Imagine, if you will, having a Restorative Justice Coordinator on the campus of your school. Not just a staff person in charge of discipline, but a professional trained in restorative justice practices. Currently legislation has opened the door for more restorative practices in schools. This open door is a result of research over the past 20 years that shows that zero tolerance has not reduced the dropout rate of students and has not reduced the school to prison pipeline.
What would restorative justice do? It would give all parties an opportunity to willingly participate in a constructive process of recognizing the injustice, acknowledging who was harmed, thinking together of ways to make it right (restore equity), planning together ways to prevent it from happening again and establishing a course for a better future (future intentions). The process gives the participants options for solving together where all parties feel they have been heard in a reasonable, respectful, and restorative atmosphere that hopes for reintegration into the learning environment.
What would a school program that includes the above strategies look like you might ask? Here is a thumbnail sketch of how a school might implement restorative practices under the leadership of a conflict resolution specialist.
PREVENTION
Social-emotional learning and character development curriculum
Conflict management strategies taught routinely in classroom class meetings
Empathy and impulse control studies prerequisite to anti-bullying awareness
Respect agreements made at the beginning of the school year
Circles held for practice in active-listening and demonstrating respect
Peer mediation training beginning at 5th grade (e.g. Making It Right)
A school wide behavior management system used with common language
Parents and community educated in RJ practices
A restorative discipline system (e.g. Discipline that Restores)
Relationship building between teachers and students
On-going teacher support in restorative practices
Tiered approach to identifying needs
INTERVENTION
RTI assessment to guide identification for interventions
"4 Option Model" (DTR) for resolving conflicts
Option #3 (DTR) Mediation meetings
Peer mediations
Data collection and analysis for on-going change
I am sure others could add their own ideas to the list (it is by no means exhaustive), but notice how many practices are prevention. A key ingredient is to build a caring environment and to model strategies that you wish for students. If students know that teachers believe in respect agreements and are willing to craft them among themselves as faculty and staff, then students will begin to feel that this a good thing. Authentic modeling leads to restorative practices becoming normative.
Our educational climate is changing as we realize how imperative it is to address the needs of an increasing conflict-ridden society. I hope we will not refuse these needed changes, but move forward to give our future citizens tools for a better tomorrow.
LINKS TO RESOURCES
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
Discipline That Restores by Ron and Roxanne Claassen
Making It Right by Roxanne Claassen
Softening Zero Tolerance
After Sandy Hook - School Need Assessment
Conflict Resolution Specialist Job Description (sample job description compiled by R. Hearnsberger)
AB 1729 opens door for more restorative justice practices in schools (what the CA legislation says)
CA Endowment commends Gov. Brown for signing AB 1729 (support for restorative practices)
I really enjoyed reading your blog. I have used a respect agreement in a small group setting where I was the facilitator. I prefer respect agreements over arbitrary rules. Great job!
ReplyDelete