‘You kind of don’t want them in the room’: tensions in the discourse of inclusion and exclusion for students displaying challenging behaviour in an English secondary school

Internationally and within England, there has been increasing focus upon perceived behaviour problems within schools. This study, which took place within a mainstream English secondary school, considered the interplay of the competing notions of exclusion and inclusion for children displaying challenging behaviour. The study used a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative data gathered on school referrals (temporary exclusions from lessons) and interviews with staff and students. This approach allowed both a consideration of trends within referrals and an analysis of how students displaying challenging behaviour are constructed within the discourse of the school. Findings showed that some groups were disproportionately affected by referrals. Within interviews, students and staff oscillated between individualising and contextualising the cause of challenging behaviour both blaming the student and seeing them as a victim of circumstance at the same time. Teachers indicated a greater willingness to change their practice and use a contextual approach to understanding pupils’ behaviour when they felt they had been given a reason from the student’s home life or background to do so. Recommendations are made for future research in the previously under-researched area of referrals and implications for practice are discussed to make schools more inclusive of students with challenging behaviour.