Teachers’, students’ and parents’ attitudes towards disruptive behaviour problems in high school: A case study

The present study maps the attitudes towards students’ disruptive behaviour as part of the school discipline. Research studies on the subject usually examine the attitudes of one or two groups of relevant subjects, that is, teachers, parents or students. As teachers, students and parents do share a common milieu, the relationship of their attitudes towards student misbehaviour is important in the crystallisation of such discipline. The present study is innovative in that all three groups were examined simultaneously in one school. A standardised questionnaire was designed for all three groups which identified typical disruptive behaviour by adolescent students. The study was conducted in a centre for technological education in Central Israel which caters, especially, for low-achieving students. Findings reveal large gaps among the three groups. While teachers seem to agree among themselves as to the severity of most of the disruptive behaviour problems at school, students and parents were found to disagree among themselves on the severity of most of the examined issues. Differences among the groups indicate a possible source for the emergence of student disruptive behaviour problems. Findings also suggest that there is a need for increased involvement of both parents and students in discipline-related issues in the school.