EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICES ON SUPERVISON SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN STUDENT AFFAIRS

Oct 15, 2026

Examines how restorative practices (RP) affect supervision skill development among residential life mid- and senior-level supervisors in student affairs. The qualitative case-study analyzes supervisors’ reflections and identifies four themes: RP supports emotional self-awareness, shapes communication approaches, strengthens accountability and difficult conversations, and creates structured opportunities to reflect on supervisory style. Findings contribute to limited supervision-training scholarship and offer a relational, developmental lens for supervisory effectiveness.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Review of Literature

Supervision in Student Affairs

Restorative Practices and Supervision

EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICES ON SUPERVISON SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN STUDENT AFFAIRS Brandin L . Howard University of Vermont For decades, the student affairs field has viewed supervision as a vital function of many professional roles for which staff rarely receive intentional training. While there is limited scholarship outlining what effective supervision should entail, the frameworks available to intentionally guide supervisory skill development is sparse. The following qualitative case-study examined the reflections of residential life mid- and senior-level supervisors to understand the impact of restorative practices (RP) on their supervision style. Four themes emerged from the study regarding the influence of RP assisting supervisors in developing emotional self-awareness, communication style, accountability and difficult conversations approaches and, opportunities to reflect on their supervisory style. Keywords: Restorative Practices, Supervision, Residence Life, Student Affairs Please direct inquires about this manuscript to: Brandin L. Howard, [brandin.howard@duke.edu](brandin.howard@duke.edu) College Student Affairs Journal, Volume 39(2), pp. 136-149 ISSN 2381-2338 Copyright 2021 Southern Association for College Student Affairs All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 137 College Student Affairs Journal Vol. 39 No. 2, 2021 Scholars and practitioners consider stu dent affairs a relationship-oriented field where building and maintaining relationships with colleagues, students, and shareholders is essential to operational success (Schwartz, 2017) . Since building effective working relationships with others is important to the success of student affairs, it stands to reason that importance extends to student affairs staff, given that supervision is a person-centered activity (McNair, 2011) . As a person-centered activity, supervision can influence the accomplishment of student affairs goals and priorities. Thus, it is important for supervisors to understand how to communicate with others, affirm their staff, and approach accountability through a developmental lens (McNair, 2011; Shupp & Arminio, 2012) . Although supervision is important to student affairs, new professionals rarely enter the field with a strong understanding of how to effectively supervise others. The lack of intentional supervisory training and development often contributes to this minimal understanding of effective supervision. (Stock-Ward & Javorek, 2003) . Although there are limited frameworks to help student affairs professionals develop their supervisory approach from a theoretical standpoint, very few of these models provide tangible methods for building an effective supervisory relationship. When looking at frameworks from outside of student affairs, Restorative Practices (RP) may be able to guide professionals in building strong supervisory affiliations while simultaneously developing supervision skills. RP hypothesizes that “human beings are happier, more productive, more cooperative, and are more likely to make positive changes in their behavior when those in positions of authority do things with them, rather than to them or for them” (Wachtel, 2005, p. 87) . Based on RP’s hypothesis, collaborative and relational approaches to leadership are believed to be more effective than punitive or permissive leadership styles. The RP framework encourages leaders to actively consider how they put their leadership authority into practice when working with others (Miller & Olstad, 2012) . When extended to the concept of supervision, RP can help guide student affairs supervisors in reflecting on their supervisory approach. A key element of student affairs supervision is actively building and maintaining professional and supervisory relationships (Shupp & Arminio, 2017) . One preeminent model for student affairs supervision, the synergistic supervision framework, identified several key elements of effective su

FAQs

What is the focus of this study on supervision in student affairs?

The study investigates how restorative practices influence supervision style and skill development for residential life supervisors, based on supervisors’ reflections.

How did the researchers evaluate the impact of restorative practices?

A qualitative case-study approach was used, analyzing reflections of mid- and senior-level residential life supervisors.

What four themes emerged from the study findings?

The themes include increased emotional self-awareness, refined communication style, improved accountability and approaches to difficult conversations, and expanded opportunities to reflect on supervisory style.

Oct 15, 2026

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