Mainstream, margins and the spaces in-between: youth experiences of school exclusion in Northern Ireland

As such the complexity of exclusion experiences and the oppressive relational dynamics leading to its use, are under-explored. Instead, in most research, students who exhibit challenging behaviour are categorised into social groups that are unreflective of, and at times unrelated to, the experience of school exclusion. This characterisation is then mirrored in official exclusion statistics, which fail to acknowledge the perspectives of marginalised youth and the range of informal exclusion practices leading to their removal from the mainstream system.

Thus, the conceptual framework for this study draws upon psychological, sociological, and social policy discourses to position exclusion as multidimensional, dynamic and relational in nature, governed by a set of interrelated processes relative to the context and agency of those involved in the exclusionary relationship. <br><br>Since the purpose of this thesis is to explore the factors leading to school removal, from the perspective of excluded youth, young people were at the centre of this study.

Working within transformative and interpretivist paradigms, this participatory qualitative study took place in four different Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) settings across Northern Ireland (NI). The study involved data collection from a total of 56 young people. Data collection processes consisted of 4 capacity building sessions (with a total of 56 young people) followed by 5 focus groups (with a total of 48 young people).

Following this, a total of 26 young people consented to creative in-depth individual interviews. The study also involved consultation with two Peer Advisory Groups (PAGs) comprising of a total of 11 young people who had attended EOTAS having previously experienced school exclusion. The PAGs were involved in each stage of the research process. <br><br>Findings indicate that young people experience school exclusion in complex ways across three spaces which they termed mainstreams (school), margins (the community) and the spaces in-between (alternative education).

Participants conceptualised exclusion to be the manifestation of oppressive relationships at school and across the wider education system. Findings further indicate that for school exclusion to be addressed, both teachers and students would benefit from a dialogical process of anti-oppressive practice. The implications of this study include five suggestions: (1) expanding the legal and conceptual definitions of school exclusion; (2) regulating the use of informal exclusion across schools in NI; (3) establishing an equally resourced continuum of alternative education support; (4) placing a duty on excluding schools to secure a new school placement for children within 14 days of their removal; and (5) opening a community debate on the continued viability of school exclusion as a disciplinary sanction. <br><br><br>