Moving from a Culture of Punishment to one of Understanding in English Secondary Schools

Abstract

This paper describes the challenges encountered in managing and developing counselling services in two English Secondary schools over the last ten years. During this time schools in England have undergone enormous change, partly initiated by the economic crisis and also by new educational legislation being implemented by a non-ministerial government department for Her Majesties Chief Inspectors of schools in England (Ofsted). Teachers struggling with the changes, feel under enormous pressure to deliver high academic results with very little space left over for thinking about and supporting the more challenging students. Pressure and stress has grown and as a way of trying to manage in this difficult situation, teachers have taken up an authoritarian role that has generated a more punishing culture. The result is that students in trouble receive negative attention instead of being given understanding and support resulting in many of them being excluded from school. Support for these students within this, sometimes, unsympathetic context is provided by the counselling service, which tends to be used as a place to dump students who cannot be managed in the classroom. With so many young people being referred for help, a trainee counsellor’s clinical placement programme was introduced to increase the availability of counselling support. A more thoughtful and child centred culture in both schools was generated with the help of the counselling service so that staff teams could begin to think collaboratively about each child’s emotional, behavioural and social needs to support them to stay in school to achieve their full academic potential and have a successful future.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n2p96