The Scottish Government is committed to conducting three yearly national studies of behaviour in publicly funded schools. The aim is to provide a clear and robust picture of positive and negative behaviour in primary and secondary schools and of policy and practice in managing behaviour. Main Findings ■ The overwhelming majority of staff, over 90% in most cases, saw all or most pupils as generally well behaved around the school and in classrooms. ■ Running in corridors was the most frequently encountered low-level negative behaviour around the school. About a quarter (24%) of primary and secondary teachers and about 1 in 10 primary (10%) and secondary (8%) headteachers saw this several times a day. ■ Talking out of turn was the most frequently encountered low-level negative behaviour in the classroom. Only 4% of primary and 1% of secondary teachers said that they had not encountered this in the previous week. ■ Physical violence and physical aggression by pupils towards teachers in both primary and secondary schools was very rare. For example 3 out of 557 (<1%) primary and 4 out of 1,460 (<1%) secondary teachers reported experiencing physical violence towards them around the school in the previous week. ■ Pupil-to-pupil physical violence and aggression and general verbal abuse were frequently observed around the school and in the classroom by teachers and support staff in both primary and secondary schools. For example, around 2 in 3 secondary headteachers (65%) said that pupil-to pupil verbal abuse had been referred to them at least once in the previous week. ■ Pupils reported a very similar picture to staff in terms of the kinds of behaviour they encountered around the school and in classrooms. They would welcome more opportunities to participate in decision-making about school matters. ■ There were some positive changes in perception of behaviour by all groups of staff compared to 2006. Secondary teachers showed the largest proportion of statistically significant positive changes in perceptions, for 51 out of 58 behaviours for which direct comparison was possible. Primary support staff showed the fewest positive changes in perception. They had moved in a positive direction for 3 out of 35 behaviours and in a negative direction for 6. ■ All schools used a multi-pronged approach to promoting positive behaviour and responding to negative behaviour. The most frequently used strategy was promoting positive behaviour through a positive school ethos based on shared values. This was echoed in data from local authorities. ■ A very large majority of primary (93%) and secondary teachers (87%) were confident or very confident in their abilities to promote positive behaviour. They were also confident or very confident in their abilities to respond to negative behaviour in their classrooms (89% and 85% respectively). Behaviour in Scottish Schools 2009 Pamela Munn, Stephen Sharp, Gwynedd Lloyd, Gale Macleod, Gillean McCluskey, Jane Brown and Lorna Hamilton Education and Lifelong Learning Research Findings No.53/2009