorities in Scotland that explained the research and asked them to participate. In addition, Directors of Education were informed of the number of schools in their authority to be contacted in connection with the school staff survey. Telephone interviews were then conducted with a representative of all 32 local authorities, the majority of whom had a remit for additional support for learning, inclusion and/or pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

1.11 Interviews focused on local authority perceptions of the nature and prevalence of indiscipline in primary and secondary schools within their authority, as well as how incidents of violence or bullying in schools are monitored and the extent of off-site provision within the authority for pupils with behavioural difficulties. Interviewees were also asked to identify examples of effective practice in responding to indiscipline and of effective practice in promoting positive behaviour. In addition, views were sought on the extent to which the recommendations of Better Behaviour - Better Learning (Scottish Executive, 2001) have been useful in managing discipline, and the progress made to date towards reviewing and developing written policies and guidelines (e.g. to include care, behaviour and inclusion policies) into a single framework. Interviewees were then asked to highlight the CPD on offer within their authority on behaviour/classroom management and, finally, to identify what they perceived to be the key factors in effective behaviour management.

Strand Two: Questionnaire surveys to school staff

1.12 A national sample of 580 schools (250 secondary schools and 330 primary schools) was drawn by the Scottish Executive to be representative of schools in Scotland in terms of the following (in order of stratification): local authority ( LA), entitlement to free school meals, school size, and urban/rural location.

1.13 Three instruments were devised for the staff survey:

• headteacher questionnaire
• teacher questionnaire
• additional support staff questionnaire.

1.14 The headteacher and teacher questionnaires were each 12 pages long and the additional support staff was four pages in length.

1.15 The instruments were piloted in early January 2006 in five schools, identified by the Scottish Executive, comprising two primary and three secondary schools. The survey instruments were then re-drafted in the light of comments received from these five schools.

1.16 In early February of 2006, packs containing headteacher, teacher and additional support staff questionnaires, together with covering letters and pre-paid envelopes, were sent out to headteachers in the sample of 580 schools by NFER's survey administration department, Research Data Services ( RDS). Headteachers were asked to complete their own questionnaire, and to pass on 4 teacher questionnaires (3 in the primary schools) to teachers currently teaching in their schools whose names appeared first in the alphabet, and 2 additional support staff questionnaires (one in the primary schools) to additional support staff of their choice.

1.17 In early March 2006, reminder letters with replacement questionnaires were sent out to the headteachers of schools where the full complement of questionnaires had not been received, and another letter encouraging a response was sent to non-responding schools in mid-March. Follow-up telephone calls were then made at the end of March 2006.

1.18 Table 1.1 below presents the responses of school staff to the survey.

Table 1.1: Response rates to the NFER survey of school staff

Source: NFER survey of school staff, 2006

Strand Three: Fieldwork

1.19 The fieldwork strand of the study involved:

• the administration of a questionnaire survey to pupils in 7 schools (4 primary and 3 secondary)
• qualitative contextual work alongside the pupil survey, including pupil focus groups and a short interview with a key member of staff
• eight focus groups with school staff (headteachers, classroom teachers and support staff) drawn from across local authority boundaries and from both primary and secondary schools.

1.20 The 4 primary and 3 secondary schools involved in the pupil survey were selected by the sponsor to include a range of regions and locations in Scotland, as well of approaches to behaviour management and promoting positive behaviour. The intention was to include 8 schools in this strand of the research. However, it proved impossible to gain an eighth school's agreement within the timeframe for this phase of the research, and thus the decision was made, in conjunction with the sponsor, to include 7. The pupils to be involved in the survey included P6 and P7 pupils in the 4 primary schools and all pupils in the 3 secondary schools.

1.21 Given the wide age range of the pupils to be involved, a 4-page questionnaire was designed to cover: pupils' experiences of school in general; their perceptions of the extent, nature and frequency of positive behaviour in the classroom; their experience of the extent, nature and frequency of indiscipline in the classroom; and their views on the effectiveness of strategies/approaches to promote positive behaviour and prevent indiscipline (including school rules, sanctions and reward systems). The pupil questionnaire was piloted in the 2 primary schools and 3 secondary schools that were piloting the staff questionnaires and revisions were made in the light of the comments received.

1.22 Following the piloting phase, the 4 primary schools and 3 secondary schools to be involved in the pupil survey were contacted to elicit headteacher support and to identify the number of pupils to be involved in each school. The pupil questionnaires, together with a covering letter and guidance on administration, were then sent out by the research team to all 7 schools at the beginning of March. The questionnaires were administered by school staff, with the offer of support from the Executive's Regional Communication Team, if needed. The response rate achieved for the pupil survey is displayed in Table 1.2 below.

Table 1.2: Response rates to the NFER survey of pupils

Source: NFER survey of pupils, 2006

1.23 Visits were subsequently made to each of the 7 pupil survey schools to conduct up to 2 pupil focus groups and a contextual interview with a key member of staff. It was recommended that the focus groups include separate groups of P6 and P7 pupils in the primary schools, and separate groups of S1 to S3 and S4 to S6 pupils in the secondary schools. In total, 14 pupil focus groups were conducted. Thirteen of these involved 6 pupils and one group comprised 8. Two of the groups, held in a very small secondary school, involved S1 to S6 pupils.

1.24 Pupil participation in the focus groups was voluntary and, where requested, information letters and/or request forms for parental permission were provided for schools to send out. The focus groups invited pupils to talk about their own and their peers' experiences of behaviour, in particular when and where indiscipline takes place; the effect indiscipline has on pupils and the way they learn; what happens when pupils misbehave; what works to prevent indiscipline and help pupils behave well; and finally pupil involvement, for example, in devising school rules or behaviour policies. The interviews with a key member of staff involved either the headteacher or the deputy headteacher and sought information about behaviour within each school, in order to provide a context for the pupil survey and focus group results.

1.25 In line with the Scottish Executive's wish to gain a wider perspective on the issues relating to behaviour in and around school, a series of 8 focus groups was conducted with school staff (including 2 groups of headteachers, 4 groups of teachers and 2 groups of additional support staff) from primary and secondary schools across local authority boundaries. These focus groups took place in 4 different locations across Scotland and included 62 participants, as shown in Table 1.3 below:

Table 1.3: Staff focus group participants

1.26 Discussion topics for the staff focus groups included: the nature of behaviour (both positive and negative) and key patterns of poor behaviour observed; the effect that negative behaviour has on both staff and teaching and learning; approaches to, and support for, managing behaviour; and the experience and confidence of staff in dealing with behaviour.

Data analysis

1.27 All interviews and staff focus groups conducted over the course of the research were taped and summarised. Analysis of the local authority and school staff contextual interviews was completed using Max QDA (a qualitative research package, which involves the development of comprehensive coding frames which are then used to ascribe codes to segments of text). This allowed comparative analysis of the different policies on, and approaches to, behaviour management taking place in schools in Scotland. The data, from all stages of the research, were then written up thematically, according to the foci of the interview schedules (examples of the local authority and the school staff schedules, as well as the school staff and pupil focus group schedules, can be found in Annex 1).

1.28 The statistical analysis of the questionnaire data was undertaken by NFER's Statistics Research and Analysis Group ( SRAG). The data were analysed using SPSS. The basic frequencies for each questionnaire type were produced and following this, the data were disaggregated by school sector. Further, for the teacher survey, teachers' ratings of their confidence in dealing with indiscipline in the classroom was correlated with other items included in their questionnaires. Additionally, for the headteacher, teacher and support staff surveys, correlations were carried out between each respondent type's perceptions of the support available for staff in their schools and other questions on their questionnaires. For all correlations, tests to measure the statistical significance were conducted ¹. Where the results of the correlations are reported in this document, the associations are all statistically significant to p=0.05 or less. Examples of the questionnaires for school staff (including headteachers, teachers and classroom assistants/support staff) and for pupils can be found in Annex 2.

1.29 Although the current survey comprised a different sample, in terms of size, to that of the earlier longitudinal Edinburgh University study, and thus was not strictly comparable, some interesting parallels with that survey did emerge. These have been included in the text of this report where appropriate.

The report

1.30 The report draws on the data from all 3 strands of the research and, following an overview in Chapter Two which outlines the perceived seriousness of the problem of indiscipline, any trends and patterns related to indiscipline, and the influence of national policy, is divided into 3 parts. It should be noted that, in the chapters that follow, where pupil survey responses are reported, they are not strictly comparable with school staff survey responses, as the former was administered to pupils in only 7 schools.

Part One: Behaviour in the classroom

• Chapter Three focuses on positive behaviour in the classroom, in particular how well behaved pupils are in lessons and the type of positive behaviour exhibited.
• Chapter Four presents a picture of negative behaviour in the classroom. It considers how badly behaved pupils are in lessons, the type of poor behaviour exhibited, how typical that behaviour is and whether some classes are more challenging than others. Finally, the chapter examines the impact poor behaviour in lessons has on staff, on pupils and on the learning experience.

Part Two: Behaviour around the school and within the local community

• Chapter Five looks at positive behaviour around the school, particularly how well behaved pupils are when moving around the school and the sort of positive behaviour encountered outside the classroom environment.
• Chapter Six then considers negative behaviour around the school and within the local community, in particular the extent of negative behaviour, the type of poor behaviour encountered, how typical that behaviour is, as well as the impact such negative behaviour has on staff and pupils. The chapter then moves on to discuss the frequency and nature of any complaints to headteachers about the conduct of their pupils outside the school premises. Finally, this chapter ends by examining perceptions of the extent and type of pupil violence.

Part Three: Effective practice in managing behaviour

• Chapter Seven focuses on the approaches used to encourage positive behaviour and overcome negative behaviour (at local authority, school and classroom level). It considers the involvement of the school community in developing these approaches and strategies, as well as their effectiveness, and ends with a discussion of the level of support provided by parents.
• Chapter Eight discusses the support available to school staff in managing behaviour and focuses on local authority support, including continuing professional development ( CPD), and support provided at school level.

1.31 Chapter Nine concludes the report by drawing out the implications from the above chapters for policy and practice.

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