About The Institute for Disruption

Children and young people excluded from school are some of the most disadvantaged in society. They are most likely to have additional/special needs and live in families affected  by poverty, ill-health and trauma, are less likely to live happy and prosperous lives and are placed at  an increased risk of substance misuse, unemployment and criminality. 

The economic cost of failing excluded children is staggering. The Institute of Public Policy Research  estimates that in the UK, school exclusion costs around £370,000 per young person in lifetime education, benefits, healthcare, and criminal justice costs. These individuals are not only excluded from school but are also at risk of living the remainder of their lives on the margins of society,  forming part of an ever increasing ‘underclass’. 

Given the adverse consequences that stem from becoming school removed, it is now widely accepted that there is a need to reduce the use of school exclusion. However, the legislative and policy framework governing this practice is inadequate, not just in Northern Ireland but also across the world with many Western democracies continuing to exclude at an alarming rate.

A range of 'interventions' have been created with the aim of cultivating inclusion within the classroom.  Sadly, most interventions position young people who do not fit the norm to be too disruptive, dangerous, or disordered to remain in the mainstream setting.  As a result, these interventions miss the mark and often end up having more marginalizing effects increasing the likelihood of school exclusion being used.  Throughout these complex processes of devaluation, the voices of young people are not only downgraded but mostly overlooked. 

At the Institute, we believe a world where all children are enabled to thrive and overcome adversity without the use of exclusion-based behaviors or punishments.  We know that while a disproportionate number of young people are excluded for causing disruption at school on a daily basis, big business is continually seeking to disrupt the marketplace in order to maintain a competitive advantage.
With that in mind, we believe in the power of lived experience and therefore place the voices of excluded youth at the center of all our work. We work with marginalized young people to unlock new inclusive opportunities for change by amplifying their excluded voices. Our aim is to become a sectoral leader in the field of inclusive education by acting as the global conduit for the voices of excluded youth to be heard and acted upon.  

At the Institute,  we galvanize the ability to harness persistently disruptive behavior as a force for social good.  We challenge the status quo to enact school systems change and to end the use of school exclusion.

We do this by applying concepts from chaos theory to generate deeper understandings of the complex dynamics underpinning school exclusion to develop effective strategies for prevention and intervention.  

Within chaos theory, the butterfly effect tells us that  the world is deeply interconnected, meaning that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system in the same way that a small butterfly flapping its wings in Chicago could, hypothetically, cause a typhoon across the Amazon jungle. 

Our methodology of disruption is underpinned by the butterfly effect. As well as adopting practice which is evidence-informed, research-led and anti-oppressive in nature, we believe that small, tiny changes, made for the betterment of our young people can positively change the much larger, complex education system for good.