Ethos, discipline and all that - what the research says. Pamela Munn The University of Edinburgh

2 What does the research say? Schools make a difference. Describes practices which make a difference - classroom - school - local authority. Provides a perspective on national policy. Helps clarify concepts. ____________________________________ Professor Pamela Munn, University of Edinburgh

3 Medical Psychological Schools Causes of Indiscipline

4 Professor Pamela Munn, University of Edinburgh Encouraged Exclusion Discouraged Exclusion Beliefs about school, teaching and pupils ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ narrow definition of teacher’s job, focused wide remit, including personal and social on subject knowledge, exam resultsdevelopment of pupils, as well as exam results academic goals prominentsocial and academic goals acceptable pupils were those who arrivedacceptance of a wide range of pupils, willing to learn, and came from supportiveincluding those with learning and other homesdifficulties Encouraged Exclusion Discouraged Exclusion The Curriculum ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ academic curriculum, pressure on pupils, curriculum flexible and differentiated lack of differentiationpersonal and social development curriculum lacks statuscurriculum highly valued potential of informal curriculum forinformal curriculum, lively and covering motivating less academic pupils nota wide range of activities, such as sport, realizeddrama, art, working in the local community

5 ____________________________________ Professor Pamela Munn, University of Edinburgh Relations with the outside world ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ parents expected unquestioningly totime and effort spent involving parents support the schoolin decision-making about their children educational psychologists and others seeneducational psychologists and others as there to cure problemsseen as partners in working out solutions to problems Decision-making about exclusion ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hierarchical decision-making separatingDecisions informed by a network of pastoral support staff from those withstaff with a range of perspectives on responsibility for maintaining disciplinethe pupil Tariff systems leading to automaticFlexible system, behaviour evaluated exclusionin context Pastoral support staff expected to meetPastoral support staff – an information needs of all pupilssource on decisions Learning/behaviour support expected toLearning/behaviour support a source of remove troublesome pupils and solvesupport and ideas for mainstream staff problems Fig.2: School ethos and exclusion

6 WHAT IS ETHOS? ‘ THE GUIDING BELIEFS, STANDARDS OR IDEALS THAT CHARACTERISE OR NOT OF PERVADE A GROUP, A COMMUNITY, A PEOPLE … THE SPIRIT THAT MOTIVATES THE IDEAS, CUSTOMS OR PRACTICES OF A PEOPLE ’ (Websters 1986) 3 KEY IDEAS PERVASIVENESS touches on all aspects of a school ’ s life can be hard to pin down PRACTICE ethos underpins what we do and how we do it – not an abstract idea helps explain differences among schools COLLECTIVE UNDERSTANDING the taken for granted about how we operate ____________________________________ Professor Pamela Munn, University of Edinburgh

7 No technical training in educational methods can ever be (sufficient), however unexceptionable the methods may be in themselves. Education is not and cannot ever be a technical activity. The attempt to turn would be teachers into technicians by teaching them classroom tricks is as stupid as it is ineffective... Here, I believe, is the greatest threat to education in our own society. We are becoming more and more technically minded: gradually we are falling victim to the illusion that all problems can be solved by proper organisation: that when we fail it is because we are doing the job in the wrong way, and that all that is needed is the ‘ know-how ’. To think thus in education is to pervert education. It is not an engineering job. It is personal and human. (Macmurray, 1958) ____________________________________ Professor Pamela Munn, University of Edinburgh