ERIC Number: ED636590
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 120
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3798-4344-1
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Determining School Safety Concerns: The Lived Experiences of a Middle School Safety Team
Aaron Leniski
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Purdue University
A school safety team collaborates with stakeholders to promote and maintain a physically and psychologically safe school environment. Together they must identify safety deficits and prioritize initiatives and practices. This phenomenological qualitative case study examined how a school safety team makes decisions and determines safety outcomes. Individual interviews and a focus group discussion explored how they calibrate what a safety concern is to help prevent violence. Four emergent themes were identified: (1) severity and impact, (2) safety-minded culture, (3) communication and collaboration, and (4) leadership. In addition, the study explored whether one of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems has more influence over the others when validating a concern. This study suggests that the Microsystem is most influential. From these findings, three assertions were proposed to help the school safety team, and building leaders promote safe school practices: (1) The safety team must establish collaborative relationships with stakeholders and develop convenient reporting systems to collect concerns; (2) A school safety team judges a safety concern by the severity and potential impact on the school environment; and (3) Leadership is vital for the school safety team to prepare for, respond to, and address safety concerns. These findings aim to help stakeholders promote and maintain a safe learning environment as they evaluate perceived safety concerns by highlighting areas to focus on to improve the calibration process. Though a school safety team may never know how many times they were right in calibrating a concern, a single error will be well known. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: School Safety, Teamwork, Middle Schools, Prevention, Violence, School Culture, Interpersonal Communication, Cooperation, Leadership Responsibility, Educational Environment
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A