ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to our growing understanding of the processes underpinning contrasting rates of school exclusions both within and across the different jurisdictions of the UK. Wales is often compared favourably to its larger neighbour England, where rates of permanent exclusions have risen dramatically in recent years. One explanation for Wales’ lower rates might lie in the very different values which underpin its education policies. However, the prevailing policy discourse can only be part of the explanation and cannot account for the high levels of variation in rates of ‘official’ school exclusions across Wales, nor the many forms of ‘hidden’ exclusion going on in Welsh schools. Drawing on interview data with policy-makers and practitioners, this paper points to the need to explore how policy is enacted at the local level. This entails taking into account the often unacknowledged conditions in which schools operate and the unintended consequences of policy imperatives which can lead to outcomes that frustrate and undermine anti-exclusionary practices and processes.

摘要

本文有助于我们对各种过程的逐步了解，这些过程为英国不同司法管辖区之内和之间的学校排斥率形成了对比。威尔士经常比其较大的邻国英格兰优越，后者的永久排斥率近年来急剧上升。威尔士低利率的一种解释可能是其教育政策所依据的价值观迥然不同。但是，现行的政策讨论只能作为解释的一部分，不能解释威尔士各地“官方”学校排斥的比率的高水平变化，也不能解释威尔士学校中发生的多种形式的“隐藏”排斥。利用与决策者和从业者的访谈数据，本文指出有必要探索如何在地方一级制定政策。