From the Perspectives of School Staff: The Helpful and Hindering Factors of Recovery from a School Crisis

The impact of a violent event at a high school has an effect that ripples throughout the entire community. The present study sought to review what led teachers and school staff to recover after an unexpected violent event killed two students. The study sought to understand the process of recovery, including the post crisis intervention, response, and factors of personal resiliency, from the perspective of the staff and teachers involved. Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT), a robust qualitative research methodology used to study phenomenological constructs in a systematic way, was employed to give voice to the participants and understand the factors that contribute to successful response and recovery. Using ECIT, factors that helped or hindered the participants’ ability to cope with and return to work are discussed. The implications for future events and intervention protocol are discussed. Further to this, feedback was shared with the school district so that any follow up efforts could be employed. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: http://aura.antioch.edu and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://edt.ohiolink.edu/et