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Examining The Nature Of The Problem Will Develop Our Knowledge And ...

Examining the nature of the problem will develop our knowledge and understanding of the complexities involved and will help to define the aims and objectives of the proposed research project.
Ducie High School, Manchester
In October 1999 the school underwent an Ofsted inspection. The Ofsted report that was produced provides a microcosm of the many problems faced by similar type school that exist in areas of high social and economic exclusion. In the main findings of the report it states, .The management and staff.face a major and daily challenge in meeting the needs of the pupils, who come from neighbourhoods which suffer from considerable disadvantage - (Page 2, Ducie High School, Ofsted Report, October 1999).
The report proceeds to highlight a number of key findings, which are of direct relevance to this study. At the school relationships among pupils and between adults and pupils are good. The teachers are aware of tensions between pupils outside of the school, which can lead to volatile behaviour, and provide strong pastoral support. The level of exclusion, especially fixed-term exclusion is very high. With the vast majority of exclusions are for acts of violence, mostly by boys. Pupils of African-Caribbean heritage are disproportionately represented among those excluded for fixed terms.
The school's most substantial achievement is the creation of an integrated community, in which pupils from diverse backgrounds and a wide range of experiences can feel safe and secure. In spite of its success, there remains an undercurrent of unrest which is mainly the result of outside factors and which can occasionally erupt into anti-social behaviour and violent incidents. The school generally defuses these situations, calms pupils and provides and antidote to the external pressures.
The information drawn from the Ofsted report provides a revealing picture about daily life at Ducie School. Clearly the staff are a cohort of hard working and dedicated professionals. However, much of the tensions that occur within the school are generated from outside the school gates. This reinforces the notion that disaffection among school pupils is a complex and multi-faceted issue.
Clearly there will be situations in which the cause of the disaffection is generated within the school environment due to the poor quality of teaching, the perceived irrelevance of the curriculum to the pupils and so on. As with all educational issues, it is not possible to adopt a prescriptive approach and apply a simple solution. Each type of disaffection must be examined. This is necessary in order to strengthen our knowledge and understanding of the underlying factors, which ignite discontent and generate inappropriate behaviour amongst young people.

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