Managing Discipline in Schools

217 Pages·1998·1.31 MB·English

by  Sonia Blandford

MANAGING DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS
The management of discipline is an essential element in educational practice, and
at a time when teachers and managers are anxious about reported increases in
violence and other forms of anti-social behaviour there’s a need for practical
guidance and a review of current thinking.
Based on the author’s experience and research in a range of primary and
secondary schools, this book presents accessible summaries of relevant
legislation and guides the reader through management theories towards improved
practice. The book features case-studies and refers to the most recent research
and legislation.
The author places the teacher at the centre of the management of discipline in
schools, and by focusing on teacher and pupil esteem, the classroom and the whole-
school context, the author demonstrates that a disciplined environment is not
only essential but achievable.
The author describes the support networks within education as well as
providing a multi-agency approach. Written in an accessible style, the book
highlights the real problems that teachers in all schools can encounter and offers
real solutions.
Sonia Blandford has taught in both primary and secondary schools and has
held a variety of middle-management posts. She is currently a senior lecturer in
education at the Oxford Centre for Education and Management Services.
EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT SERIES
Series editor: Cyril Poster
Recent titles in this series include:
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Anna Craft
SUCCESS AGAINST THE ODDS The National Commission on Education
MANAGING SPECIAL NEEDS IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL Joan Dean
MANAGING THE PRIMARY SCHOOL (2ND EDN) Joan Dean
THE SKILLS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL MANAGEMENT Les Bell and Chris
Rhodes
LIBERATING THE LEARNER Edited by Guy Claxton, Terry Atkinson, Marilyn
Osborn and Mike Wallace
MANAGING PARTNERSHIP IN TEACHER TRAINING AND
DEVELOPMENT Edited by Hazel Bines and John M.Welton
CREATING AN EXCELLENT SCHOOL: SOME NEW MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUES Hedley Beare, Brian Caldwell and Ross Millikan
TEACHER APPRAISAL Cyril and Doreen Poster
MANAGING TEAMS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS Les Bell
EDUCATION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Hedley Beare and
Richard Slaughter
PARENTS AND SCHOOLS: CUSTOMERS, MANAGERS OR PARTNERS?
Edited by Pamela Munn
SCHOOL-BASED MANAGEMENT AND SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS Edited
by Clive Dimmock
EFFECTIVE SCHOOLING FOR THE COMMUNITY Tony Townsend
MAKING GOOD SCHOOLS: LINKING SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS AND
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT Edited by Robert Bollen, Bert Creemers, David
Hopkins, Louise Stoll andNijs Lagerweij
INNOVATIVE SCHOOL PRINCIPLES AND RESTRUCTURING Clive
Dimmock and Tom O'Donoghue
THE SELF MONITORING PRIMARY SCHOOL Edited by Pearl White and
Cyril Poster
MANAGING RESOURCES FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT: CREATING A
COST EFFECTIVE SCHOOL Hywel Thomas and Jane Martin
iii
SCHOOLS AT THE CENTRE: A STUDY OF DECENTRALISATION Alison
Bullock and Hywel Thomas
DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT Jack Dunham
MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF PRIMARY SCHOOLING Edited by Lloyd
Logan and Judyth Sachs
RESTRUCTURING AND QUALITY IN TOMORROW’S SCHOOLS Edited
by Tony Townsend
THE ETHICAL SCHOOL Felicity Haynes
MANAGING DISCIPLINE
IN SCHOOLS
Sonia Blandford
London and New York
First published 1998
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1998 Sonia Blandford
The right of Sonia Blandford to be identified as the Author of this Work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available From the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Blandford, Sonia.
Managing discipline in schools/Sonia Blandford.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-415-17491-0
1. School discipline—Great Britain.
2. Classroom management—Great Britain. I. Title.
LB3012.4.G7B63 1998
371.30(cid:0) 941–dc21 97–43206
CIP
ISBN 0-203-44999-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-75823-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-17491-0 (Print Edition)
TO CHARLIE
CONTENTS
List of illustrations viii
Foreword ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xiii
A note on the text xiv
1 Discipline: principles and practice 1
2 Government policy and legislation 9
3 Community 24
4 Management 37
5 Senior and middle managers 50
6 Classroom management 60
7 Support agencies 78
8 Alternative models 93
9 Good practice 105
10 Policy 125
11 Professional development 144
12 Self-evaluation 157
Appendices 167
Bibliography 178
Index 184
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES
3.1 Think Community plan 35
4.1 School management—external agencies 41
4.2 School management structure—large primary or secondary school 42
4.3 The planning process 46
5.1 Disruptive pupil—sequence of events 59
6.1 Stress levels 63
6.2 A model of stress levels 64
6.3 Classroom seating plan 75
7.1 Mission statement 81
9.1 The learning community—behaviour management 108
9.2 Behaviour management plan 110
9.3 Student council structure 121
11.1 Staff development model 147
11.2 A model of mentoring 151
TABLES
5.1 The effects of the Education Reform Act (ERA) on school 51
management
6.1 Classroom disruption 62
FOREWORD
There has long been a need in the Routledge education management series for a
book on the management of discipline. The general public believes, often
reacting to incidents that make the headlines in the tabloid press, that there is a
widespread breakdown in school discipline. Teachers respond by blaming the
decline in family and societal values that makes their task in schools difficult,
sometimes impossible.
This book, written by a highly experienced teacher, now a valued member of a
university School of Education, has as a basic tenet that it is counterproductive to
spend time assigning blame. Schools need to devise strategies for the
improvement of discipline and, essentially, involve all staff, governors, parents
and the community in their implementation.
The book has four outstanding merits. First, it ‘sees things as they are’,
concerning itself with the issues faced by teachers and managers in schools and
how they can be addressed. This does not mean that the author has ignored
relevant research findings; indeed, their inclusion is a significant merit of the
book, but not its central purpose.
Second, the book abounds in tried and tested case studies and in details of a
wide range of national and local schemes that promote practical responses to
indiscipline in schools.
Third, it covers complex matters, such as the procedures for statementing
special educational needs or for the exclusion of pupils who can no longer be
contained within the school, with precision, but also with concern for the pupil
and the family as well as the teachers in the school.
Fourth, the reader, whether primary or secondary, newly qualified or long
experienced, will find a great deal of practical help, skilfully and clearly
presented. Indeed, the readership should extend well beyond the practising
teacher. Governors, LEA officers, student teachers and their university and
college staff will be among the many who will benefit from the book.
Cyril Poster
Series editor