How Children Make Sense of Their Permanent Exclusion
Date 5 October 2023
Dr Rick Murphy will be presenting his research with children who are permanently excluded from school
Dr Rick Murphy will be presenting his research with children who are permanently excluded from school on 22 November 2023, 5pm-6pm (online). Please see a link to the paper that forms part of the talk. Please feel free to share the seminar with others and join us for this important work.
How Children Make Sense of Their Permanent Exclusion
A rising number of children are permanently excluded from school each year in England. Children’s experiences of exclusion are underrepresented in the literature, effectively giving prominence to the views and interpretations of researchers. This qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews to explore the ways in which excluded children story their experience of school exclusion (N = 18). Thematic analysis was used to identify trends in the children’s data, integrating key themes to develop an understanding of how children make sense of the exclusion situation.
The main findings from this study are that excluded children tend to experience schools as misreading symptoms of social injustice, bullying, and special educational needs as misbehaviour and non-compliance. The children reported that exclusion behaviours were a communication of personal and social problems that were amplified by punitive school measures. Ways in which schools can implement these findings for behaviour change are discussed with key recommendations for employing these findings within schools and educational settings.
Please contact the SIG Leads Dr Josephine-Chen Wilson (josephine.chen-wilson@northampton.ac.uk) and Associate Professor Dr Kimberley Hill (kimberley.hill@northampton.ac.uk) for more information, including the link to the virtual room when available.
Professor Federico Farini's research concerns the inclusion of migrant children and young people in education, youth subcultures and cultural studies, migrant-friendly services, conflict management, intercultural education, client-centred interpreting in healthcare and education, and the role of digital media in the diffusion of knowledge.