The Suspension Experience: What Does It Mean for the Student Observer?

• In Event: Creating and Sustaining Positive School Communities

Abstract

Previous studies have examined the impact of school suspensions in relation to the student who was suspended. Mainly absent from the literature is a recognition that exclusionary disciplinary policies may be impacting on the general student population. This study examined what this experience means for those students who observe a suspension event or are associated with a student who receives an out of school suspension. Using a phenomenological approach, the purpose of this study was to document and analyze these students’ experience of suspension. This study examines the stories of nine high school students, providing valuable information related to the student experience of suspension from the perspective of the student observer.

Author

• Katherine Marian Thompson, OISE/University of Toronto