Behaviour management policies, with big implications for children, need to be subject to rigorous evaluation
The Department for Education: should be investigating the impact of school behaviour policies. Image: Istock/Getty Images.
Do "sweat the small stuff" behaviour policies actually work, in the long run, for pupils? The fact that we seem to lack a firm, detailed evidential base for policies which have big impacts on pupils is of concern.
“You can’t punish the special educational needs out of a child.”
So argued the mother of a 12-year-old boy, whom I spoke to last month and who took me through in detail how, she argued passionately, a school’s uncompromising approach to behaviour management had triggered serious anxiety and drained all his enthusiasm for education following a crucial transition.
Was she right? Has her son been damaged? Are such punishments, where they occur, contributing to the high levels of disengagement from secondary education among 11- and 12-year-olds we now see, within months of it starting?
Or are those defending unyielding “sweat the small stuff” policies on behaviour, uniform and equipment the ones with moral righteousness, in the end, on their side? If so, can they evidence that their policies are best, for children? And if not, what should we think about this?
This case study raised such thoughts, which I think have profound implications for how we view how school policymaking currently works, and of course for those young people on the end of it.
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By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 10 June 2025
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Another very pertinent and thought-provoking piece, Warwick. The concept of evaluation is elusive to say the least in schools where the puils are mere numbers on the roll and teachers are given Stasi-like guidelines. This will not end well in many places.
Selection by compliance needs to be challenged. Inclusion must relate to ALL young people
I am more an more convinced that the schools that operate this kind of systems - promoted by the (now ex) behaviour tsar - are morally deficient. They are not preparing people for the workplace or for future life - who wants a society that acts and behaves in this way? The consequences on many. esp the neurodivergent are dire and lead to increased anxiety and other MH issues. I am pretty sure that these schools are breaking a number of the conventions in the UNCRC aside from the moral depravity masked as "concern" and "high standards" this is about their own egos and need for control - story after story emerges of how the individuals who act like this are also guilty of bullying and other such behaviours. We can only hope that there is a change of direction.