A restrictive practice (RP) is defined as a practice or intervention that has the effect of restricting the rights or freedom of movement of a person, and includes physical, mechanical, and chemical restraint, and seclusion. If misused or overused, RPs may present serious human rights infringements. In Australia, behaviour support practitioners…

Positive behaviour for learning (PBL) was introduced to the state education sector in Queensland in the early 2000s in an effort to move schools away from use of punitive disciplinary practices towards a positive and supportive approach to student behaviour. Although around half of state schools in Queensland have received training to implement…

Policies exist to regulate the use of restraint and seclusion so that they are only implemented when necessary and following appropriate standards and procedures. These policies often focus on students with disability. This qualitative study explored school leaders' understanding, use and perspectives of the Restraint and Seclusion Policy mandated…

Keeping a good disciplinary climate is a key to student learning and well-being. Disciplinary norms need to be clearly established and applied fairly and consistently. Yet, strictness alone cannot optimise student outcomes: students need support and understanding.

This paper is concerned with the rise of 'the boot camp' as a means of addressing "the problem of troubled youth" in contemporary industrialised nations such as Australia and the UK. Drawing on a corpus of publicly available material including press releases and policy documents, media reports, and programme websites, the paper explores…

Utilizes a time-series plus control group design to compare the relative effects of a teacher sending home positive, negative, or a combination of the two types of letters for disruptive students. Results showed the negative letter to be most effective in increasing on-task behavior. (MJP)

Noting that more democratic values have begun to replace authoritarian values in the classroom, this book offers teachers three different discipline styles and provides guidance in classroom management, discipline strategy, and flexible problem solving. Chapter 1 of the book addresses general discipline and provides debate on utilizing democratic…

This collection of papers focuses on practical approaches to resolving behavior problems in the Australian school system. The papers are divided into four general categories: perspectives on behavior problems, focusing on families, schools and system initiatives, and programs in special settings. The papers include: (1) "Beyond…