Investors not impressed by impression management
Units for disruptive pupils raise concerns
MANY SCHOOLS IN the UK now rely on internally run Behaviour Support Units (BSUs). These work to keep disruptive behaviour outside of the classroom without resorting to formal exclusion procedures. But, says new research, this strategy raises a range of policy concerns and issues. “Behaviour Support Units appear to be becoming widespread, yet they are a comparatively new and under- researched behaviour management strategy,” explains Dr Val Gillies. “Our findings highlight not only the lack of basic UK-wide information about BSUs but also raise concerns around the lack of monitoring of these units, the education they provide and their impact in terms of social exclusion and equal opportunities issues.” Pupils who attend these units do not appear in a school’s exclusion statistics, even though they may be removed from mainstream classes for extended periods. “We were not able to ascertain basic information such as how many of these BSUs exist, the ethnic backgrounds of their pupils or, indeed, how long children spend there – although we found cases of children moving directly from primary school to a BSU without entering a mainstream classroom, and others who completed the majority of their secondary education within a BSU environment,” says Dr Gillies. The study suggests that although many BSU teachers are highly
talented and dedicated, units are often insufficiently staffed and under- resourced. In some cases the education received by BSU pupils was of a very poor standard. “Yet interestingly and perhaps surprisingly, we found that pupils in BSUs viewed education as important and expressed a strong sense of attachment to school. Many dreaded the prospect of permanent school exclusion,” she insists.
This study suggests class teachers frequently have too little time to get to grips with the complexity of issues that can lay behind BSU referrals. Hence, the research team are about to begin working with specialist practitioners to produce a ‘Reflexive Toolkit’ that aims to help teachers and other professionals working with pupils at risk of school exclusion, by promoting awareness and informing practice. Researchers will also be working with young people from the charity Kids Company to produce a ‘Manifesto for Learning’. This manifesto will provide a clear account of the policy changes that are needed to enable marginalised pupils to properly participate in, and benefit from, mainstream education. n
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Contact Dr Val Gillies, London South Bank University Email
gilliev@lsbu.ac.uk Telephone 020 7815 5875 ESRC Grant Number RES-061-25-0073
AUTUMN 2010 SOCIETY NOW 7
INVESTORS ARE NOT taken in by impression management by company managers to increase the value of their share option compensation, says a study undertaken by Professor Hodgkinson, Dr Wells and Dr Merkl-Davies at Bangor. Share options form an important part of the remuneration packages of many company executives. They entail the right to purchase company shares on a specified date at a fixed price, usually the market price when the option is granted. However, managers can ‘artificially’ lower the price on the grant date – by retrospectively choosing the date when the option is granted (‘backdating’) or by ‘impression management’, whereby options are granted following the release of bad news or prior to the release of good news. This project explored whether UK managers engage in this. “There is little evidence to suggest that backdating has occurred in the UK,” the research team says. “And while our findings reveal significant evidence in support of impression management in the UK, by examining share prices we conclude that investors are not influenced by such practices.” n
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Contact Professor Lynn Hodgkinson, Bangor Business School Email
abse09@bangor.ac.uk Telephone 01248 382165 ESRC Grant Number RES-000-22-2963
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