Team effort needed to bring order to schools

Pupil indiscipline is still a real concern in classrooms, says Ronnie Smith

THE issue of pupil indiscipline remains a real concern for teachers in Scottish schools, as well as for parents and most pupils.

Of course, there has never been a time when the behaviour of pupils did not exercise the minds of teachers. But why does the problem seem to be getting worse. Firstly, schools reflect changes in society and many of the children we teach have increasingly complex lives.

Secondly, the Scottish Government's policies of inclusion and the presumption of "mainstreaming" pupils with, for example, behavioural difficulties have presented new and difficult challenges.

The EIS believes teachers have the right to teach and that young people have the right to learn in a safe environment. It is the responsibility of the Scottish Government and local authorities to meet these rights.

Of course, it is always the more serious incidents that grab the attention of the media and the public. Any incident of violence in schools is unacceptable and must be treated with zero tolerance.

Any pupil who resorts to physical violence against any member of school staff should automatically forfeit their right to remain in that school.

Thankfully, however, most pupil indiscipline takes the form of persistent low level disruption. But dealing with this is exhausting for teachers and frustrating for other pupils. The people who lose out most are the other pupils in the class whose rights are ignored and whose learning is inevitably damaged.

Teachers are working hard to try to improve pupils' behaviour, but they cannot solve the problem on their own. Parents have a vital role to play. There must also be improved levels of support from the Scottish Government and from councils.

Teachers must be supported to carry out their responsibilities. There must be clear school behaviour policies which have been agreed with staff, with the involvement of parents.

There are no simple solutions to the problem of pupil indiscipline. Like so much in modern school life, success depends on a cohesive approach to the problem at all levels.

Teachers, parents and pupils must work together to improve discipline in schools, and firm yet fair discipline policies must be developed, backed up by effective sanctions, including the right to exclude pupils for persistent poor behaviour.

Political and financial support from the Scottish Parliament and local authorities is also absolutely vital. We cannot tackle the problem of indiscipline on the cheap – it will cost money to introduce smaller class sizes and specialist behaviour bases both within and outwith individual schools.

It is these principles that, combined with additional resources, will help make progress towards achieving better behaviour in schools.

• Ronnie Smith is General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland