ACER's Research Director of Early Childhood Education, Alison Elliott recently contributed the following opinion article to Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper regarding trends for suspending students from school. Professor Elliott's piece was published following the release of Queensland figures on school suspensions.

While the Queensland figures on school suspensions come as a shock they are part of a world wide trend to suspend students from school. Policies of "zero tolerance" are more common and with them come higher levels of suspensions and expulsions.

In the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand schools are suspending students, mainly boys, in record numbers. In the US there are disturbing ethnicity-related patterns of suspensions with African-American males more likely to be suspended than students from other groups. The extent to which indigenous and other minority students are represented in Australian suspension statistics is not clear. If our trends are following those in the UK and US then we've got a very serious problem.

There are several reasons for school suspensions and some ways we can reduce them. But there are no quick fixes.  

Many students exhibit conduct that is unacceptable in school or any public place. Family stress, lack of parental support, and absence of appropriate mentors contribute to bad behaviour. Some students are disturbed, some have mental illnesses. Many are bored with school and are marking time until they can leave.   

Increased suspensions are the result of trends to make schools safer places for everyone.

Duty of care means that schools must ensure that everyone has a safe environment for work and learning. The safety of students, teachers and others cannot be put at risk. But in the longer term a safe school won't result from suspensions, threats or more rules.

Creating and maintaining a safe school environment requires the active, thoughtful and cooperative involvement of the whole school community. The reasons for unacceptable behaviour leading to suspensions are complex.

Are boys are becoming more violent, ruder and less law abiding? Perhaps. But juvenile offence statistics don't reflect this. Rather, I suggest we look more closely within our schools at ways we approach teaching, especially for less academically minded students.

Removing troubling students certainly makes teachers' jobs less stressful. It reduces classroom disruptions, increases learning opportunities and creates safer environments.

But there are big problems with suspensions. Suspending troubled students compounds existing problems and results in new ones. Students can end up home alone, or more worryingly wandering shopping malls and riding trains.  They are rarely provided with an alternative education. Few education authorities have options for students not allowed at school.

Unsupervised children and teenagers, already prone to trouble, are likely to engage in more inappropriate behaviour- fights, drugs, theft. Suspended students are the least likely to have the personal or family capacity to help themselves out of their difficulties. They need school and adult support.

The key to reducing suspensions is changing behaviour- schools' and students'.Schools that encourage responsible citizenship and an active community are on track to creating thoughtful and engaged civic- minded students with a sense of justice and equity who accept responsibility for protecting their rights and the rights of others.

And changing school climates is a long term process. At the chalkface it involves engaging all students in learning and making classrooms interesting, dynamic and relevant. Today's student lives in a fast paced, information rich world. Making choices and decisions in part and parcel of this.

The best starting point for capturing students' imagination and interest and keeping them on task and in school is making classrooms more responsive to their needs.

Research indicates that classroom environment and teaching quality make a difference.

Teacher competence and confidence is the key to improving student outcomes. Classrooms need to be in tune with youngsters' needs. They need to engage students in learning that is action oriented. Not book and desk bound.

For some students, community and vocationally oriented programs will help.   Many troubled students have poor literacy skills. They need small group tutoring and mentoring- starting in the early years. Building stronger, smaller, community-minded schools with shared and clear values and expectations will go far in improving outcomes for all students.

Teaching has become more difficult on all fronts. Teachers plead for help in better managing today's complex classrooms and in dealing with behaviour problems.   Yet they get little professional development.   Strengthening teacher skills to make classrooms dynamic, collaborative and team focused will be a good starting point. Working with troubled students requires special skills that most teachers don't have.

The article was originally published in the Courier Mail, 27 February 2004.

by Professor Alison Elliott
Research Director, Early Childhood Education
The Australian Council for Educational Research
First published by the Brisbane Courier-Mail, 27 February 2004

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