New Zealand families' experience of having a teenager excluded from school

Smith, Andrew

doi:10.1080/02643940902897665

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The findings presented in this paper add to a growing body of evidence about the experiences of, and identities open to, parents of young people who have been permanently excluded from alternative provision (McDonald and Thomas 2003;Smith 2009). Not all of the families in this study could be described as 'typical' of families of excluded pupils, who previous studies have found to be often under financial or emotional stress and experiencing multiple social disadvantage (Daniels et al 2003;MacRae, Maguire and Milbourne 2003).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Parents of excluded pupils: customers, partners, problems?

et al. 2013

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In this paper we present new data from interviews with parents of pupils permanently excluded from alternative provision in England, and related service providers. We report the social contexts of the families, their experience of 'choice', and how service providers talk about them. Our findings support those from earlier studies in relation to the disadvantage experienced by many parents. As predicted, the parents experienced choice as very limited. Some parents, due to a lack of personal, social or economic resources, felt unable to engage with the parental choice agenda beyond vetoing options. Our data suggests that service providers talk about parents as problems rather than as equal partners. How parents are viewed is shaped both by their level of compliance and their access to resources. We conclude by considering the potential of the 'parental choice' discourse to provide a more positive re-framing of parents.Keywords: parents; partnership; choice; school exclusion; anti-social behaviour. IntroductionThe data reported here concern the families of pupils in England who have been permanently excluded from alternative provision (Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) or special school), rather than excluded (permanently or otherwise) from mainstream schools. The excluded pupils have reached 'the end of the line' in terms of available educational provision. In this paper we examine both the circumstances of the 24 families in the study, their experience of exercising parental choice, and the ways in which service providers talk about them. This is an important area, as the attitudes towards and beliefs about the parents that service providers hold will inevitably shape the nature of any partnership. Whilst the proper nature of partnership working is open to debate (Murray 2000) there is no doubting the reality that parents and providers working well together benefits the young person (Bridges 1994 ). Not all of the families in this study could be described as 'typical' of families of excluded pupils, who previous studies have found to be often under financial or emotional stress and experiencing multiple social disadvantage (Daniels et al. 2003;MacRae, Maguire and Milbourne 2003). In contrast, a number of parents in this study had access to a range of personal, social and economic resources. Moreover, social disadvantage appeared to have some impact upon how parents were perceived by service providers. We found that parents from more disadvantaged backgrounds were positioned either as 'to blame' (for example because of perceived lack of interest, prioritising their own needs, or a refusal to accept help), or alternatively as much 'a victim' of circumstances as their child. However, parents with access to resources were positioned as 'pests' (our word), they were seen as over involved, and as making unrealistic demands for resources for their child. In this paper we consider the potential of the 'parental choice' discourse to provide a more positive re-framing of some of these parents.The interviews with parents (mostly,...

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Parents of excluded pupils: customers, partners, problems?

et al. 2013

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“…Parents in this study experienced their child's exclusion from school occurring on a complex journey of difficulties, which implies there should be points along this journey that successful intervention to remediate or support the family, child and school. Parents were agreed on the immense impact exclusion had on them as a family, both emotionally and practically on their day to day lives, similar to studies conducted with parents of children excluded from secondary school (Gordon, 2001, McDonald and Thomas, 2003, Smith, 2009. Parents also acknowledged the negative impact their child's disruptive behaviour had on the school.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Parental engagement in children's education has a well-established positive impact on pupil's achievements, behaviour and improved teacher parent relationships (Department for Children, Schools and Families, DCSF, 2008, Desforges and Abouchar, 2003, Sylva et al, 2004, although positive engagement between the school and parent can be difficult. Smith (2009) interviewed parents of teenagers who had been excluded from school in New Zealand. Parents reported feeling 'powerlessness, of being talked down to, criticised and labelled as to blame, and expressed varying levels of anger, frustration and grief' (Smith, 2009, pp95).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘.he was excluded for the kind of behaviour that we thought he needed support with…’ A qualitative analysis of the experiences and perspectives of parents whose children have been excluded from school

Parker

Paget

Ford

et al. 2016

Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

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The version presented here may differ from the published version. If citing, you are advised to consult the published version for pagination, volume/issue and date of publication '...he was excluded for the kind of behaviour that we thought he needed support with…' A qualitative analysis of the experiences and perspectives of parents whose children have been excluded from school Abstract Exclusion from school is associated with adverse outcomes for young people. There is limited research that explores parents' perspectives, particularly in relation to the exclusion of primary school aged children. The present study used semi-structured interviews with 35 parents of 37 children aged 5-12 years from the Southwest of England. Parent's experiences were captured in a conceptual model through three main themes. Exclusion was described as part of a complex journey of difficulties reflected by a continuum of coping. The child's place on the continuum was determined by an interaction between the child, family, and school with communication a key determinant. The study also highlighted the wider implications of exclusion, including emotional and functional impacts on the child and parent and highlighted the importance of the parent's voice in the identification and support of their child's needs. It also presents the many complexities surrounding exclusion from school and the limited support parents felt their child was offered.

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“…The first characteristic is based on ethnicity. In the USA, there is the over-representation of Latino and African American boys (Noguera, 2003;Christle et al, 2004); in Australia (Mills & McGregor, 2016), New Zealand (Smith, 2009) and the UK (Malcolm, 2015;Department for Education, 2019) this is echoed in the over-representation of children of mixed White and Black Caribbean, Black Caribbean ethnicity and children from indigenous groups. The second characteristic concerns the over-representation of children with special educational needs and disabilities.…”

Section: Understanding Alternative Provision: An International Perspementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Macleod et al's (2013) study of the parents of excluded children, most of the sample families were presented as complex and challenging, characterised by family breakdown, low levels of employment, mental ill health and parental absence. Here, also, parents were perceived by professionals as either a contributing factor or the cause of their children's exclusion from school-'problems or partners' in Smith's (2009) terms. Further, parents were often seen as 'resistant and non-compliant' and 'unreasonable and demanding' (p. 835), in opposition to the understanding of the 'good' parent being compliant (McCarthy, 2011).…”

Section: Family Engagement In Alternative Provisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family engagement in alternative provision

Page

2020

British Educational Res J

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This article presents findings from research focusing on family engagement within alternative provision. With the existing literature on alternative provision scant, this article analyses the extensive assemblage of family engagement within settings as practitioners navigate complex family environments often characterised by poverty, crime and substance abuse. While settings create formalised structures of family engagement that prioritise a collaborative approach to children's development-such as family learning days and daily positive phone calls-equally they work to attenuate the isolation and loneliness of families who feel as excluded as their child. Yet as important as structured engagement is, practitioners within alternative provision also engage in the improvised pragmatism of micro-work-the work that other agencies won't or can't do, such as escorting parents to medical appointments, sourcing furniture to fill empty houses or talking a child out from under their bed. The article argues that family engagement in alternative provision is cyclical, with families informing staff of behavioural incidents or learning opportunities, information that rapidly personalises communicative and pedagogical strategies within schools. In return, teachers update parents at the end of the day, offering ideas for home learning or approaches to managing challenging behaviours. The article concludes by identifying six domains of family engagement-behavioural, emotional, safeguarding, functional, pedagogic and capacity building-that can be used within alternative provision settings to ensure a holistic approach that provides deep support to families to maximise the successful re-engagement of children.

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New Zealand families' experience of having a teenager excluded from school

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

Parents of excluded pupils: customers, partners, problems?

Parents of excluded pupils: customers, partners, problems?

‘.he was excluded for the kind of behaviour that we thought he needed support with…’ A qualitative analysis of the experiences and perspectives of parents whose children have been excluded from school

Family engagement in alternative provision

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