Discipline in Schools: The Elton Report

The Elton Committee's investigation into school discipline was prompted by considerable public and parliamentary disquiet about indiscipline and bullying in schools. The Committee's Report, published in 1989, contains a review of current practice and legal changes relating to school discipline which occurred during the 1980s–including the removal of teachers' authority to inflict corporal punishment in most schools and new requirements on exclusion from school. The Report contains a number of important recommendations, on, inter alia, consolidation of teachers' and schools' disciplinary authority into a single statute, non-discrimination and central monitoring of school exclusions. This article discusses these recommendations and assesses their implications. It also analyses the government's response. Finally, it evaluates the Report, suggesting that while an opportunity is being offered to pupils to benefit from a more child-centred approach to school discipline, fundamental questions concerning the conflict between teachers' or parents' autonomy and children's rights were not addressed by the Committee.