The effects of exclusionary versus restorative discipline on teacher to student relationships
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Authors
Herbert, Timothy J.
Date
7/22/2020
Type
text
electronic thesis or dissertation
electronic thesis or dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Description
The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between exclusionary and restorative discipline practices based on teacher to student relationship and teachers’ sense of meaningful work. Using a quantitative research methods, a statistical comparison was done of the two discipline practices. Teacher to student relationships were assessed using the Teacher Network of Relationships Inventory (TNRI) teacher form. Teachers’ Sense of Meaningful Work (MW) was measured using the Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI). This study sampled a 132 ninth and tenth grade teachers working in three urban secondary schools located in the Central New England Region of the U.S. The Mann – Whitney U test was used to analyze the data. The results indicated there was no difference between the two discipline practices and the teachers’ MW. The results did indicate a statistically significant difference between discipline practices based on teacher to student relationships. Teachers using restorative discipline practices ranked their relationships with students significantly higher than teachers using exclusionary discipline practices. There was no statistically significant difference between discipline practices based on the relationship sub-scale scores of Conflict or Intimacy. However, teachers using restorative practices reported a statistically significant difference indicating a higher sense of warmth versus teachers using exclusion. This study was the first to compare secondary schools using exclusionary and restorative discipline practices based on Teacher-to-Student relationships and Teacher Sense of Meaningful Work. The results of this study may provide insight how discipline policies can affect a school’s climate. The results of the study also provide educational leaders with data that illustrates restorative discipline practices may better foster teacher to student relationships. These findings indicate that educational leaders should consider the use of restorative practices as alternatives to exclusionary discipline.