Author Description

This set of readings is intended for use with teachers on initial and in-service courses. Its purpose is to explore the concept of disruptive behaviour; to review attempts to identify its nature and understand its origins; and to show hard-pressed teachers how to cope with disruption. Section I ‘Defining Disruptive Behaviour’ includes two readings concerned with problems of definition and operationalization. Section II ‘Understanding Disruptive Behaviour’ consists of ten readings, which deal with studies of personal and family pathologies, and with interactionist approaches to disruption. These focus both upon pupils, teachers, schools, and critical classroom incidents and upon the task of the school in wider social, political and economic contexts. Section III ‘Coping with Disruptive Behaviour’ is composed of seven readings which illustrate three broad orientations to the problem of disruption: behavioural, cognitive and strategy of management techniques.