NCJ Number
134661
Date Published
1987
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This discussion of the Victoria, Australia, Education Department's Regulation XVI relating to discipline and suspension of students is timely because the Victorian Ministry of Education is re-examining the disruption in school issue and because of school concerns about student disruption.
Abstract
The ministerial review of school discipline procedures was initiated in 1984 to examine the efficacy of regulations on behavior codes and practices in schools and to recommend necessary changes. A document on school discipline procedures was distributed to all schools in 1985. This document focused on procedures for detention, suspension, conferences, and panel inquiries. Clearly, the Education Department responded to pressures from schools and their communities to be able to more easily exclude disruptive students from schools. A report on discipline in secondary schools in Western Australia notes that suspension serves three purposes: provides a period for reviewing deviant behavior, a means for removing disruptive influences, and punishment or deterrence for aberrant behavior. The Victoria Ministry of Education recommends that off-site facilities be created to which students can be referred to correct disruptive behavior and that schools and their communities create their own discipline policies, with suspension as an option where school guidelines fall down. The fundamental challenge for policymakers hinges on the need to secure and maintain teacher and student confidence in any proposed strategy for improvement, while effecting a shift in perspective so that discipline becomes an educational rather than an exclusively management issue. The Ministry of Education continues to look at policies that move away from emphasizing only sanctions and regulations. 33 references