Date of Award

May 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Jared Schlenker

Abstract

While restorative practices (RP) is hailed as one of the oldest criminal justice models in the world, the official advent of RP in education did not occur until the 1990s. Mirroring the reemergence of RP into legal systems, educators began experimenting with the application of RP in the educational setting. Today, restorative work in schools has expanded beyond an alternative to exclusionary discipline measures into an effort to build, maintain, and, when necessary, restore community. More and more teacher preparation programs address restorative justice principles and the rising dedication to Social Emotional Learning and Culturally Responsive Teaching often embraces RP. However, the question of the person or people responsible for the implementation and maintenance of RP in the school building lingers. Literature abounds with information regarding the “how,” but less information exists regarding the “who.” While RP has largely been successful due to its grassroots emergence across school campuses, leadership is necessary to ensure its successful integration as a system and some schools have turned to full-time Restorative Practices Leads (RPLs) to shepherd the work. This study explores the role of RPLs in four secondary schools in one Midwest district as a case study. Through conducting 20 intensive, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders at each site, nine themes were established to promote self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and systemic implementation of RP via a full-time RPL position.

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