An examination of educational practitioner perspectives towards reintegration in a rural Welsh local authority setting: from Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) to mainstream education

<p> </p> <p>This study explores the perspectives of education practitioners toward the</p> <p>process of reintegrating pupils (many of whom display Emotional and</p> <p>Behavioural Difficulties), from a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) to mainstream</p> <p>educational provision in a rural Welsh education authority and, examines the</p> <p>barriers and facilitators that they identified as evident within their individual</p> <p>schools and the catchment areas they serve, with regard to reintegrating pupils</p> <p>and their families. The study locates the process within the geographical context</p> <p>of the education authority to discuss whether there are specific reintegration</p> <p>barriers and facilitators inherent within the rural Welsh setting.</p> <p>Patterns of pupil referral to, and reintegration from, the PRU and mainstream</p> <p>schools were first examined and analysed from 'pupil tracking data' which</p> <p>records and tracks pupils throughout an academic year from their arrival at the</p> <p>PRU. The perspectives of educational practitioners regarding the possible</p> <p>influence of these variables were gathered first through an expert sample postal</p> <p>questionnaire followed by a landscape sample postal questionnaire.</p> <p>Interviews were subsequently conducted with respondents from Primary,</p> <p>Secondary and PRU settings to drill down into specific variables identified as</p> <p>influencing reintegration moves.</p> <p>This study suggests that although there may be generic reintegration barriers</p> <p>and facilitators evident in all settings, there were specific variables inherent within</p> <p>the rural Welsh context which, were largely identified as barriers. For example, a</p> <p>lack of aspiration and narrow world views of many county residents.</p> <p>Educational practitioners across mainstream and alternative settings provided</p> <p>feedback on difficulties inherent within the reintegration process and how these</p> <p>might be overcome to increase the rate of successful reintegration. The results of</p> <p>this study will be fed back into the professional practice community and to the</p> <p>Behaviour Support Service in the county where the research took place.</p>