Abstract:
To allay disruptive behaviour in schools, the Victorian Ministry of Education has pursued two major policy directions:
(i) the creation of off-site centres to which disruptive
students are referred;
(ii) the revision of Regulation XVI - School Discipline,
abolishing corporal punishment and amending suspension procedures.
Effectively both initiatives run counter to the Ministry's aspiration of integrating all learners in the educational and social life of the regular school. International and interstate research into Behavioural Units and Suspension provides little basis for optimism regarding Victorian policy. This paper seeks to examine this research with the intention of proposing alternatives consistent with the principles of integration and the need to diminish disruptive behaviour.
(i) the creation of off-site centres to which disruptive
students are referred;
(ii) the revision of Regulation XVI - School Discipline,
abolishing corporal punishment and amending suspension procedures.
Effectively both initiatives run counter to the Ministry's aspiration of integrating all learners in the educational and social life of the regular school. International and interstate research into Behavioural Units and Suspension provides little basis for optimism regarding Victorian policy. This paper seeks to examine this research with the intention of proposing alternatives consistent with the principles of integration and the need to diminish disruptive behaviour.