This thesis looks at education reform and the experiences of staff and pupils in a coeducational, multi-ethnic, comprehensive school that implemented Fresh Start, one of New Labour's flagship initiatives to 'raise standards'. The study is an ethnography that draws on semi-structured interviews, observation and the collection of key government and school documents. Particular attention is paid to issues of discipline, selection and the construction of pupil identities. I suggest that current official discourses are fixing 'problems' of indiscipline on pupils, downplaying its contextual nature. Specifically, I argue that key documents in education present discipline in a binary logic that defines pupils as either disruptive or disrupted. These positions are being reworked in school, with teachers defining as disruptive pupils perceived as having a bad attitude', and as disrupted those with particular cultural capital. Significantly, pupils positioned as disruptive are mainly boys of ethnic minority origins. This disadvantaging positioning is further compounded by processes of selection within the school. The splitting of the form under study helped to reinforce African Caribbean and Turkish pupils' positioning as disruptive. Setting, increasingly used under New Labour's 'modern comprehensive principle', also closes down the educational opportunities of some ethnic minority pupils at Greenfield Comprehensive, through the disproportionate allocation to the lower sets in Science of pupils with English as an Additional Language. This and other factors (such as ethnicity, gender and class) helped to shape the range of schooling identities available to pupils. I conclude that in spite of the ambivalence entailed in the process of identity formation the school is hardening pupils' identities into opposite positions, overlooking the commitment of pupils seen as 'problematic' and downplaying the misbehaviour of 'ideal' pupils. I suggest that a post-structuralist approach is needed to explain the fragility and complexity of pupils' schooling identities, alongside a modified version of the concept of polarisation to understand how these are being hardened at the school.

School exclusion has profound implications for life chances. Mentoring, alternative provision and anger management groups based on cognitive behavioural therapy are commonly used to improve behaviour and reduce exclusions. This qualitative case study explores, retrospectively, what factors can contribute to placing young people at risk of exclusion and what support interventions help to reduce exclusions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Year 11 boys (n=9) who were at risk of permanent exclusion one year before commencement of the study. At the time of the interviews, one subgroup had been excluded (n=4), whilst the other subgroup was at reduced risk of exclusion (n=5). Pupils had received 1 or more interventions (i.e. mentoring, learning, alternative provision) in addition to anger management group support. Pupils' parents and principal teacher were also interviewed. School and pupil documentary evidence supported the analysis. All participants detailed complex and interacting factors across contexts that contributed to pupils' risk of exclusion. Main themes concerned the influence of a sense of belonging, resilience, causal attributions, communication and selfconcept. Poor communication between home and school impeded collaborative support planning. Mentoring from external services was considered to be effective, as were learning interventions. Alternative provision re-engaged learners to a degree. Anger management raised awareness of triggers and strategies for expressing anger constructively. Barriers to effectiveness included treatmentreadiness, poor relationships, attachment, peers, learning, communication needs and self-concept. Non-excluded pupils were more likely than excluded pupils to have received support targeted at their specific needs. Interventions are considered to be effective when all of young people's needs are addressed. Collaborative communication, thorough assessment and an understanding of the complex and interacting factors affecting young people at risk of exclusion, can help schools to create personalised interventions that improve behaviour and reduce exclusions.

Bullying is widely acknowledged as an insidious form of victimization that is prevalent within out schools. In the context of a wider society that may in itself be racist, racial bullying in schools is beginning to be acknowledged both in the academic literature and the media. However, studies of ethnicity and bullying are scarce. The present study aims to highlight the experiences of bullying at school for both ethnic minority and ethnic majority pupils. In particular, the relationship between ethnic identity and the experience of bullying is examined. A total of 199 secondary school pupils aged between 12 and 13 years (Year 8) from an inner city school in Leicester participated. Two questionnaires were completed which assessed their experiences of bullying and ethnic identity. Significant differences were found for ethnicity regarding the overall experience of being bullied, with ethnic majority pupils reporting experiencing more bullying than their minority peers. Ethnic minority pupils were more likely than ethnic majority pupils to experience bullying with a racial content. No relationship was found between the effect of racial bullying and ethnic identity status. Some gender differences reported in the literature were reflected in the results of this study. The results proved difficult to interpret and a critical discussion of methodological limitations is offered. Implications of the findings for schools, and the clinical implications for psychology are discussed. Future research needs are also considered.

This study used a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework to explore bullying in a private day and boarding school. Six students from the school were recruited and trained in research; we worked together to answer this question: What do young people in this private day and boarding school view as the core issue of bullying in the school and how do they want to address this? This thesis presents three cycles of PAR through inquiry, action and reflection: Cycle one, initiated by myself, investigated the bullying definition at the school and how this was understood by the school community. Online questionnaires and a focus group were used to collect data. Cycle two was initiated by the research team following analysis of cycle one data. The ‘core bullying issue’ was identified as that of the ‘snitch’ and how participants conceptualised ‘serious’ and ‘not serious’ bullying. Paper questionnaires and student-led interviews were used to collect data. Cycle three focussed on the tangible ‘action’ from the project: the development of a draft anti-bullying strategy for the school. This thesis has two separate contributions. Firstly there is a subject contribution about ‘snitching’; students had to navigate a complex web in their decision to ‘snitch’ or not to ‘snitch’. Deciding whether the bullying was ‘serious’ enough to ‘snitch’ impacted on their initial decision. Furthermore students needed to decide if ‘snitching’ was the right thing to do. Secondly there is a methodological contribution; I further developed an existing framework for evaluating the participation of children in research (Dual-axis Model of Participation, Moules and O’Brien, 2012), through adding the dimensions of ‘ideas’ and ‘knowledge’.

The aim of this research was to explore narratives co-constructed with two young people who were looked after in local authority care and who had experienced school exclusion. Dominant narratives within the research literature surrounding looked after children were identified as those of underachievement, social exclusion and disadvantage. Statistically, school exclusion is one measure in which looked after children are over-represented and previous research has developed our understanding of the processes by which looked after young people come to be excluded from school. By co-constructing and exploring rich and detailed narratives, this study extends and contributes to previous research through developing an insight into the complexities of these two care-experienced young people's stories. Adopting a social constructionist approach, I used narrative interviewing to facilitate the co-construction of narratives with two participants. These were reflected upon and analysed by adapting Emerson and Frosh's (2009) development of Gee's (1991) micro and macro and analytic tools to privilege participants' meanings within a thematic analysis. This enabled me to explore our co-constructed narratives and how the young people were positioned within these. I discussed how I interpreted their stories to both construct narratives which dominate the research literature, and to resist these and construct contradictions and counter-narratives. I acknowledge that I had a powerful influence within the research process, both through the design and implementation of the research and through my interpretations of the narratives. I concluded the thesis by discussing the implications of this study for my practice and the educational psychology profession, specifically that a narrative approach has much to offer the practising psychologist.

The concept of possible selves (PSs) has been used to facilitate imagined possibilities and future selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986). The voice of children and young people (CYP) who have experienced school exclusion is underrepresented in research. This study aimed to address that gap in knowledge for three young people, utilising PSs. The future hopes and aspirations of each young person were also considered. The young people attended an alternative education provision, following an exclusion from a mainstream school. A social constructionist position was taken and a narrative inquiry approach was adopted. Narrative interviews facilitated co-constructed narratives, from which themes and PSs were interpreted. A multi-layered approach to analysis aimed to enhance knowledge and privilege the young people’s meanings. Social, cultural and power influences were explored within and across the young peoples’ narratives of agency and resistance. Whilst taking a critically reflexive and transparent approach, I acknowledge my own power and influence within the research process. This research raises awareness to the potential challenge encountered from narratives which marginalise and close down possibility for CYP who experience school exclusion. It prompts us to consider how we may generate conditions to facilitate the construction of new PSs to open up new possibilities for young people, enabling them to achieve their hopes and future aspirations. The implications of this study, for my own practice as well as the educational psychology profession, are presented. The value of a narrative approach for research and practice is highlighted.

Previous research in the area of meeting the inclusive needs of female Muslim pupils has explored parents’ views, and head teachers’ views (Parker-Jenkins, 1995). There has also been an almost exclusive focus on female Muslim pupils in predominantly ethnic areas (Mac an Ghaill, 1988, 1991). Q-methodology is a research tool which boasts quantitative and qualitative features and aims to provide descriptive accounts of a range of views around a topic. Q-methodology was used to explore the following research questions: (1)What are the viewpoints of female secondary-school aged Muslim pupils on how a secondary school can promote and support their inclusion? (2) How do the viewpoints within the current study relate to previous research and literature? and, (3) What are the implications for schools and EPs in relation to the viewpoints provided by the participants in the current study? 25 female Muslim pupils from one secondary school in a predominantly white area participated in the study. Five main viewpoints were found (two of which were bipolar). These viewpoints are as follows: Factor 1: Individualist approach to inclusion in a school that creates a sense of belonging based upon valuing and respecting Muslim identity. Factor 2: A collectivist approach to inclusion in a school that supports the process of social integration. Factor 3: (positive): Muslim others as significant to feeling included. Factor 3 (negative): A school that provides an Islamic classroom environment and curriculum. Factor 4: A school which extends inclusion to activities and events outside of school. Qualitative interpretations are provided for each of the five factor viewpoints, and the implications of these in relation to education, practice and past research are explored.

The aim of this research is to further understanding of the reasons for variations in school exclusion rates within secondary schools in one Local Authority (LA). The practice of school exclusion is used widely but unevenly, giving cause for concern to both policy makers and educationalists. The far-reaching effects of exclusion from school are well-documented, significantly reducing the well-being and aspirations of the young people involved. The research is structured using an ecosystemic framework, based on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) original model, but adapted to take into account the complexity of factors impacting on behaviour in schools. Using a mixed methodology, it focuses on variations in fixed-term exclusions. Initially, quantitative methods were used for the descriptive quantitative analysis of the LA historical data. From this analysis three schools with different rates of exclusion were selected for further study. The next part of the data collection employed qualitative methods to explore the perspectives of stakeholders in schools. Interviews were conducted with three school staff, six pupils including four at risk of exclusion, and a parent from each school, using a hierarchical focusing technique (Tomlinson, 1989). The elicitation of pupil perspectives was facilitated by the ‘Talking Stones’ technique developed by Wearmouth (2004). An ecosystemic approach to school exclusion reveals how a complex series of factors, from both outside and within school, impact on variations in school exclusion rate. Findings indicate that variations in rates of exclusion in schools cannot be tied to a single factor but are a reflection of a complex dynamic. At macrosystem level the role of government initiatives, legislation and individual LAs in providing equitable education for all children is called into question. Although school intake has a significant impact on variations in exclusion rate it is also the individual school ethos, influenced by cultural attitudes in the macrosystem, that lead to variations in provisions at exosystem level. School ethos also impacts on the quality of relationships in the mesosystem level influencing staff and home/school communication, and at microsystem level where staff responses are instrumental in preventing or escalating conflict leading to exclusions.

Schools often find problem behaviour difficult to address due to an overabundance of research and methods in this area. For a variety of reasons, wavering on this matter is based on multiple reform initiatives that compete and intersect. A solution to this indecisiveness finds a high proportion of adolescents, who are considered to be deviant by their teachers, excluded from mainstream classes and placed in alternative learning environments. These placements promise academic intervention, but tend to only address issues of self‐esteem through behaviour modification. As a result, these students remain in a skills‐deficit position that threatens their self‐esteem and provokes their original deviance. The study reported in this thesis considers this issue and its relationship to student voice. In so doing, it challenges exclusion as a way of addressing negative behaviour by looking at school experiences from the perspectives of students considered to be deviant to discover and examine the common places where they have found success.Bearing this argument in mind, this one-year study set out to find areas in a school in the United States that students labeled with a behaviour difficulty might identify as positive learning environments. The specific focus was designing and implementing a methodology that used action research to more accurately identify literature to address the specific needs and concerns of the students under scrutiny. It used school tours to help participants identify areas of success, as a basis for interviews, and as a direction for teacher observations. The voices of these marginalized students produced common categories that identified possible paths to reform. They were able to identify several successful components of lesson planning and general concerns that challenged the school’s culture. The implications of these findings are a significant step forward to what we know about the workings of inclusive classrooms, the teachers who find success in them, and how students come to be labeled with a behaviour difficulty.

Schools should provide children and young people with opportunities to achieve positive outcomes. A school practice which fails to do this is permanent exclusion. Although permanent exclusion figures have fallen over the last decade, the behaviour of some children and young people remains a concern for schools and there is evidence that some students are subject to alternative forms of exclusion. This case study explored how one secondary school had maintained low permanent exclusion figures. Quantitative data was gathered in relation to the school population and incidents of exclusion. Qualitative data was gathered in the form of 23 school policies which were subject to an analysis of policy content. In addition, the views of 10 members of school staff were gathered through semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather the views of six students. This data was analysed using thematic analysis. Student and staff participants perceived permanent exclusion as a practice that students placed themselves at risk of by persistently breaching the school rules or engaging in a serious one-off offence. Permanent exclusion was predominately thought to have a negative impact on the excluded student and it was therefore viewed as a last resort. Student and staff participants suggested that the school had maintained low permanent exclusion figures because of strategies which promoted positive behaviour across the school and because of additional interventions for students at risk of, or engaging in, poor behaviour. Some of these approaches were alternative forms of exclusion. Staff participants also believed that school staff were committed to inclusion and both groups of participants thought that staff had positive relationships with students. Staff participants identified barriers to the continued maintenance of low permanent exclusion figures, these related to a national focus on academic achievement, inconsistent implementation of the school's behaviour policy and transient students.