ERIC Number: EJ1100021
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0264-3944
EISSN: N/A
Applying the "Least Dangerous Assumption" in Regard to Behaviour Policies and Children with Special Needs
Emerson, Anne
Pastoral Care in Education, v34 n2 p104-109 2016
Children with special needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools have a wide range of complex conditions rendering it impossible for teachers to fully understand all the complexities of their needs. Difficulties with understanding and self-control lead to much of the behaviour that is considered unacceptable within schools and that can ultimately lead to the large numbers of children with SEND who are excluded. Schools often wish to provide a behaviour policy where everyone is treated equally despite people's needs and abilities being different. Government guidance in relation to behaviour policies is that they should comprise a mixture of sanctions and rewards, but this behaviourist view leads to a lack of equity of response to behaviour, again feeding into disproportionate numbers of children with SEND being excluded. The move from sanctions and rewards to the operation of a relationships policy where students' actions yield consequences, within a humanist ethos of understanding, would far more effectively support all children to learn to moderate and control their behaviour and would allow staff to apply the "least dangerous assumption" when dealing with challenging students.
Descriptors: Disabilities, Mainstreaming, Special Needs Students, Student Needs, Self Control, Student Behavior, Behavior Problems, Discipline Policy, Sanctions, Rewards, Foreign Countries, Educational Policy
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A