Chapter 3Consequences for students
3.1This chapter provides an overview of the impacts of disruptive behaviour and its management. This includes considering some negative impacts, including the loss of instructional time due to disruption, effects on learning and educational outcomes, and what impacts exclusion and suspension can have on disruptive students.
Loss of instructional time because of disorder and distraction
3.2Many submitters noted that disruptive student behaviour reduces the amount of instructional time available for student learning. For example, the Australian Professional Teachers Association (APTA) noted:
Disruptions in classes are leading to students receiving less instructional teacher time. With numerous classes being collapsed and/or combined to ensure there is supervision, quality instructional time to students is being lost. Senior classes are losing their specialist teachers to ensure that junior classes are supervised. With Australia's education system falling further and further behind, schools will be unable to lift the standards of achievement, if they are focusing more on behaviour management than teaching and learning.
3.3The Australian Council of State School Organisations argued that 'disruptions in the classroom squander important instructional time and may potentially lead to long-term behavioural issues for students'.
3.4The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) told the committee that even low levels of disruptive behaviour can have significant negative consequences:
Even seemingly low-level disruption, such as students tapping on a desk, students being distracted or distracting their peers can amount to significant lost time in learning, and every minute is really valuable within classrooms. As far as quality of time goes, the engagement of students in learning is critical to their retaining of new information. Because attention is such a precious resource and a very limited resource, any disruption to attention and focus really limits students' ability to recall information effectively.
3.5Monash University noted that it can be difficult to quantify the exact loss of instructional time due to classroom disruption, but noted 2006 research that had measured:
…how frequently and for how long student disruption or other factors interrupted instructional time in the classroom. The authors found that student disruption accounted for 72 per cent of the student-initiated interruptions to instructional time. In some observations, student disruption occurred for nearly the entire time.
3.6In addition, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) indicated that Australian teachers reported spending 78 per cent of classroom time on teaching and learning, while spending 15 per cent of class time managing student behaviour during an average lesson.
3.7Ms Olivia Grant, Learning Specialist for Literacy Across the Curriculum at Cranbourne Secondary College, shared her first-hand experience on the amount of time spent managing disruptive behaviours:
Often, a teacher or an education leader will spend many non-teaching minutes at school following up on disorderly behaviours or attending to other related administrative tasks, and then they must squeeze professional learning, preparation of lessons, assessment and reporting in at home, outside paid hours. As an example, I routinely work 3-4 nights a week as well as on weekends to (try to) keep up, and I have needed to do this my entire career. I know many, many colleagues in the same boat.
3.8This was also drawn out by a teacher making a name withheld submission to this inquiry, who noted the 'significant loss of teacher time within classes addressing disruptive behaviours and awaiting support to remove the child'. In addition, they suggested:
…it is not only teacher time dealing with the direct incident, it is also the writing up of Chronicle entries detailing the incidents, contacting parents via phone or email explaining the incident, completing restorative conversations with the student; all completed during planning time or personal time.
3.9The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) raised concerns that the Australian Teacher Workforce Data initiative showed an increasing level of disruption over recent years:
30 per cent of classroom teachers reported spending more than 10 hours per week counselling or supervising students, compared with 8 per cent in 2018,
61 per cent of senior leaders reported spending more than 10 hours per week interacting with students (non-teaching), compared with 50 per cent in 2021; and
59 per cent of senior leaders reported spending more than 5 hours per week engaging with parents, compared with 49 per cent in 2021.
Learning outcomes and student achievement
3.10Several participants highlighted the association between orderly learning environments and student achievement. For example, the Department of Education drew out the findings of OECD's 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey:
Because PISA runs every three years…we know that this situation has worsened over time, and this is a concern. Analysis of PISA results shows that there is a positive association between students' perception of their classroom disciplinary climate and their academic performance, even after accounting for socioeconomic status.
3.11Other stakeholders have noted that the performance of Australian students has been steadily declining in all assessment areas, since the initial PISA assessment in 2000 (See Figure 3.1). The results also show an increased proportion of low performers and decreased proportion of high performers in each domain, while the proportion of students who attained the National Proficient Standard declined in all domains surveyed (See Figure 3.2).
3.12The Western Australia Council of State School Organisations (WACSSO) observed that students 'who reported a better disciplinary climate in their classrooms scored an average of 55 points higher (about one and two-thirds of a year of schooling) in reading literacy performance than those who attended classes with a worse disciplinary climate'.
Figure 3.1Australian achievement in PISA since 2000
Source: Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), 'PISA 2018: Australian students' performance', ACER Discover, 3 December 2019.
Figure 3.2Changes in performance over time for Australia
Source: Sue Thomson et al., PISA in Brief 1: Student Performance, (Melbourne: ACER), p. 7.
3.13Associate Professor Rebecca Collie observed 'that schools with comparatively more struggling teachers had significantly lower student achievement in reading, mathematics, and science (when compared with schools with fewer struggling teachers)'. She further noted:
Disruptive behaviour also has ramifications for students' later outcomes. In a study of over 150,000 NSW children in the first year of school, we found that almost 20 per cent displayed patterns of heightened disruptive behaviour. These students went on to attain significantly lower levels in their NAPLAN tests in grade 3 and grade 5.
3.14Ms Jo Rogers, a former Primary and Special Education Teacher, argued that 'disruption in Australian school classrooms is a consequential symptom of a long-standing problem of school illiteracy and innumeracy that has compounded to a crisis'. She argued that 'illiteracy and innumeracy are caused by following the less effective teaching ideologies of whole language/balanced literacy and child discovery/inquiry-based learning in Teacher Education and English and Mathematics Curricula'.
3.15One teacher commented that disorderly ‘behaviours create unsettled and unsafe spaces where students cannot learn’. This was compounded by other factors, including that ‘students come from trauma backgrounds, and the inconsistency of both staff in the classroom (due to the turnover rate) and the inconsistency of other students' behaviours and emotions.’
3.16Independent Schools Australia (ISA) also argued that:
Some students with poor self-efficacy may disengage from learning and display disruptive behaviours if they believe they are unable to manage their schoolwork. Academic decline may lead to further disengagement, creating a negative cycle of classroom disruption. In contrast, ACER research has shown that students with higher self-efficacy performed at a higher level in reading literacy. Higher performance may therefore lead to greater student engagement and less classroom disruption, creating a positive classroom climate.
Impact on specific student cohorts
3.17Several participants observed that responses to disruptive behaviours, such as suspensions and exclusions, disproportionately impacted certain student cohorts, including students with a disability, students from low socio-economic backgrounds, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
3.18Square Peg Round Whole refer to research on the disproportionate effects of current behaviour management policies around disruptive behaviours, such as suspensions and expulsions, on children with disabilities—some of whom may come from traumatic circumstances—and Indigenous children.
3.19Mackillop Family Services highlighted impacts of trauma on children, and how these could potentially manifest in the classroom:
Research shows that groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children with disability, children who identify as LGBTIQ and children in out-of-home care are disproportionately impacted by trauma… Our experience indicates that the impact of childhood experiences of adversity or trauma can manifest as disruption in settings such as schools.
Students with disability
3.20Multiple participants outlined how current classroom environments can impact the learning experience of students with disability, particularly where there is a lack of supports for these students. For example, the Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) pointed out that:
Students with a diagnosed or imputed disability are overrepresented in students presenting problematic behaviours. Australia and CSPD have seen an increase in students with presentations of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), learning disorders and other cognitive and social-emotional challenges. Recent statistics from Beyond Blue suggest as many as 13.9 per cent of Australian children (4–17) are diagnosed with a [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders] mental or behavioural disorder.
3.21Independent Schools Australia (ISA) also commented:
Some [Associations of Independent Schools (AISs)] noted that when a student with disability shows disruptive behaviours, some teachers may be reluctant to address behaviours for fear of parent criticism or being open to discrimination allegations under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). AISs noted that some parents and carers of students with disability may not disclose information about the student’s disability at the time of enrolment. This may mean that adjustments that should be in place to support the student may be absent, which can lead to disruptive behaviours.
3.22WAESPA argued that 'it becomes increasingly difficult when you're in a mainstream school when you're looking at the disability resourcing that comes with the student and it doesn't match up to the level of need that student is actually demonstrating'.
3.23The AEU's 2021 'State of Our Schools' survey found that '89 per cent of public-school principals surveyed said they have had to divert funds from other parts of school budgets in the last year because they do not have the resources to provide adjustments for students with disability'.
3.24A Senior Teacher from a low SES high school argued that 'as it currently stands, teachers in low SES schools do not have adequate access to supports for children with disability'.
3.25The Institute of Special Educators gave an overview of issues that stemmed from teachers not being adequately equipped to support students with a disability:
Many students with disability do not reach their full potential, partly because regular classroom teachers do not have the skills and knowledge to provide appropriate adjustments to curriculum, teaching, and the environment. Poor academic achievement, including poor literacy skills, and disengagement from schooling is linked to problem behaviour, as are difficulties with communication and language. Thus, comprehensive intervention to address both academic and behaviour problems will be needed by many students.
3.26Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QAI) argued that 'students with disability are losing days, weeks and months of their education, with disproportionate suspensions, exclusions and cancelled enrolments, both formal and informal'. QAI noted 'students with disability need support, not punishment'.
3.27The New South Wales Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) also pointed to the high prevalence of students with a disability receiving school suspensions:
While the most recent data for suspensions is not yet available, figures published in the Sydney Morning Herald in July 2022 indicated that of the 57,682 suspensions in 2021, 14,923 were students with disability. This means that approximately a quarter of all suspensions were administered to students with disability, and that of all students who had disability, more than 10 per cent experienced suspension. For comparison, 4 per cent of students generally experienced suspension… the overrepresentation of students with disability in suspension data is an indication that more needs to be done to support students with disability in the classroom.
3.28In relation to students with ADHD, Dr Geoff Kewley indicated that many 'studies have shown that children with ADHD are much more likely to be suspended or excluded from school, to be disruptive within the school setting, and to leave school much earlier than other children'. He argued:
ADHD consideration and reframing is potentially important to all educational submissions to the committee. This is because of the vulnerability it creates as these children biologically have less self-control than the norm. Whilst not an excuse, is an explanation. Failure to recognise this within the system – as largely unfortunately is still the case – will make it likely that the status quo remains, and that these children with a significant disability continue to struggle.
Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds
3.29The gap between the performance of economically advantaged and disadvantaged students was commented upon by several submitters, including the AEU, which argued the 2018 PISA survey showed that:
students from socio-economically advantaged households outperformed students from disadvantaged households in reading;
24 per cent of students from advantaged households were top performers in reading, compared to only 6 per cent of students from disadvantaged households; and
only 13 per cent of students from disadvantaged households scored in the top quarter of reading performance within Australia.
3.30Similarly, ISA indicated that a study in South Australia in 2014 'found that more than 60 per cent of teachers in low-SES schools reported disruption in class several times a day, compared to 10 per cent in high-SES schools'. It noted that this 'may be related to problems at home, or the uneven distribution of experienced teachers in these locations'.
3.31Indeed, AERO highlighted that 'students cannot learn well in disorderly classrooms and when they are disengaged'. AERO pointed out that this was particularly the case 'for students in schools in low socioeconomic areas, who experience even more disruption and disengagement in their classrooms for a variety of reasons'.
3.32WACSSO highlighted the difficulty faced by some low socioeconomic families to provide modern learning resources for their children:
I'll use technology as an example. A child at home might not have access to good technology. The computer, if there is one at home, might be shared. The capacity of the parent or the caregiver to understand technology and what that child needs for support is also an issue. When we're talking even about basic things like second-hand uniforms, hand-me-downs and shoes, we're getting down into nitty-gritty about disadvantage. We're talking about a whole other level of how disadvantage and even poverty impacts a child's ability to engage in learning.
3.33The South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People (CCYP SA) similarly noted that most of the children who exhibit disruptive behaviours in classrooms are doing so because of underlying factors including children who are living in poverty and who often come to school hungry and are unable to concentrate.
3.34Likewise, the Office of the Children's Commissioner Northern Territory noted that 'many children and young people in the Northern Territory are dealing with a multitude of complex factors in their personal lives which affect their ability to appropriately engage in the classroom; including an estimated one in three children living in poverty'.
3.35However, Ms Manisha Gazula, Principal of Marsden Road Public School, detailed how the school's adoption of evidence-based teaching and learning methods such as explicit instruction had significantly lifted its students' NAPLAN results. Ninety per cent of students at the school come from anon-English speaking background.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
3.36Several participants drew attention to the disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students affected by disruptive behaviours, particularly through suspensions and exclusions.
3.37The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation provided an overview of some issues shaping the educational experiences of many students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds:
Whilst most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are developing typically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are at higher risk of developmental and behavioural problems. In the Australian population overall, about 20 per cent of children start school without the necessary developmental skills for success. This figure is estimated at 40 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, recognising there are higher rates of disability. Moreover, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are known to have high rates of undiagnosed conditions such as [Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder] and other neurological conditions.
3.38Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion similarly noted that in Queensland:
…despite only constituting approximately 10 per cent of the school population, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students receive approximately one quarter of all suspensions and exclusions.
3.39Dr Sarah Bernard similarly noted that many 'marginalised students, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student and students with disability, are overrepresented in school suspensions in Australia'.
3.40The Commissioner for Children and Young People SA also reflected on the impacts of exclusionary practices on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people:
In many cases, exclusion reflects a systemic failure to provide the supports, infrastructure and resources required to ensure every child, regardless of their circumstances and what is happening at home, can access their education. Exclusionary practices disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, children in out-of-care, children living with disability and children experiencing poverty or homelessness.
Contact with the criminal justice system
3.41Several submitters pointed to the issue of students who are suspended or excluded from school being more likely to encounter the criminal justice system. For instance, Dr Kewley observed that evidence indicated that 'children who are excluded from school are much more likely to end up in the youth justice system and have other adverse long-term outcomes'.
Other students
3.42Some evidence noted that disruptive behaviours also impacted on the learning environments of and educational outcomes for fellow students. For example, Square Peg Round Whole submitted:
…the impact on all students of these outdated behaviour management approaches is significant because disruptions in the classroom are not sustainably addressed, students are traumatised by witnessing incidents of classmates being treated disrespectfully, handled roughly, restrained and excluded, and the environment is not safe and conducive to learning.
3.43The Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT) also noted the impact of disorder and distraction on gifted students:
In an Australian study by Taylor (2016), behaviour was identified by teachers as one of the things that impacted the provision for gifted students. In fact, 10 per cent of teachers indicated behaviour of other students was a factor that affected the provision of education and behaviour of gifted students was cited by 3 per cent of the surveyed teachers as a factor that affected the provision of education.