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Justice And Change: An Exploratory Case Study Of The Early Implementation Of The Restorative Justice Whole-School Model And Reculturing In A High School In The American South
Rodenbo, Amber Weyland
Rodenbo, Amber Weyland
Abstract
Discipline inequities across racial, gender, and socioeconomic barriers are a constant in the United States, persisting long after the desegregation of schools in the last century. School divisions and schools across the United States have implemented restorative justice as an alternative to traditional punitive discipline as a potential remedy for discipline inequities. To institute whole-school restorative justice, a change in school culture, or reculturing, must occur, per Fullan’s culture of change and coherence models. Using Fullan’s models, this research was a practice-oriented exploratory case study. The following sources of data were collected: interviews with administrators, an at-will survey sent to all teachers, and a content analysis of the student handbook. Data from all the sources supported the finding that the case school is in the early stages of becoming a culture of change and of the reculturing process. Themes important to the implementation of this initiative included: relationships, disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, preventing harm, building moral purpose and relationships one-on-one, building moral purpose and relationships through group settings, the importance of (positive) leadership traits, instructional collaboration, and lack of collaboration around restorative justice practices. Continuity of leadership proved an important factor in culture change. There is room for improvement and progress in all areas studied. Recommendations in the areas of school/division policy, planning, and leadership to improve implementation and continue the process of reculturing are included.
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2023-01-01
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Education
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.25774/w4-5vck-gr66