The destruction of the good student: using poetic transcription to represent students’ perspectives of labelling and exclusion from mainstream school

Dickson, Jane Elizabeth (2022) The destruction of the good student: using poetic transcription to represent students’ perspectives of labelling and exclusion from mainstream school. Doctoral thesis (EdD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

School exclusion is a relatively rare occurrence, but there is a disproportionate over-representation of pupils with special educational needs being excluded from mainstream classrooms, both formally and through hidden practices. To gain an understanding of the roots of this problematic there is a need to listen to the voices, views and experiences of those whose lives have been impacted upon by labelling and exclusion. In this doctoral research project I adopted a case study approach working with two students, aged 15 and 16, with special educational needs who attended a special school following their exclusion from different mainstream school. Data were derived from semi-structured interviews with the students about their educational experiences as well as a school leaving speech made by one of the case study students. Following initial coding of the data, poetic transcription was used as a basis for analysis. Using poetic transcription as an analytic device, the study offers a novel approach, creating a vicarious experience of the individual contexts of the two students. Through this approach, this thesis provides valuable insight into individual students’ experiences of barriers and enablers which can be pivotal in shaping whether or not an educational environment is conducive to learning. Employing a Foucauldian lens, issues pertaining to power relationships, bio-power, disciplinary strategies and the application of policy emerge as significant. The study illustrates the potential for individual agency and resistance through the students’ development of survival strategies. This thesis lends insight into the impact of institutional procedures and actions upon the individual and how without relational pedagogies there can be a mismatch in perceptions of supposedly supportive strategies, leaving individual needs unmet, which may culminate in challenging behaviours, as well as having a deleterious impact upon student mental health. Implications from the study include a need to evaluate the efficacy of supportive and disciplinary policies and procedures that aim to address challenging behaviours, and the injurious effects of stigmatising discourses embedded in policy.