The role of schools: Middle eastern and North African newcomers’ challenges in restorative versus non-Restorative ethea high schools

Students who are newcomers to the United States–as English Learners (ELs)–face barriers to learning, and their academic success often lags behind their native-English-speaking peers. Notably, there is paucity in the literature about Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) high school student newcomers’ academic challenges as ELs and the practices that schools implement to address the unique issues that refugee students face. The researchers employed qualitative methods to explore teachers’ perspectives of MENA newcomers’ challenges from Restorative and non-Restorative ethea of care and socio-emotional learning. Twenty-two teachers (N = 22) were interviewed using the focus groups method at two Restorative ethos high schools and two non-Restorative ethos high schools to understand the differences in leadership and practices targeted towards newcomers. Our results suggest that MENA students’ challenges were enhanced by non-Restorative organizational structural and leadership deficits, and the lack of communication and cultural awareness within the same school in addition to other ecological system challenges.