The Behaviour in Scottish Schools 2009 report, commissioned by the Scottish government and compiled by the University of Edinburgh, revealed the only area where pupils’ behaviour has declined since 2006 was in withdrawing from interaction with their classmates and teachers.
The authors of the report, who quizzed 3500 teaching staff, said this was “cause for concern”. Teaching unions have confirmed that membership in after-school clubs, a traditional sign of engagement with school life, has struggled in recent years.
Reasons for this increased passivity in pupils range from increasingly chaotic home lives, erratic sleep patterns and the impact of social networking sites. Educationalists have called for more research to be done in this area.
Pamela Munn, professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and one of the report’s key authors, said the withdrawing trend stood out in a document that reported overall improvements in behaviour. Other examples of “low level indiscipline in the classroom” such as eating in class, cheekiness towards teachers and general rowdiness have all improved. Pupils withdrawing from interaction was the one negative trend witnessed in both the primary and secondary sectors.
“It should definitely be an issue of concern this is on the increase,” she said. “One of my worries is that with the kind of public spending cuts projected, the kind of support that might be put in place to help these vulnerable youngsters would be at risk.”
Teaching unions said the report’s conclusion confirmed anecdotal evidence from their members. Ken Cunningham, general secretary of School Leaders Scotland (SLS), said it “accorded” with his experience and offered some reasons why pupils might be increasingly switching off in class.
“More pupils than in the past have a number of personal issues they have to deal with,” he said. “Some are coming from homes that are disruptive for a variety of reasons: split families, drugs and alcohol issues. I suspect there are more young people who are carers, officially and unofficially, than has ever been.
“Technology opens up social networking, which would seem to create a community for young people, but it is also a very isolating thing.
“You can find youngsters who are so caught up with technology, to the exclusion of personal and interpersonal relationships. Social networking can help share ideas and brainstorming, but at the same time it can do emotional damage to people, with bullying online. And it’s very difficult to handle that. It badly needs more research.”
Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, confirmed it had noted “an increased reluctance of young people to be involved in the social aspects of school, like joining clubs”.
She added: “Quite often when they participate in the life of the school, they do the bare minimum and no more. That causes problems as well.”
Other educationalists have suggested that both parents and teachers being too soft on pupils might be another reason why they disengage in class.
Carole Ford, former president of SLS and head teacher at Kilmarnock Academy, said parents being more “liberal” with their child’s lifestyle might add to this trend. She said: “Simple things like sleep patterns and diets are less conducive to education as they used to be.”
On the school system itself, she said: “We are encouraging children to expect help constantly. They believe there are two modes in education: it’s easy and I can do it; or its too hard. They don’t expect the bit in the middle where you work at it, master it. Teachers are finding it harder to get young people into that zone. Teachers are finding it harder to motivate and engage young people in education.”
