Education International Research
A 2004 World Bank report (Moreno, 2004) on schools in the Ukraine and Bulgaria found that school leaders spent 70 per cent of their time on raising finance, and the remaining 30 per cent on conflict resolution. Resolving conflict while often responding to disciplinary issues among students often takes the form of tensions, disputes and sometimes violence among children from different cultural backgrounds. In countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and New Guinea, the classroom is the microcosm in which larger political issues of race, class and cultural identity are played out. Countries in Europe, the Americas, and Australia are not exempt as teachers and school leaders struggle to accommodate minority ethnic groups - Aboriginal people (Australia), Maori (New Zealand), First Nation people (Canada), Mexican Americans (US), the Turkish community (Germany), North Africans (France) – creating policies aimed at resolving emerging tensions between different religions and ‘tribal’ identities. Issues whose origins lie primarily in the social, economic and policy world have to be addressed at school and classroom level. Tougher, stricter, ‘zero tolerance’ measures have an obvious appeal but containment and compliance are short-term responses. When teachers, schools, local agencies and teacher associations take initiatives to broaden the scope, contexts and motivations for learning, issues of control and discipline assume a less impatient place (an issue explored in Chapter 5). 5. Special needs and inclusion While disruptive behaviour is often in relation to children with complex and profound learning difficulties, teachers are today much more aware that this is not a case of ‘bad behaviour’ but an issue generally beyond their understanding or ability to control. The recognition that children also experience stress has come to the fore in the last two decades. It presents a powerful compounding factor for teachers who have to assume responsibility for factors well beyond their personal control. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that some two million young people in the European Region suffer from mental disorders ranging from depression to schizophrenia, becoming increasingly marked in late primary and early secondary school. Many of these young people receive no care or treatment, their conditions often barely understood by teachers, parents or social services. Depression is associated with suicide in the young, the third leading cause of death among young people. The highest rates in the world are found in the European Region, particularly in Eastern European countries.
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