“ALL HANDS ON DECK”: HOW MIDDLE SCHOOL STAFF PERCEIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING THROUGH RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

With the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), schools must look for proactive strategies to help struggling learners stay in the classroom environment. Schools across the United States are turning to restorative practices to build school community, resolve conflict peacefully, and repair harm caused to the community. With restorative practices, students and staff are given an implicate framework for self-regulating behavior, developing positive interactions with teachers and peers, and building self-efficacy skills. The purpose of this qualitative ethnography was to examine how staff members at one suburban middle school perceive the process of community building through the use of restorative practices. This study included building-level leadership along with certified and classified staff members. The findings indicate that school leadership modeling effective and intentional use of restorative practices provides an explicate framework of practices that give staff and students tools to build community. In addition, students and staff learned how their personal impact affects the school community. This study provides information that can guide the practices of many professionals and students in education. There are specific implications to this study that can impact how school administrators lead a school building in a way that develops a sense of belonging for all members.