What scope is there for teachers to purposefully deviate from their routine classroom practice in order to respond to disengaging students? A case study of a small provincial school in Australia shows an example of alternative pedagogy used in response to a disengaged group of young adolescents. The students temporarily engaged with a different version of school although they continued to resist and even sabotage established school routines. The main implication drawn from the case study is that school staff members need to consider the purpose of alternative pedagogy in terms of school engagement.
Conley, S. & Enomoto, E.K. (2005) Routines in school organizations: creating stability and change. Journal of Educational Administration, 43, 9-21.
2.
Deed, C. (2006) School programs for high-risk students. In R. Midford & G. Munro (eds) Drug Education in Schools: Searching for the Silver Bullet, pp. 128-46. Melbourne: IP Communications .
3.
Elias, M., Zins, J., Graczyk, P. & Weissberg, R. (2003) Implementation, sustainability, and scaling up of social-emotional and academic innovations in public schools. School Psychology Review, 32, 303-19.
4.
Emirbayer, M. & Mische, A. (1998) What is agency?The American Journal of Sociology, 103, 962-1023.
5.
Fredricks, J., Blumenfeld, P. & Paris, A. (2004) School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59-109.
6.
Hudson, P. (2003) Behavioural intervention plan: reducing challenging behaviour through academic skills instruction. Special Education Perspectives, 12, 35-64.
7.
Lamb, S., Dwyer, P. & Wyn, J. (2000) Non-completion of School in Australia: The Changing Patterns of Participation and Outcomes. Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, Research Report No.16. Melbourne: ACER.
8.
Lehr, C., Hansen, A., Sinclair, M. & Christenson, S. (2004) Moving beyond dropout towards school completion: an integrative review of data-based interventions. School Psychology Review, 32, 342-64.
9.
Riordan, G. (2006) Reducing student `suspension rates' and engaging students in learning: principal and teacher approaches that work. Improving Schools, 9, 239-50.
10.
Smyth, J., McInerney, P. & Hattam, R. (2003) Tackling school leaving at its source: a case of reform in the middle years of schooling. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24, 177-93.
11.
Springer, J.F., Sale, E., Hermann, J., Sambrano, S., Kasim, R. & Nistler, M. (2004) Characteristics of effective substance abuse prevention programs for high-risk youth. The Journal of Primary Prevention , 25, 171-94.
12.
Tadich, B., Deed, C., Campbell, C. & Prain, V. (2007) Student engagement in the middle years: a Year 8 case study. Issues in Educational Research, 17, 1-16.
13.
Yin, R. (2003) Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
