What Counts as Evidence in the Understanding of School Exclusion in England?

Abstract

Exclusion from school can be regarded as a seemingly simple but in fact a rather complex intervention in response to the “wicked problem” of behavior in schools. This manuscript will discuss what counts as evidence that may used to inform policy and judgments on practices of exclusion. The role of evidence, and how this is measured, has long been an issue of contention in educational research. This is particularly true for research that focuses on educational inequality and inclusion or exclusion. In this manuscript we will discuss issues concerning evidence with respect to two aspects of exclusion in England. Firstly, we will focus on questions concerning the scale of the problem, examining both the statistical evidence of official exclusions and data concerning the myriad of ways in which children may experience other forms of exclusion. Taken together, this indicates an under-estimate of the numbers of young people missing an education. We then move to a consideration of the evaluation of means of reducing exclusion, arguing for a shift from an individual to a systemic in context account that recognizes the role of cultural transmission and cultural historical theory.

Voices from the edge: Girls' experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion

“…It has been noted that PEX is a manifold issue (Daniels et al, 2022;McCluskey, 2008) and an 'ineffective strategy' (Osler & Vincent, 2003;Osler et al, 2002). This supports Daniels et al's (2022, p. 7) assertion that PEX is a 'multifaceted cultural and historical phenomenon or process and a complex intervention', which has been borne out in my data.…”

“…• Develop approaches to support behaviour and pupils that are more democratic. This can also be seen in suggested moves from an individual to systemic understanding of challenges at school (Daniels et al, 2022).…”

“…As a result, even defining ‘exclusion’ as a term is problematic (Daniels et al., 2022), due to the differing forms of exclusion that exist; formal or informal, internal or external, school‐sanctioned or individual response such as absence or truancy. Different forms of exclusion impact on what is formally recorded and reported, with suggestions that school responses are individualised and ‘idiosyncratic’ and that broader constructions of ‘less visible exclusion and marginalisation’ should be included in any definitions (McCluskey, 2008, p. 449).…”

Advocacy leadership and the deprofessionalising of the special educational needs co‐ordinator role

“…Efforts to address the marked variation in SEND provision between schools and local authorities across England are laudable. However, other government policy objectives appear to be designed to protect an education system and culture that has been characterized as ‘regular schooling’ (Power & Taylor, 2020) through the normalization of exclusionary practices (Daniels et al, 2022; Done & Knowler, 2020a, 2020b, 2021a, 2021b; Done, Knowler & Armstrong 2021a). Thomas and Loxley (2022), for example, cite Wood's (2021) documenting of routine school practices through which nominally included children on the autistic spectrum can be marginalized in mainstream settings.…”

“…As Daniels et al (2022, p. 2) state, policy can impact the quality of evidence, despite governments claiming to draw on a wide range of evidence to support their policy proposals. The ‘regime of veridiction’ (Foucault, 2008, p. 35) or ‘set of rules enabling one to establish which statements in a given discourse can be described as true or false’ (p. 35), varies according to government policy objectives.…”