Discipline in Schools: Psychological Perspectives on the Elton Report Book

The Elton Committee was set up in 1989 to consider what action should be taken to secure the orderly atmosphere necessary in schools for effective teaching and learning. In this collection of papers, leading figures in the psychology of education reflect on some of the issues raised by the Elton Report and provide a series of psychological models for tackling problems of discipline, disorder and disruption in schools. Areas covered include whole school approaches to discipline, the connections between learning difficulties and discipline problems, the effectiveness of deliberate positive reinforcement of appropriate social behaviour in the classroom, the possible uses of techniques derived from family therapy in classroom discipline situations and the relationship between teacher and student as an agent of change. Although the perspectives of the contributors are very different, the emphasis throughout is on establishing a way forward for schools that will be valid and workable both in institutional terms and for the individual teacher in the classroom.Read More