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Key London Issues > Behaviour > Research:
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- Supporting children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health in England: a review

 


Here we present short summaries of 12 recent pieces of research exploring a variety of behaviour issues: behaviour improvement initiatives, bullying, and violence in schools. We also look at contextual factors such as the high mobility in London schools, and at the role of interpersonal relationships and psychological factors. Most items in this Digest are based either on research entirely or partly conducted in London educational settings or on studies that have been judged as highly relevant to London. The summaries, which have been put together by the LERU editors, are based on published reports, journal articles and a book.

Click on the links below to go directly to the article in full:
  • Breaking Point: Examining the disruption caused by pupil mobility
    Based on a report by the Association of London Government

    Some 67 London schools participated in this research examining the impact of the high mobility of pupils on the learning environment, underachievement and equality of opportunity. Some schools in inner London record in-year mobility as high as 60%.

    Mobility is defined by Ofsted as the total movement in and out of schools by pupils other than at the usual times of joining and leaving. Research has identified four main causes of mobility: international migration; children moving within the UK because of housing, employment and homelessness within families; children changing schools, which can cover exclusions and voluntary movement; and individual movement, covering children going into care or moving between separated parents.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline Programme
    Paul Harwood - London Challenge

    Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline (CMCD) is a programme which aims to create a disciplined, caring and respectful climate focused on active learning. This is achieved by transforming the learners from ‘tourists to citizens’ and creating a sense of belonging on the part of both students and staff.

    Eight UK schools are currently implementing the CMCD programme. Three of them are schools supported by the London Challenge: Lilian Baylis School in Lambeth, The Lammas School in Waltham Forest and The Gladys Aylward School in Enfield.

  • Evaluation of the DfES Anti-Bullying Pack
    Based on a report by Peter Smith and Muthanna Samara Goldsmiths College, University of London

    In November 1999 it became a legal requirement for schools to have some form of anti-bullying policy.DfES issued two editions of an anti-bullying pack with a video ‘Don’t suffer in silence’, the first one in 1994 and the second, an updated one, in 2000. This evaluation of the anti-bullying pack published in 2003 aimed to obtain feedback on the suitability and use of the pack and how it could be improved, and on the extent and nature of anti-bullying work carried out in a representative sample of schools nationally.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Tackling Bullying: Listening to the views of children and young people
    Based on a report by Christine Oliver and Mano Candappa, Thomas Coram Research Unit, IOE, London

    This study was sponsored by ChildLine in order to fill the gap they identified interms of knowledge about children’s perceptions and views about what works in tackling bullying. The IOE research team was commissioned to undertake a survey and a series of focus groups with children and young people in primary and secondary schools. Their overall aim was to explore why, despite the introduction of anti-bullying policies, children continue to call ChildLine in large numbers to ask for help in dealing with bullying.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • School Violence, School Differences and School Discourses
    Chris Watkins, Melanie Mauauthner, Roger Hewitt, Debbie Epstein and Diana Leonard, IOE, London, Open University, Goldsmiths College, Cardiff University

    This research project was one of the 17 studies in the Economic and Social Research Council’s Violence Research Programme. It involved six inner-city schools: four co-educational and two single sex, one for boys andone for girls. The research team collected data on violent incidents in schools and violent crime in the neighbourhoods, and compared these with the relevant school practices on minimising violence.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Improving Behaviour: Lessons learned from HMI monitoring of secondary schools where behaviour has been judged unsatisfactory
    Based on a report by Ofsted

    This report is based on termly monitoring by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) of 35 secondary schools in 2005–2006 which were either in special measures or had serious weaknesses linked to behaviour issues.

    It provides evidence that schools can reduce low-level disruptive behaviour in a reasonably short time by using simple strategies, but only if everyone uses them. This report outlines how the improvements were made in the monitored schools.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Managing Challenging Behaviour
    Based on a report by Ofsted

    This report gives an account of behaviour in schools based on national evidence and provides an analysis of behaviour in a range of educational settings visited by Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI). The settings included early years provision, mainstream and special schools, pupil referral units (PRUs), secure training centres and colleges. The research set out to establish the types of behaviour that schools and other settings find challenging and to evaluate their responses to it.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • The Contribution of Residential Field Courses to the Education of 11–14 Year-olds in London
    Based on an article by Ruth Amos and Michael Reiss, IOE, London

    There have long been enthusiasts for learning outside the classroom. However, the benefits of fieldwork, including residential fieldwork, remain unclear. This study examines what these benefits might be in the context of an initiative to provide residential fieldwork to 11–14 year-olds in London from across the socio-economic spectrum.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Motives for ‘Laddishness’ at School: fear of failure and fear of the ‘feminine’
    Based on an article by Carolyn Jackson, Lancacaster University

    As we progress through the early years of the twenty-first century, fears about ‘underachieving’ boys continue to shape educational discussions in the UK and many other countries. ‘Laddish’ behaviours in school have been identified as impediments to the academic progress of some boys and girls. Drawing upon data from 50 interviews with Year 9 boys (13 to 14 years-old) across two secondary schools, this study focuses upon a key characteristic of ‘laddishness’, namely, the overt rejection of academic work.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • The efficacy of a volunteer mentoring scheme
    Based on an article by Richard Rose and Kyffin Jones, University of Northampton

    This report evaluates a volunteer mentoring scheme within one English local authority offering services to young people between the ages of 11 and 14 in a deprived urban setting. The scheme was set up by the local authority’s inclusion team in order to provide targeted support to young people. The support was offered over six months and included a range of experiences such as walks, ice skating and cinema visits.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Staff in Special Education Settings and Behaviour Problems: Towards a framework for research and practice
    Based on a journal article by Richard P. Hastings - University of Wales, Bangor

    There has been an increasing interest in the role of staff behaviour in the development and maintenance of problem behaviours in children with special needs. This paper suggests that problem behaviours will be more fully understood if we identify the impact of the reinforcing behaviour of staff in education settings.

    Please click here to download the full article.....

  • Are we listening?: Making sense of classroom behaviour with pupils and parents
    Based on a book by Jackie Ravet

    This research explored an alternative way of conceptualising pupil disengagement, arguing that generic behaviour management strategies are often ineffective in tackling low-level, off-task behaviours – such as joking, chatting, daydreaming, playing and disturbing others – under the umbrella term ‘disengagement’.