Pupils’ Causal Attributions for School Exclusion
Dr Louise Field, University College London (louise.field@ucl.ac.uk)
Why Study Exclusions?
•Recent statistics indicate that 332,310 pupils
were excluded from school between 2007 and
2008 (Department for Children Schools and
Families 2009).
•Research has highlighted a strong link between
school exclusion and subsequent social
exclusion. Pinnock (2000).
•Government statistics highlight the link between
pupil misbehaviour and subsequent school
exclusion (Department for Children Schools and
Families 2009).
•Few previous studies have applied a
psychological theory to understand the concept of
school exclusion. Attribution theory has been
used as a psychological framework to provide a
greater understanding of the related domain, pupil
misbehaviour. (Miller, Ferguson & Byrne 2000,
Miller, Ferguson and Moore 2002, Lambert &
Miller 2010).
Research Questions
1. How do pupils attribute the causes of school
exclusion?
2. Are pupils’ attributions for school exclusion
different from their attributions for
misbehaviour?
3. Do the attributions of those pupils with high self
reported behaviour problems differ from those
with low self reported problems?
4. What do pupils think will help prevent school
exclusions in the future?
Methodology
Participants: 263 (non excluded) Year 10 pupils from two mainstream
secondary schools based within a large county authority.
Design: The study employed a mixed methods design which took place in two
stages:
Stage 1: Twenty four of the 263 pupils took part in four focus groups to identify
a range of causal factors which contributed to a pupil becoming excluded
from school. In addition pupils were asked to identify a range of methods to
prevent school exclusion.
Stage 2: Administration of three online questionnaires using the remaining 239
participants:
1. The Exclusion Attribution Questionnaire (created from factors identified from
the initial focus groups)
2. The Behaviour Attribution Questionnaire (Lambert & Miller 2010)
3. The Goodman’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman 1999)
Implications for Practice
•Systemic work with schools and pupils to ensure that teachers’ practices are
consistent and fair across lessons using solution focused techniques
•Individual focussed work regarding the fairness of teachers’ actions to support
pupils to develop a greater understanding of this perceived unfairness from the
teacher’s perspective.
•Interventions which challenge pupils’ attributions such as attribution retraining
for pupils with behaviour difficulties are likely to support pupils to develop
strategies for dealing with their own challenging behaviour in class and therefore
reduce the likelihood of school exclusion
•EPs should establish the appeal of risk taking behaviours when working with
pupils with behaviour problems and whether pupils are able to experience risk
taking in a safe and controlled environment.
•Prevention techniques should be considered. These include: pastoral support
plans, home based reinforcement programmes, home school agreements, and
developing positive communication between various stakeholders.
References
Department for Children Schools and Families. (2009). Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools and Exclusion Appeals in England 2007/2008. London: DCSF
Lambert, N. & Miller, A. (2010). The temporal stability and predictive validity of pupils’ causal attributions for difficult classroom behaviour. British Journal of Educational
Psychology, 80 (4) 599-622
Miller, A., Ferguson, E., & Moore, E. (2002). Parents' and Pupils' Causal Attributions for Difficult Classroom Behaviour. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 27-40.
Miller, A., Ferguson, E., & Byrne, I. (2000). Pupil's Causal Attributions for Difficult Classroom Behaviour. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70 (1), 85-96.
Pinnock, K. (2000). Reintegrating excluded pupils. Education Journal, 45 (4) 27- 8.
Results
1. How do pupils attribute the causes of school
exclusion?
Principal Component Analysis revealed the following
four factors: the pupil’s risk taking behaviour (for
example taking drugs in school), the perceived
unfairness of teachers’ actions, the pupil’s vulnerability
(for example the pupil’s socioeconomic status) and the
pupil’s defiant school behaviour (for example not
turning up to a detention).
2. Are pupils’ attributions for school exclusion
different from their attributions for
misbehaviour?
Yes. Principal Component Analysis revealed three
factors: the pupil’s characteristics (for example their
personality), environmental adversity (for example
racist attitudes) and the perceived unfairness of
teachers’ actions.
3. Do the attributions of those pupils with high self
reported behaviour problems differ from those
with low self reported problems?
School exclusion: pupils with high self reported
behaviour problems attributed towards the pupil’s risk
taking behaviour. Normal functioning pupils attributed
towards the perceived unfairness of teachers actions.
Misbehaviour: pupils with high self reported
behaviour problems attributed towards the pupil’s
characteristics. Normal functioning pupils attributed
towards the perceived unfairness of teachers’ actions.
4. What do pupils think will help prevent school
exclusions in the future?
Thematic analysis of the focus group data revealed the
following themes:
1. The teacher’s behaviour management techniques.
2. The use of external support.
3. Facilitation of positive communication between
home, school and pupils.
4. Adjustments to the provision.
5. Changing within child factors.