Factors impacting the efficacy of restorative practices
Date
2018
Authors
Taylor, Phillip, author
Korte, Russell, advisor
Scott, Malcolm, committee member
Sebald, Ann, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
This study applied qualitative methods from a constructivist perspective to investigate the efficacy of restorative practices (RP) at an American inner-city school. The study analyzed interviews and office referrals from four students, eleven teachers, and three administrators to investigate factors that impacted the efficacy of restorative practices and other non-punitive approaches to classroom discipline for the purposes of evolving current understanding of how RP works in a classroom setting. The study revealed that three factors were important in connection to improving and/or restoring student behavior in the classroom. These factors were 1) teachers' attempts to make personal connections with students 2) teachers' attempts to maintain a consistent demeanor in the classroom, and 3) affective resonance. These findings are important to the field of RP in that they show that training which emphasizes targeted restorative practices in response to incidents of misbehavior, which are emphasized by many RP programs, such as IIRP, and other RP experts, may be of secondary interest to the work of restoring student behavior to school norms. The findings make salient other factors that are described and addressed within RP literature, however, are often not directly emphasized. In addition, this study provides new insights into the concept of affective resonance and brings new theoretical insights that might help evolve research methods investigating the impact of teacher efforts to implement restorative practices.
Description
Rights Access
Subject
classroom management
school to prison pipeline
student rehabilitation
restorative practices
affective resonance
student misbehavior