Speaking from the Heart, Listening from the Heart: Toward an Emergent Theory of Restorative Leadership

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Equity and Social Justice Leadership Among Backlash Against DEI

Abstract

This paper will present findings from our team’s year-long study of how restorative justice in education (RJE) shaped professional learning for a cohort of 33 school leaders. Our study draws upon the epistemological, ontological, and axiological dimensions of RJE to refine a set of design principles that guided us in planning and facilitating all activities and processes across a series of learning sessions. Using participatory design-based research, we documented the evolution of these design principles, our team’s ongoing learning design process, and how participants’ leadership conceptions and aspirations were shaped through their participation. This study contributes new insight to RJE and leadership scholarship, moving towards an emergent theory of restorative leadership.

Authors

• Leah Ann Raphael, University of California - Los Angeles

• Tonikiaa Orange, University of California - Los Angeles

• Tarik Smith, University of California - Los Angeles