An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension.
School exclusion continues to be a common practice in England, with rates of suspensions rising every academic year. National data reports pupils in mainstream secondary schools as receiving the highest numbers of suspensions. Being suspended from school has been associated with negative outcomes su...
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| Format: | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78797/ |
| _version_ | 1848801106209013760 |
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| author | Gill, Victoria |
| author_facet | Gill, Victoria |
| author_sort | Gill, Victoria |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | School exclusion continues to be a common practice in England, with rates of suspensions rising every academic year. National data reports pupils in mainstream secondary schools as receiving the highest numbers of suspensions. Being suspended from school has been associated with negative outcomes such as feeling socially isolated from peers and staff. Conversely, school belonging has been defined as the feeling of being supported and accepted within school. Research suggests that a sense of belonging might serve as a protective factor against suspension, as it helps pupils to feel safe and valued within school.
Using an Appreciative Inquiry methodology, this study aimed to explore what factors contribute to school belonging for pupils who have experienced suspension but remain at their mainstream secondary setting. Gaining the voices of this often-marginalised pupil population was integral to the study. Pupils and staff from a mainstream secondary school took part in this action research, providing their views which informed an action plan to be implemented in the school. Facilitating factors identified by participants included relationships which encouraged power-sharing, explicit encouragement from others, and support with learning following absence from lessons. Although an action plan was created, following an 8-week review, no actions had been completed due to changes within the school system. This suggests the complexity of secondary school systems and the potential barriers to implementing change to support inclusion for all pupils. Implications for practice are discussed, with consideration of local authorities and policy makers, and their involvement in creating environments which support all pupils to experience school belonging, as well as the role of Educational Psychologists, to continue to promote inclusion and the valuing of pupil voices. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:02:11Z |
| format | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| id | nottingham-78797 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T21:02:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-787972025-02-28T15:21:37Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78797/ An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. Gill, Victoria School exclusion continues to be a common practice in England, with rates of suspensions rising every academic year. National data reports pupils in mainstream secondary schools as receiving the highest numbers of suspensions. Being suspended from school has been associated with negative outcomes such as feeling socially isolated from peers and staff. Conversely, school belonging has been defined as the feeling of being supported and accepted within school. Research suggests that a sense of belonging might serve as a protective factor against suspension, as it helps pupils to feel safe and valued within school. Using an Appreciative Inquiry methodology, this study aimed to explore what factors contribute to school belonging for pupils who have experienced suspension but remain at their mainstream secondary setting. Gaining the voices of this often-marginalised pupil population was integral to the study. Pupils and staff from a mainstream secondary school took part in this action research, providing their views which informed an action plan to be implemented in the school. Facilitating factors identified by participants included relationships which encouraged power-sharing, explicit encouragement from others, and support with learning following absence from lessons. Although an action plan was created, following an 8-week review, no actions had been completed due to changes within the school system. This suggests the complexity of secondary school systems and the potential barriers to implementing change to support inclusion for all pupils. Implications for practice are discussed, with consideration of local authorities and policy makers, and their involvement in creating environments which support all pupils to experience school belonging, as well as the role of Educational Psychologists, to continue to promote inclusion and the valuing of pupil voices. 2024-12-13 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78797/1/Gill_Victoria_20407226_corrections.pdf Gill, Victoria (2024) An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. DAppEdPsy thesis, University of Nottingham. secondary education student suspension student exclusion school discipline |
| spellingShingle | secondary education student suspension student exclusion school discipline Gill, Victoria An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. |
| title | An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. |
| title_full | An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. |
| title_fullStr | An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. |
| title_short | An Appreciative Inquiry in a Mainstream Secondary School Into What is Perceived to Foster School Belonging for Pupils who Have Experienced School Suspension. |
| title_sort | appreciative inquiry in a mainstream secondary school into what is perceived to foster school belonging for pupils who have experienced school suspension. |
| topic | secondary education student suspension student exclusion school discipline |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/78797/ |