The University of ManchesterEsther NelsonDoctorate in Educational and Child Psychology Exploring professional action around sexually inappropriate behaviour and children in schools2013Background: Sexually inappropriate behaviour (SIB) displayed by children and young people often results in pupil school exclusions and, at present, a national intervention pathway is not available (DfE, 2010). School staff feel ill equipped to recognise and respond to SIB (Flanagan, 2010), and within the present research context, they may be placed in ‘out of city’ specialist settings, with attendant social, emotional and financial implications. Participants: From Local Authority (LA) with local SIB pathway: 2 Educational Psychologists (EPs). From non-pathway LA: 2 EPs and 6 school professional participants with SIB case experience.Methods: A qualitative mixed methods investigation, consisting of surveys, semi-structured interviews and a focus group. A documentary analysis of the existing regional LA policies and pathways was completed. Semi-structured interviews were completed with EPs; a focus group with professionals with experience of children displaying SIB to discuss the knowledge, thoughts and feelings of these staff members in relation SIB, and the current processes and pathways in use within the school and the LA. Analysis/ Findings: Content analysis of the existing policies reveals much variation between LAs in how incidents of SIB are managed in schools. Thematic analysis of interview data with EPs reveals both facilitators and potential barriers for managing incidents of SIB. Thematic analysis of interview data with school staff reveals practical approaches and strategies which if included in a pathway would be beneficial in dealing with incidents of SIB.Conclusion/ Implications: Procedures for managing incidents of SIB vary widely within LAs in the region. Pathways and procedures should include practical advice for managing these incidents and would benefit from being designed through a bottom up approach, focusing on the approaches and strategies that teaching staff at the front line would find beneficial.

Depuis plusieurs années le système éducatif français peine à remplir sa mission auprès de tous les élèves. En outre, les comportements indisciplinés de ces derniers en classe viennent contrarier la tâche des enseignants et par conséquent la réussite scolaire des élèves. En l’absence de données sur la gestion par les enseignants de l’indiscipline des élèves en classe à l’île de La Réunion, cette recherche qualitative descriptive interroge, après les vagues successives de plans de lutte ministériels contre les comportements déviants à l’école initiée il y a plus de 20 ans, la place accordée au domaine de la gestion de classe dans le système éducatif français. Cette recherche vise à documenter : 1- le comportement des collégiens en classe ; 2- les connaissances et les pratiques de gestion de classe des enseignants ; et 3- leurs représentations quant à leur formation dans ce domaine. L’échantillon est composé de 47 enseignants de collège de Réseau d’Éducation Prioritaire renforcée (REP+) de La Réunion. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent l’ampleur du phénomène d’indiscipline dans certaines classes et semblent indiquer chez les enseignants, indépendamment de leur âge, de leur sexe et de leur ancienneté, un manque de connaissances au regard du phénomène d’indiscipline scolaire et des pratiques efficaces de gestion de classe. L’analyse des données suggère que ces lacunes s’expliquent entre autres par une formation insuffisante dans le domaine de la gestion de classe. Si cette recherche souligne l’importance majeure de la gestion de classe dans l’exercice du métier d’enseignant, elle invite également la communauté scientifique française à investir ce thème de recherche peu étudié en France et pourtant constitutif des sciences de l’éducation. / For several years, the French school system has shown some dysfunctions and has struggled to follow its school mission in instructing and educating all its students. Moreover, middle school students’ behavioural problems in class tend to interfere with teachers’ teaching task and as a consequence they tend to obstruct students’ success at school. This research takes place after the last 20 years of successive waves of plans undertaken from the French Ministry of education to address inappropriate behaviours at school. Since there is a lack of data in Reunion Island about teachers’ skills in dealing with students’ inappropriate behaviour in class, this descriptive and qualitative doctoral thesis questions the place given to classroom management in the French school system. This research aims at documenting: 1- middle school students’ behaviour in class; 2- teachers’ theoretical knowledge and practices in classroom management; 3- teachers’ representations pertaining to their training in classroom management. The sample ofrespondents includes 47 teachers in French public middle schools part of the Priority Education Network in Reunion Island. Results show the extent of the phenomenon of behavioural problems in some classes and seem to indicate a lack of teachers’ skills and teachers’ knowledge in classroom management regardless of their age, their gender and their length of service. The data analysis also indicates that one of the possible reasons for these results could be a lack of reservice and in-service teachers’ training in classroom management. This research joints to the fact that classroom management is a crucial part of the teaching profession. It also invites the French scientific community to invest the theme of classroom management since this theme is currently barely studied in France.