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ABSTRACT
Schools in New Zealand (NZ) have a range of disciplinary options when dealing with challenging behaviours, one of which is excluding students by way of stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions or expulsions. Following marginal downward trend from 2006 to 2015, the numbers of stand-downs and suspensions have been on the rise again since 2016 despite well-established evidence of strong links between poor academic achievement, educational exclusions and youth justice encounters. One of the key reasons cited by schools for excluding students in New Zealand is for continual disobedience (CD). According to the NZ Ministry of Education Guidelines to schools, behaviours must be persistent and set a harmful or dangerous example to other students to meet the criteria for CD, and it is up to schools to interpret these guidelines. This paper reports the findings from a national study in New Zealand, that sought to understand how the category of CD was interpreted in high schools and the type of behaviours they associated with this category. The findings highlighted the need to question the existence of this category (CD) in the guidelines, as it provides a carte blanche to schools to exclude students.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Jane Prochnow for her role in the national study, who has since retired.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 A stand down from school is for a temporary period defined by the principal. These periods may not exceed 5 school days in any term, or 10 school days in any year. The principal may lift the stand-down at any time. A suspension is the formal removal of a student from school until the board of trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting.
2 Schools with classes from Years 7 to 13.
3 Decile rankings to school are awarded based on the socio-economic makeup of the school community.
4 Schooling Futures: a report by Tomorrow’s Schools Task Force commissioned by the Ministry of Education in 2018.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Vijaya Dharan
Dr Vijaya Dharan is a Senior Lecturer at Massey University, Institute of Education. She is involved in the Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology programme. She is the programme coordinator of undergraduate Educational Psychology endoresement degree. Her research interests are in the field of inclusive education; autism and student (dis)engagement. As a passionate advocate for social justice, she is deeply interested in “learning for all” and, the various beliefs, perceptions and attitudes of educators that can enhance or hinder this process.
Nicole Mincher
Nicole Mincher is a registered educational psychologist and lecturer at Massey University. Her research interests include educational psychology practice, equity in education and school disciplinary processes.