Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

While it is clear that no level of such behaviour is acceptable, it is irresponsible in the extreme to suggest this type of behaviour is a generalised problem across our education system that all schools are required to grapple with. The reality is that the vast majority of students in our schools are well-behaved. Schools that have effective codes of behaviour in place find that these are generally sufficient to deal with disruption when it occurs. These codes of behaviour should be drawn up by every school in conjunction with students and parents who sign up to them. Generally, schools that have effective procedures are in a position to deal with such behaviour.

The reason I established a task force on student behaviour was not because student disruption is at crisis level in our schools but because I want to ensure we spread examples of best practice more widely and that my Department has the right policies and supports in place to enable schools to provide a positive learning environment for all their students. I also wanted to ensure the group benefited from a wide range of expertise and experience. Therefore, the 12-member task force included teachers from both mainstream schools and alternative school provision, school principals, and a parent who was a solicitor. The task force was chaired by Dr. Maeve Martin, a psychologist working in teacher education. I am grateful to the task force and its chair for the detailed consideration that they gave to such a broad area in a relatively short amount of time.

When I announced the establishment of the task force, I stated I wanted the group to consult widely and to engage with all partners so every view could be heard. The task force began its work by inviting, by public advertisement, submissions from interested individuals and groups. More than 150 submissions were received from agencies, advocacy groups, subject associations, targeted initiative personnel, school groups — comprising teachers, parents and students — and, of course, individuals. Some of the submissions are posted on the link to the task force, which is accessible through the Department of Education and Science home page, www.education.ie. The submissions provide a wide spectrum of views on the issues pertaining to student behaviour.

At an early stage, the task force prioritised collaboration with the partners in education as a guiding feature of its work. The task force held 19 plenary sessions in 2005 at which each of the partners in education, including parents, students and teachers, was invited to make an oral submission. A plenary session with all the partners was held on 12 October 2005.

Time spent with the partners, both at meetings and in analysing their written submissions, provided the task force not only with insights into issues of concern for their various constituencies, but with a deep appreciation of the complexity of student behaviour. That process of consultation with the partners in education has provided an opportunity for all the major stakeholders in our education system to be intimately involved in the work of the task force and to inform its final report and recommendations.

In recognition that school is only one facet of a young person's life and the realisation that some students come into contact with a variety of agencies other than the school, the task force also identified and consulted several agencies and advocacy groups with high levels of expertise and relevance in the area of youth and schooling.

Ten consultative fora were held around the country at several second level schools, as well as centres of alternative provision such as Youthreach centres and Youth Encounter programmes. Those fora allowed the task force to flesh out in a very real way many of the written submissions that came to it from a variety of sources.

The task force delivered its interim report in June 2005. Although that report refrained from making recommendations, it provided the framework for subsequent discussions with the partners in education that have informed the recommendations contained in the final report.

The interim report concentrated on an analysis of the nature of the issue and a refining of the emerging areas likely to require recommendations in its final report. In line with the terms of reference given to the task force, the interim report examined the nature, scale and impact of disruptive behaviour, the effectiveness of strategies employed at present to address disruptions and best practice nationally and internationally in promoting positive behaviour. Following that, the report set out areas that it would examine in making recommendations in the final report.

Regarding the nature, scale and impact of disruptive behaviour, the report found that breaches of school discipline are on a continuum ranging from relatively minor infringements to gross misbehaviour. At the less serious end, the report contains a range of frequently cited examples, which include non-stop talking, coming late for class, failure to bring relevant class materials, constantly challenging the teacher's authority and using mobile telephones in ways and times that are inappropriate.

At the other end of the continuum are issues of gross indiscipline posing severe risks to the safety and well-being of teachers and peers. Those incidences, while very limited, can be extremely serious. The impact of misbehaviour is varied, but it includes a lowering of morale in the school community, inroads into valuable teaching and learning time and cumulative stress for teachers in the performance of their work.

The data reported give a flavour of the kinds of disruption that schools are encountering. In scale, the data suggest that the perpetrators represent about 5% to 10% of the school population, of which those engaged in extreme behaviour represent a very small proportion of students. There is also evidence to suggest that the challenging behaviour documented may not be found in some schools and, where it occurs, may be more manifest in some schools than in others. It would be wrong to give the impression that this crisis is general and affects every school in the country.

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