Reciprocal trust and student voice: lessons from adapting an intervention for middle schools
Rita Svanks, Jo Smith, Heather McClure, Claudia Vincent, Lindsey Romero, John Inglish, Erik Girvan, Darren ReileyPurpose
We describe qualitative findings from formative work focused on adapting a connection-strengthening intervention originally developed for high schools to middle school contexts. The intervention consisted of a digital tool for students to post information about their school experiences, a student curriculum introducing core concepts of advocacy and socioemotional skills and professional development materials introducing school personnel to restorative and community-building practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an iterative development process, our research team solicited feedback on the intervention components from a Design Team consisting of middle school personnel and from a focus group of middle school students on their daily school experiences. We used an iterative line-by-line approach to establish initial codes, Dedoose to establish inter-rater reliability and thematic analysis to identify subcodes.
Findings
We identified three overarching themes: honoring context, supporting teachers and building connections. Subthemes included the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the developmental stage of middle school students, trust, safety, choice, teacher readiness and support needs. Based on these findings, we identified needed adaptations to the intervention components and potential implementation plans.
Originality/value
The intervention focuses on simultaneously supporting students and teachers. Teachers’ ability to use restorative practices and model positive relationship building appears to be a necessary prerequisite for students to develop the trust necessary to make their voices heard. Students’ willingness to advocate helps teachers to promote authentic contexts for building and rebuilding supportive relationships with and among students. This reciprocity can provide a new lens for social-emotional learning in middle schools.