A Phenomenological Study of Teachers Implementing Restorative Practices

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore and understand the perceptions of teachers as they endure change while implementing restorative practices at the secondary level. The central research question guiding this study asked, “How do secondary level teachers from central North Carolina describe their experiences with restorative practices in the classroom?” I interviewed and discussed the lived experiences of 11 participants, all teachers who have been trained in restorative practices by the International Institute of Restorative Practices and implemented in their classroom for one year in central North Carolina. The theory guiding this study was Michael Fullan’s change theory and the exploration of how and why a school reform initiative works. Data was collected in three ways: semi-structured, long interviews; a focus group; and a document review of the International Institute of Restorative Practices training materials. Data were analyzed using coding, clustering of codes, and theme extraction. After a comprehensive analysis of the data, three themes emerged: (a) the influence of student discourse on the culture of the classroom; (b) teacher empowerment through reflection; and (c) the emergence of altruism

The Implementation of Restorative Justice Practices: An Exploration into Administrators\u27 Experiences

In this paper, transformative learning theory and restorative justice practices, as well as the empirical research done to link theory to practice, are explored. As Mezirow (2018) stated, transformative learning is “the process by which we transform problematic frames of reference (mindsets, habits of mind, meaning perspectives)—sets of assumption and expectation—to make them more inclusive, . . . open, reflective and emotionally able to change” (p. 116). In other words, people’s life experiences help shape their opinions and worldviews, and most people are resistant to change these ideas the more solidly they are planted in one’s minds as being correct. However, due to the reality of classrooms today coupled with recent legislation regarding school suspensions, adults within schools are being required to transform their ideas about student behavior, and more specifically, “misbehavior,” as well as the appropriate response to these behaviors. One shift occurring locally as well as internationally is from exclusionary discipline practices to restorative justice practices. This shift, like many shifts, can prove to be challenging; therefore, this study focuses on the implementation of restorative justice practices in schools. Specifically, this study seeks to understand the following questions: 1) How do school administrators implement restorative justice practices? 2) How do administrators create buy-in by staff for adopting restorative justice practices? 3) What transformative experiences do staff undergo in the shift from exclusionary to restorative practices? This study consists of semi-structured interviews of five administrators who have implemented restorative justice practices in their schools. Additionally, in the years since the intentional implementation of restorative justice practices, schools are conducting and publishing impact studies. Those studies, focusing on the implementation process, are summarized in Chapter 2

Conditions For Effective Use Of Community Sustainability Indicators And Adaptive Learning

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012As the number of community sustainability indicator programs (SIPs) increases in many regions of the world, including in the United States, questions continue to arise regarding how decision makers can use sustainability indicators (SIs) to contribute in a meaningful way to their efforts to build resilient and sustainable communities. Through an analysis of the sustainability activities in sample cities from across the U.S. and a case study of one city that adopted SIs but has yet to implement them, this study seeks to uncover the conditions for effective SI implementation and use. The study began with a review of the literature on communities' sustainability efforts and the historical roots of sustainability and resilience theory leading up to today's sustainability indicator projects. A heuristic model for adaptive learning is presented to illustrate the relationships among sustainability, resilience, and administrative concepts, including the goals and domains of sustainability indicators. The study's data collection and analysis began with an Internet-based investigation of 200 U.S. cities. A five-tiered system was devised to categorize findings regarding sustainability patterns and trends in studied cities, ranging from an absence of sustainability activities through fully implemented sustainability indicators. The second phase of data collection employed an electronic survey completed by informants from a 38-city sample of the 200 investigated cities, followed by phone interviews with informants from cities that ranked high for developed sustainability programs. A case study using focus group research was then conducted of one small U.S. city, Juneau, Alaska, where local government adopted sustainability indicators in the 1990s but fell short of implementing them. Most cities in the U.S. have not developed sustainability indicator projects, and, among those that have, few have been able to implement them fully. Among highly ranked cities with sustainability indicators, several approaches, including innovative organizational structures and adaptive learning processes, were found to be present. Recommendations for incorporating such innovations and for grounding sustainability indicator projects in sustainability science, resilience thinking, and public administration theory are offered to help ensure sustainability indicators become fully operational in Juneau, as well as in other communities seeking to establish successful sustainability indicator programs

Mustang Daily, October 23, 2007

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/studentnewspaper/7662/thumbnail.jp

Olivet Nazarene University Biennial Catalog 2005-2007

https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/acaff_catalog/1080/thumbnail.jp

Montana Journalism Review, 1994

If not Saddam, Why not Tonya? -- When is a King Not a King? -- The Princess and the Press -- An American Reporter in Japan -- The Mountain Lion in Winter -- Censorship through the Eyes of an Indian -- Running Down the Day with Larry Frost -- Black Friday in Butte -- The Winner of Our Discontent -- Living on the Edge -- Forget Compassion-Give Me News -- The Little Network that Could -- Journalists Line up behind ‘Online

Facebook: Where privacy concerns and social needs collide

Facebook is an integral part of today’s social landscape, but Facebook use involves compromising one’s privacy in relation to both other users and to the Facebook corporation and its affiliated businesses. This analysis explores respondents’ reasons for using Facebook together with their Facebook-related privacy concerns, and how these factors influence self-disclosures and privacy management strategies on the site. Also explored are respondents’ perceptions both of what the Facebook corporation ‘knows’ about them and with whom it shares their data. The research is based on the concepts of user-user and user-corporate privacy concerns versus the social needs of self-portrayal and belonging. Self-portrayal (inspired by Friedlander, 2011) is explored in the contexts of both strategic self-presentation and expression of the true self, and belonging is explored in the contexts of both intimacy and affiliation. These concepts have been drawn from a combination of psychological theories together with existing research on privacy concerns and social needs on social networking sites. Respondents completed an online questionnaire over a six week period from late August to early October 2014, and a focus group was held in November 2014. The questionnaire was largely quantitative but allowed for qualitative input via text boxes. There were 404 completed and valid responses, and of the demographic factors tested, gender was most strongly associated with Facebook-related privacy concerns and age was most strongly associated with reasons for using Facebook. Respondents indicated a clash between fulfilling their social needs on Facebook and their privacy concerns on the site. However, these concerns did not, for the most part, stop them using Facebook, although in certain instances respondents employed tactics to minimise their privacy concerns. This thesis argues that, when using Facebook, respondents resolved the privacy paradox to the best of their ability. It is anticipated that the findings of this thesis will contribute to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the benefits and drawbacks of social media use

Perceptions of eighth-grade mathematics teachers of the impact of the Maine Educational Assessment on instructional practices

The purposes of this study are (a) to examine the perceptions of eighth grade mathematics teachers in the state of Maine concerning their classroom instructional and assessment practices and the influence on their students\u27 scores in the MEA tests and (b) to determine if there is a relationship between community social/economic levels and student achievement on the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) mathematics tests. The survey instrument consisting of a mailed questionnaire designed for this study contained 86 Likert scale items that measured teachers\u27 beliefs regarding the following resource 1 indicators: awareness and use of MEA resources, content area knowledge, instructional methods, assessment practices, and the value and influence of the MEA on their school. The schools were selected using a stratified random sampling process. The geographical location of the school was used as the stratifying variable. A total of 126 schools were represented which translated into a rate of 88% representation. There were 210 surveys sent to grade 8 mathematics teachers in these schools. A total of 148 (79 female, 69 male) teachers returned completed surveys (response rate 71%). Two classroom observations and eight telephone interviews amplify and enhance the survey data regarding the participants\u27 instructional practices and attitudes about the value and influence of the MEA on their schools. Data in the survey were segregated first into sub-divisions of four geographical regions. The data from each region were further sorted by survey items relating to the five resource indicators. Assessment practices were sorted into two subcategories: assessment pedagogy and use of rubrics. The correlation between each resource indicator and 2003 MEA mathematics test scores was determined. There was no significant correlation between self-reported teacher practices and student achievement on the MEA mathematics test. However, there was a significant correlation between socioeconomic levels and student achievement on the MEA mathematics tests in three regions. Teachers reported mastery in standards based mathematical content areas and reform based instructional methods. While state testing policy promoted the use of certain performance assessment practices, this did not appear to influence a change in practice. Teachers indicated that they do not receive the state tests in time to influence classroom planning and evaluation. The interview and observation data suggest that Maine mathematics teachers continue to maintain traditional views of mathematics instruction and assessment practices. Implications of these findings are discussed. 1Resource Indicators: Input and process variables that influence student learning

Communication and Ethnic Community: The Case of Landsmanshaftn

This study explores aspects of the role of communication in the socialization experiences of immigrant minorities by examining the mass communication, organizational, and interpersonal activities of contemporary American landsmanshaftn. These Jewish voluntary associations, formed by immigrants who typically share common origins in an East European hometown, exhibit changing organizational priorities and evolving expressions of ethnic community affiliation from their founding to today. In looking for and examining the relationships between ethnicity and communication, this study focuses on the changing orientation of a variety of landsmanshaftn to their city or town of origin, to the United States, and to the State of Israel. Interviews were conducted with leaders of sixty-eight American and Israeli organizations from six European locations: Antopol, Bialystok, Czestochowa, Lodz, Minsk (White Russia), Warsaw. These data are supplemented by an examination of reports about landsmanshaftn activities in the Yiddish press, and information from the organizations\u27 own documents and publications. An analysis of the mass media behavior and interpersonal communication networks of the landsmanshaft leadership is also offered. Adaptations in the meaning of landsmanshaft membership evolve from the original hometown-based motive for affiliation. Even during the period of World War II, the landsmanshaftn seem more linked to American rather than European concerns. Organizational agendas are presently delimited by mass communicated messages about appropriate landsmanshaft work, messages which today mainly emphasize fundraising for Israel and the memorializing of the destroyed European hometowns. While the mass media may set the perimeters of associational agendas, landsmanshaft leaders also influence the nature of organizational activity. Leaders\u27 views of their group\u27s purpose reflect, in part, their personal involvement with other types of organizations and causes. In general, the value which members place on the opportunities for interpersonal discussion and fellowship afforded by their organization must be underscored. However, little communication is exhibited between American and Israeli landsmanshaftn deriving from the same hometown. This study of the continuity of landsmanshaftn demonstrates the role that communication plays in sustaining these organizations as adaptive vehicles for the maintenance and modification of ethnic community affiliation

1969-03-27 Morehead News

Morehead News published on March 27, 1969