Indiscipline and grade repetition: the intricacies of a relationship

Abstract

In this article, we present part of the results of an ethnographic study on indiscipline in the classroom, focusing more specifically on the observed correlation between disruptive behavior among 6th and 7th grade students in Elementary School and their chances of retention. We analyze this event from a perspective that combines classical sociological variables, such as sex/gender and social class, and others factors to the classroom context, such as disciplinary environment and the teacher-student relationship.We problematize the nature of the social interaction process in the classroom, which tends to attribute to male students a bigger chance for disruptive behavior, at the same time assuming that acceptance of the forms of school order is natural to girls. The anthropological approach to classroom configurations, based on observations, interviews, and other research instruments, such as a socioeconomic questionnaire, a school environment index, a teacher-student relationship index, and a sociogram, made it possible to identify students and teachers conceptions of indiscipline and how they assimilate the synchronism between being “undisciplined” and a “good student,” as well as to detect the rejection of so called troublemakers by their peers.The results show significant differences in the forms of indiscipline practiced by boys and girls, and reveal that the most challenging behavior of male students deeply affects the teacher-student relationship to the point of influencing the school trajectory of those most involved in indiscipline, including students who are able to combine this type of behavior with strong academic performance.