IT IS clear that radical steps must be taken if the problem of disruptive behaviour in schools and subsequently in society is to be tack led. Increasingly, educators and child care experts are arguing in favour of early, preventative interventions in children's lives and increased family supports. Even in second class some children are beginning to manifest signs of behavioural problems which, if left unchecked, could dog them throughout their lives, teachers say.
All schools should be able to call upon the services of psychologists, remedial teachers, counsellors and home school liaison teachers, the teacher unions say. Teachers would also like to see an increase in the number of places at special schools and special units within schools to deal with these students.
The ASTI's John White believes that it is imperative that new curricula that engage the interests and the particular abilities of disruptive students be developed. "Our system is only sympathetic to academic conceptual knowledge, yet other types of knowledge and abilities are equally valid," he says.
"In Europe disruptive behaviour is recognised as a special need and support teams are sent in to help schools," says John Carr, assistant general secretary of the INTO. He believes that the Department's approach to disruptive behaviour and to poverty and disadvantage is piecemeal and that effective pilot projects should be expanded far more rapidly than is currently the case. Unless concerted action is taken quickly, the problems of disruptive behaviour will only worsen, he warns.
Although the YOUTHBEACH programme was set up to encourage school drop outs back into education and training and caters for 15 to 18 year olds, Dermot Stokes, who is the programme's national coordinator, believes it would be wrong to extend its remit to include younger, disruptive students who have been excluded from school.
Such problems have to be dealt with at school level, he believes. Rather than turning students away, Stokes suggests that schools provide them with refuges or sanctuaries where they could let off steam and discuss their problems with trained counsellors or "social pedagogues" as in Germany. And where teachers and students are in conflict, impartial mediators should be used.
Stokes also highlights the need for a revamp of teacher training. "Over time, and given societal changes, the H. Dip has lost contact with the realities of society and where young people are coming from," he says. PLC type courses should be developed to address the needs of a younger clientele, he argues.
"Although schools work for large numbers of people, they could choose to organise themselves differently and also cater for those youngsters who are currently excluded from the system. They could co-operate to a greater extent with the youth services, the health boards and other agencies in the community they don't have to solve everything from within."
