Restorative Practices

 

Behavior is a form of communication. When our students' behavior starts contributing to attendance issues, disturbances and distractions in our classrooms and within the school, and the relationships we work hard to build are disrespected, restorative practices may be the appropriate approach. 

"Today, many institutions in the USA—such as juvenile courts, domestic violence courts, universities, and K-12 schools—use Restorative Justice as a means to divert people from punitive justice systems, reduce rates of recidivism, and repair and improve social connections" (Darling-Hammond, S. 2020).

 

Restorative practices helps build relationships, addresses conflict by holding those accountable, and repairs and restores the relationship built. "Taking responsibility requires understanding how the behavior affected others, acknowledging that the behavior was harmful to others, taking action to repair the harm, and making changes necessary to avoid such behavior in the future" (Schott, 2014).

By allowing students to make amends, they have to consider their peer's feeling and emotions. The students can learn how their actions and words not only hurt the targeted person, but also those around and outside of the school community. This allows both parties to be heard, understood, and help repair the damage done to the relationship. Students can avoid suspension and continue to learn with new goals and boundries set by both parties. It is important to understand that both sides must be willing to participate in order for restorative justice to take place. 

There are informal and formal practices that can take place inside the classroom. Informal practices consists of: affective statements and questions, classroom meetings, infromal classroom circles, and impromptu conferences. Formal practices consists of: formal classroom circle, victim-offender dialogues, and high-stakes conferences. Formal practices may include a trained facilitator to lead the formal circles, dialogues, and conferences.  

When discussing affective statements, Better than Carrots and Sticks, discusses the importance of statements.  Conversations or written letters may take place to help convey student's feelings towards the disruptive or positive behavior. The book states how "I" statements "shifts the focus to the behavior without generalizing it as a permanent character trait" (Smith, 2015, pg. 88). The basic formula for stating or writing  I statements "follows a simple forumla: "I felt [emotion] when [behavior or event] because [reason for the emotion] (Smith, 2015, pg. 88). 

Restorative practices engage students and if all participants are willing, the students can remain in the classroom and continue to learn. For those students who do face expulsion, reentry plans  must take place to create the least disruption inside our classrooms. While trying to avoid office referrals, disruptive behavior, and suspensions, these events may occur. Students who are in a school that practices restorative justice versus a zero-tolerance policy school can help these students avoid the "school-to-prison pipeline." Statistics show students of color or disabilites face a higher rate of expulsion. The more the student is suspended, the greater the increase of becoming a statistic to the school-to-prison pipeline.