The political economies of school exclusion and their consequences

The main aim of PolESE is to develop a multi-disciplinary understanding of the political economies and consequences of school exclusion across the UK. There are great differences in the rates of permanent school exclusion in different parts of the UK with numbers rising rapidly in England but remaining relatively low or falling in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For example, in the last available figures (2016/7) there were 7,720 permanent exclusions in England compared to just five in Scotland. However, these figures do not account for many informal and illegal forms of exclusion. In this research, home international comparisons of historical and current policy, practice and legal frameworks relating to school exclusion will be conducted for the first time. Previous research and official statistics show that school exclusions are far more likely to affect pupils with special needs, from low income families, and particular ethnic backgrounds. Exclusions have long and short term consequences in terms of academic achievement, well-being, mental health, and future economic and employment prospects. PolESE is designed to highlight ways in which fairer and more productive outcomes can be achieved for pupils, their families, and professionals by comparing the ways in which policy and practice around exclusions differ in the four jurisdictions.

PolESE will be undertaken by the multi-disciplinary (criminology, disability studies, economics, education, human geography, law, psychiatry, sociology) and multi-site (Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Reading, LSE) Excluded Lives group established in 2014. In education, policy discourse has tended to find individual reasons for exclusion rather than develop an understanding of exclusion in the wider context of education, social policy and the law. Education policy has also largely ignored the work conducted by school and welfare professionals that attempts to address disruptive behaviour to prevent more serious incidents. In contrast, PolESE assumes that school exclusion cannot be treated as separate from the general welfare and education systems. Preliminary work has illustrated that pressures on schools to perform well in examination league tables can lead to the exclusion of pupils whose predicted attainment would weaken overall school performance, leaving these pupils on the social margins of schooling. Exclusion is a process, rather than a single incident, that can only be fully understood when examined from multiple professional and disciplinary perspectives.

The research is organised into three work strands. Strand A, Landscapes of Exclusion, is designed examine the ways in which legal frameworks, policies, and practices of regulation shape systemic practice; and the patterns, characteristics and consequences of exclusion. Strand B, Experiences of Exclusion, will focus on families', pupils' and professionals' experiences of the risks and consequences of exclusion. Strand C, Costs and Integration, will examine the financial costs associated with exclusion; it will also integrate findings within and across jurisdictions to ensure that the learning is continuous as the research develops a coherent multi-disciplinary understanding of the political economies of exclusion. 1. The cost of exclusions at individual, institutional and system level (psychological, educational, sociological, economic, criminological, political lenses); 2. Rights and entitlements (legal, moral, social policy, political lenses); 3. Landscapes of exclusion (geographical, sociological, political lenses); 4. Protection and wellbeing (psychological, social work, legal and social policy lenses).

Researchers will engage directly with the Third Sector, professionals at school, local authority and jurisdiction government levels, as well as with disadvantaged and excluded pupils and their families.

Who will benefit?
The research proposal will benefit: pupils who have experienced, or are 'at risk' of exclusion and their families; practitioners (e.g. teachers, headteachers, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators, behaviour and pastoral support staff, social workers, mental health workers, solicitors and legal advisors, Youth Justice workers); alternative provision providers; Local Authority (LA) teams, policy makers and government departments across the 4 jursidictions concerned with education, employment, health and Youth Justice; charities and Third Sector organisations; academics, in particular early and mid-career researchers.

How will they benefit?
In the short and medium term, we will achieve societal impact through enhancing the participation of pupils and their families in school exclusion processes and strengthening their awareness of their rights. This will benefit excluded and at risk pupils, their families and schools through their knowing who and when to discuss the issues with thereby improving the likelihood of pupils receiving better support to reduce their risk of exclusion, and achieving outcomes that are fair and agreed by all parties. PolESE will also make an impact on professional understandings of exclusion and the consequences of different processes and practices. Government departments will have better evidence upon which to base policies on exclusion, and alternative provision providers and LAs will have improved resources with which to train school and social services staff to effectively deal with problems surrounding exclusion. Economic impact will be achieved in the medium and longer term to the benefit of policy makers, LAs, schools and families through maximising return on investment in additional or alternative provision for 'at risk' and excluded pupils, reducing the negative impact on care giver expenditure, time and employment, and reducing the danger of exluded pupils going on to become NEET. Charities and Third Sector organisations will benefit from the policy briefings (that they have requested from us) which will be key to their lobbying activity with politicians and senior policy makers. The project will have a major conceptual impact by providing new interdisciplinary theories of school exclusion, and methodologies fit for studying the political economies of complex social phenomena.

What will be done?
We have established a Knowledge Exchange board comprising members from key agencies, voluntary and Third Sector organisations. We have worked closely with this group to ensure that the project is designed to maximise co-production and the potential routes for impact. The role of the KE board will be to: help establish links to policy and practice including legislative reform and government reviews; comment on the research and hold PolESE to account; direct it to other research and activity in the field; act as gatekeepers and facilitators to research participants; engage with and disseminate research findings to families and schools; and support dissemination through forming advisory groups in the four UK jurisdictions. We will also establish Young People's Research Advisory Groups (YPRAGs) in each of the four jurisdictions. The YPRAGs will be active partners in the research and involved in the co-design of various research methods. The project will contribute to debates about the effects of current exclusion policies and practices in the four UK jurisdictions. We will also ensure impact through: producing policy briefings; creating an audit toolkit on exclusion for schools in each jurisdiction; producing a guide to school exclusion for young people; launching the findings at a two-day conference; delivering teach-in sessions and seminars for government officials; providing early and mid-career researchers with training opportunities related to career development; presenting and publishing the findings; engaging with media; and maintaining a project website.