ASTI - Ireland's main second level teachers union

Section 23 of the Education Welfare Act (2000) requires all schools to put in place a “Code of Behaviour” which shall specify:

1. the standards of behaviour that shall be observed by each student attending the school;
2. the measures that may be taken when a student fails or refuses to observe those standards;
3. the procedures to be followed before a student may be suspended or expelled from the school concerned;
4. the grounds for removing a suspension imposed in relation to a student; and
5. the procedures to be followed relating to notification of a child’s absence from school.

The Code must be prepared in consultation with staff and parents and must be issued by the school Board of Management to parents. 

Section 24 of the Act regulates the expulsion of students from schools and specifies the role of the Educational Welfare Officer in assisting the student finding suitable provision. A student may not be expelled from a school before the passing of 20 school days following the receipt of a notification to the Educational Welfare Officer.

Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an Appeals procedure in the following cases where a Board of Management :

1. permanently excludes a student from a school, or
2. suspends a student from attendance at a school for a period to be prescribed for the purpose of this paragraph, or
3. refuses to enrol a student in a school, or
4. makes a decision of a class which the Minister, following consultation with patrons, national associations of parents, recognised school management organisations, recognised trade unions and staff associations representing teachers, may from time to time determine may be appealed in accordance with this section.

At present, circulars M33/91, M42/93 and M12/98 provide advice to schools on aspects of drafting codes of behaviour and school discipline policies.

Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools

The Minister for Education and Science established a Task Force on Student Behaviour In Second Level Schools in January, 2005.  The terms of reference of the Task Force on Student Behaviour are:

• To examine the issue of disruptive student behaviour as it impacts upon teaching and learning.
  
  
• To consider the effectiveness of strategies at present employed to address it.
  
  
• To advise on existing best practice, both nationally and internationally, in fostering positive student behaviour in schools and classrooms.
  
  
• To make recommendations on how best to promote an improved climate for teaching and learning in classrooms and schools.

Composition of Task Force

• Chair of Task Force, Maeve Martin, Education Department, NUI, Maynooth. 
• Sr. Sheila Kelleher, Principal, Presentation Secondary School, Ballyphehane, Cork.
• Sean Coffey, Teacher, Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
• Anne Connolly, Teacher, Collinstown Park Community College, Clondalkin, Dublin 22. 
• Aidan Savage, National Coordinator of the School Completion Programme.
• Dermot Stokes, National Coordinator of Youthreach.
• Patricia McCarthy, Deputy Principal, Coláiste Eoin, Cappagh Road, Finglas.
• John Hanna, recently retired Principal/Teacher of the Youth Encounter Project, Limerick City. 
• Sue Mulholland, Teacher, St. Laurence College, Loughlinstown, Dublin.
• Seosamh MacLochlainn, Teacher, Galway Community College, Well Park, Galway. 
• Mary Duggan, Teacher, Coláiste Cholmcille, Community School, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.
• Gene Murphy, Solicitor and Chair of Parents Council at the Presentation College, Bray.

A Consultative Group was also to be formed, comprising all the partners in education and allowing for their input to the deliberations of the Task Force. The ASTI was represented on this Group by the General Secretary and the ASTI President.

The ASTI made a written submission to the Task Force in which it made the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Reduce Class Size
Task Force to prioritise the reduction of current pupil:teacher ratio in line with the recommendations in the 2001 Report on the Allocation of Teachers to Second-Level Schools.

Recommendation 2: National Strategy
Task Force develop a National Strategy to Promote and Sustain Positive Student Behaviour.

Recommendation 3:  Partnership Approach
The implementation of a National Strategy must be based on a partnership approach in which school management authorities and parents support the work of teachers in schools and the implementation of the school discipline policy.

Recommendation 4: Legislation to Endorse Balance of Rights in School
Education legislation must be reviewed to ensure a balance of rights in the school community, which recognises the collective right of the student community to learn in classrooms free from disruption and which acknowledges the right of teachers to work in safe environments which protect their dignity and well-being and which provide protection from intrusion and assault.

Recommendation 5: Review of Section 29, Education Act, 1998
Implementation of Section 29 of Education Act, 1998 must be reviewed to ensure that appeals procedure is simplified, less time-consuming and that the composition of the Appeals Committee be balanced and reflects the views of the professional educators. Introduction of formal criteria for decision-making and to make texts of decisions available to education partners.

Recommendation 6:  Review of Circulars, M33/91 and M42/93
Review of both Circulars to ensure that more explicit advice is provided to schools on the implementation of discipline policies, communications with parents, legal status of schools and teachers, appropriate sanctions for types of disruptive behaviour, procedures for design and review of policy, role of school discipline committee.  Provision of advice to schools on how to respond to critical incidents.

Recommendation 7:  Acknowledge the Rights of Teachers
Statement to issue from school management authorities and Boards of Management to teachers endorsing their rights to safety and well-being at work as their entitlement under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989.

Recommendation 8:  Recognise the Work of Teachers
State education policy must recognise the work of teachers and their contribution to our society and economy through their work with young people and their commitment to the delivery of a quality education service.

Recommendation 9: Promote Access to Professional Development
Policy based teachers’ entitlement to continuing professional development and a strategy to promote access to CPD through the introduction of paid study leave, sabbatical leave, “work-shadowing”, etc and the provision of accreditation and remuneration to teachers.

Recommendation 10: Broad and Balanced Curriculum in All Schools
Task Force to prioritise the reduction of current pupil:teacher ratio in line with the recommendations in the 2001 Report on the Allocation of Teachers to Second-Level Schools to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum in all schools.  All schools to have adequate facilities and equipment for subject areas.

Recommendation 11: Focus on Transition to Second Level
Provision of an additional post of responsibility in all schools to ensure that schools put in place appropriate measures to assist the integration of first-year students into the life of the school.  Provision of guidelines for the transfer of information on students transferring to second level education.

Recommendation 12:  Provision of Learning Support in Schools
Department of Education and Science to conduct an audit of the Learning Support Service in schools to establish needs across schools and to serve as the basis for review of current allocation ratio of Learning Support Teachers to schools.

Recommendation 13:  Immediate Access to N.E.P.S
Department of Education and Science to recruit adequate numbers of educational psychologists to the National Educational Psychological Service over next two years to ensure that schools have immediate access to the Service.

Recommendation 14: Increase in Guidance Counsellors in Schools
Department of Education and Science to review the allocation ratio for Guidance Counsellors to schools to ensure that all students in schools have consistent and structured access to the Guidance and Counselling Service.

Recommendation 15:  Support Introduction of Programmes in Schools
Department of Education and Science to inform schools through provision of resource materials and inservice training of range of successful student behaviour management programmes currently available in the system.

Concluding Recommendation:
The ASTI represents the views of almost 17,000  second level teachers teaching in schools attended by 75% of students.  The views of the professional educators must be accorded due weight in the work of the Task Force. 

The full text of the ASTI’s submission to the Task-Force on Student Behaviour can be found here

The Task Force on Student Behaviour is due to issue its report and recommendations in December 2005.

ASTI Discipline Sub-Committee

Annual Convention 2003 established a Discipline Committee to work on the following motion:

In 2004 the Discipline Sub-Committee undertook a survey on discipline in schools.  Key findings of the survey were:

• There is a high degree of involvement of the entire teaching staff in the development of school discipline policy, with 91% of teachers stating that all teachers are involved.  However, the low level of involvement of parents and students is a matter of concern among teachers.
   
• The majority of teachers  - 70% - believe that a school discipline policy is effective in promoting positive student behaviour.  The factors undermining the policy's implementation include fears about legal repercussions for schools and recourse to the external appeals procedure.
  
  
• The causes of negative student behaviour are reported as being largely external to the school environment - such as unstable home life, negative parental attitudes to school and individuals with emotional and behavioural difficulties.  Other factors impinging on students' behaviour include students' involvement in part-time work, poor quality of school accommodation, mixed ability classes and the academic curriculum.
  
  
• Key Measures suggested by the survey to deal with indiscipline included an induction system for newly qualified teachers, professional development for teachers and principals, greater curriculum choice for students, increased numbers of Learning Support teachers in all schools, more Home-School Co-ordinators and properly resourced pastoral care structures.
  
  
• Supports for teachers suggested by the survey included more proactive management responses - particularly from Principals and Boards of Management. More effective school development and planning structures were also cited as necessary.  Other measures included the extension of the Teacher Stress Prevention Programme to all schools and the availability of a Resource Unit in the school for the withdrawal of students from mainstream classes when necessary.
  
  
• Teachers' experience of indiscipline includes a range of negative behaviour.  However, continuous negative behaviour was confined to only a small group of students. One-third of teachers had taught classes in which some students were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  One-third of teachers also had experience of parents refusing to co-operate in the implementation of sanctions on students.  The widest from of abuse reported was verbal abuse.
  
  
• Teachers' coping strategies in response to discipline problems were both practical and positive.  Most teachers stated that they frequently deal with an incident in an objective and unemotional way and were able to  separate their working from their private life.
  
  
• A wide range of psychological and physiological responses to negative student behaviour were identified by teachers.  The most common response was one of stress.  Over one quarter of teachers stated that, as a result of negative student behaviour, they had considered leaving teaching altogether.

The following are the recommendations arising from the survey on discipline:

1. Proactive Response from Boards of Management
   Boards need to address their responsibilities to promote and protect employees’ health, safety and welfare at work.  Indiscipline is causing 43% of teachers to frequently feel “stressed out”.  Teachers also reported other symptoms of stress resulting from indiscipline.  98% of teachers want Boards to take a more proactive approach to teachers’ welfare.   Other management issues include the need for better communication structures between school management, including Principals, and classroom teachers.  Teachers also want the Boards to ensure that parents and students are more involved in drawing up the school discipline policy
2. Need to Assert Right of Majority to Learn
   While 71% of teachers have taught classes in current school year in which some students engaged in continuous disruptive behaviour, the vast majority of teachers – 81% –  said that only a small number of students were responsible for such behaviour.   A minority of students undermine the quality of the classroom learning environment for the majority of students.   This is unacceptable.  ASTI recommends that the legislation be reviewed to ensure a proper balance is achieved to enable the right of the majority of students to learn in an orderly environment.
3. Targeted Measures for Disruptive Students
   The minority who engage in continuous disruptive behaviour must be identified and appropriate measures put in place.  Such measures include the allocation of resources to schools to enable Resource Units to be established.  These are essentially rooms to which disruptive and disturbed students can be withdrawn to and where they can be provided with one-to-one counselling in areas like anger management skills, communication skills, self-esteem, etc.  Other measures include more specialist teachers in schools to work with students with literacy and numeracy problems and students who are emotionally and behaviourally disturbed.  Smaller class sizes are also essential.
4. Supports for Teachers
   Teaching is a stressful job.  Negative student behaviour can seriously increase stress levels.  Specific supports should be provided to teachers to enable them to cope more effectively with challenges of such behaviour.  Such supports include the introduction of the Teacher Stress Prevention Programme in all schools (currently at end of pilot phase), re-establishment of Welfare Service for teachers, more whole-staff training days and the availability of guidelines and advice for teachers on how to handle conflict and negative student behaviour.
5. Effective School Development and Planning
   More effective school development and planning structures are required if schools are to address the problem of negative student behaviour and maintain an orderly learning environment.  The pre-requisites for more effective structures are a reduction in teacher workload by reducing class contact time.  Coherent and effective educational leadership structures will only emerge when teachers have time to engage in reflection, planning and teamwork on whole-school policies and curriculum areas.