Including pupils who are perceived to have challenging behaviour within mainstream schools : exploring the impact of exclusion interventions and SENCos' efficacy beliefs

Abstract

A mixed-methods integrated systematic review explored the effectiveness of psychological interventions designed to reduce disciplinary exclusions from British mainstream secondary schools. Little evidence was found to suggest that any one form of intervention can reduce exclusion rates. However, there was some evidence to suggest some interventions may change perceptions of behaviour and/or the incidence of inappropriate behaviours and, in consequence reduce exclusion rates. There was also some evidence to suggest that factors such as ‘notions of power in the classroom’, ‘life scripts’, ‘gender’, ‘sharing thoughts feelings and experiences’ and ‘treatment readiness’ may impact on intervention success. The majority of studies focused on intervening therapeutically at the individual child/group level and the general focus of disciplinary exclusion intervention literature is on transfer to alternative provisions. As there is a dearth of research exploring school factors such as the sources of teacher efficacy beliefs in relation to difficult behaviour to inform intervention, the empirical research project explored this. Five primary school Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos) participated in a semi-structured interview and the data was subjected to thematic analysis. Findings suggested that efficacy beliefs in relation to perceived challenging behaviour are developed by ‘mastery experiences’, ‘social persuasion’, ‘cognitive reframing’ and ‘support from team’. Subsequently, barriers to developing efficacy beliefs included ‘lack of experience’, ‘lack of appropriate Continued Professional Development (CPD) opportunities’, ‘perceived limitations of teachers’ role’, ‘lack of access to psychological support’ and ‘lack of success’. Recommendations for future research and Educational Psychology (EP) practice were discussed.