We seek restorative justice not retributive justice
Desmond Tutu
Embedded Files
Establishing Restoritive Justice in the Classroom
What is Restorative Justice?
What is Restorative Justice?
United States Department of Justice: a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offense resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its implications for the future.
What Two of the Greatest Civil Activists Said:
What Two of the Greatest Civil Activists Said:
Nelson Mandela: "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner"
Martin Luther King Jr.: "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Light and love will always be the greater power over darkness and hate."
"Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.”
How do we bring this to the history classroom?
Most of these examples are on the premise of justice within the context of students having done something worth of punishing by means of expulsion, suspension, etc.
Intervention:
"The mediator asks nonjudgmental, restorative questions like What happened? How did it happen? or What can we do to make it right? Through their discussions, everyone learns about what happened, why it happened, and how the damage can be fixed."
Reintegration:
"Restorative justice practices seek to reduce this recidivism by providing a “wraparound” supportive environment from the start. They acknowledge the student’s challenges while promoting accountability and achievement."
Intervention and reintegration are both vital in restorative justice. Within the context of the classroom teachers, as opposed to administrators, may not be as frequently dealing with situations that are worthy of expulsion or suspension. However, it is important to still understand the significance of these two facets from the point of an educator. In a history classroom, teachers have a unique opportunity to bring reconciliation not simply on a physical plane, but a much deeper emotional one as well. It can be that the teacher can intervene, asking quesitons and acting in a way that facilitates proper understanding of the current offense by being attentive and present in the conflicts that arise; or perhaps they strive to create enviornments of accountability by implementing patterns like 'critical friends' creating space for confession and confiding. Furthermore however, this intervetion and reintegration can also be critical in mediateing historical issus that penetrate into the classroom. Thus, questions can be repurposed and aim to address those aforementioned issues and may then look like: What is housing inequality? What is its cause? And then accounablity then not only produces the benefit of self-reflection but promotes activism.
Norm setting:
This practice is done using the model of a community-building circle but emphasizes the building of classroom norms together. Oftentimes, rules are handed down by authority and are necessary.
into action statements describing how they could live out those values in the classroom. A list of action statements or norms are created and can then be edited together as a class. What is awesome about this process is that the norms created are not adult-driven but instead are created as a community and thus has more community buy-in.
Norm setting is an imensly practical way educators can set the foundation for restorative justice. Here again in the context of the histor classroom is he, she, or they presented with the unique opportunity to make thier impact on thier students beyond a physical or surface-level plane. Certain "norms" or normalized perceptions can often find their roots in negativity. Those roots can grow deep into present, real, everyday situtaions and descions. For the history teacher, reckoning with these norms in a way that creates reconciliation could be by bringing these very real biases to the table, acknowleding them, and setting them aside––opening the door to understand and learn from history as it speaks into today.
Proactive use of Restorative Justice:
"Restorative Justice is not a kinder, gentler way to punish or to achieve compliance from students. It is not a quick fix for behavioral – or any – issues. It is not a technique, a tool, a set of steps, or a one-size-fits-all package.It is a way of being, thinking, interacting, teaching and learning – with relationships at the centre of all we do, every day.
Restorative principles – that everyone is worthy and that we are all interconnected – need to be intentionally and rigorously infused into all aspects of school life. On a daily basis, students need to feel valued – no matter what – and to be actively involved in the building of meaningful school relationships. Otherwise, they will have little reason to trust the processes in place to repair those relationships, when conflict or harm occurs."
The concept of self-worth may perhaps be one of the most interesting with ragards to restorative justice, yet it is perhaps one of the most crucial. It is important that every student feels immensely valued. In the history classroom, the teacher is here too presented with a unique oportunity to use concepts as such to reach reconciliation on a more significant plane. It can be here also that the former concepts of intervention and reintegration can play a role in firmly establishing a concept such as self worth. Where have people groups historically been devalued? How can we ensure that these communities are constantly recognized, admonished and protected? Here again, reintegration provides the on not simply accountability but enviorments in which students can admonish and strengthen on another.
For the teacher:
Most of these examples are on the premise of justice within the context of students having done something worth of punishing by means of expulsion, suspension, etc.
"Along with these restorative practices, it has been equally pressing to have peer groups work to keep students with disciplinary issues engaged in school while being held accountable for their actions. For more than two years now, we’ve been doing just that through our Peer Court.
Peer court is funded as an after-school class, but is considered a peer program that enables students in our community to actively accept responsibility for and repair the harm they have caused through their actions.
We have found that often there is more to their story than just the harm they caused."
Setting a class structure in which student accountability is not only encourage but an integral part of the functionality of the class system is a huge way for teachers and students to share the balance of power while encouraging students to problem solve and hear and play a pert in eachothers story. It breaks down the simply boundries of "classmate" and promotes one that is more interwoven and closely knit toghether as a cohesive, collective body. Again, not all teachers may need to engage in dicipline, but they can still foster this heavily student let structure in other ways that enable good question asking and foster higher levels of achievement.
A personal story, my AP European history class did group tests, where our class of about eight would take the test together, sharing asnwers and analysis. This enabled us to study independently, but also rely on eachother. It kept us both accountable but also was a rock to stand on when we were struggling or overwhelmed .
Repairing Our Schools Through Restorative Justice
Repairing Our Schools Through Restorative Justice
"And at first I supported this policy I didn't want to see gang activity in my school but then I watched one gang member after another drop out and I realized that our policy had an unintended consequence by pushing our gang affiliated students out of school we were pushing them straight into the open arms of the gangs if these students are these children had ever had any doubt in their mind about where they belonged we were sending them a message loud and clear the schools didn't want them the gangs did"
Again, Within the context of the classroom teachers, as opposed to administrators, may not be as frequently dealing with situations that are worthy of expulsion or suspension, or may not have direct say in such matters. However, they have the opportunity to still engage with students that find themselves in these scenarios and can play a part in their reconciliation and reintegration.
A theme we have covered frequently in this class: be human. Teachers have the responsibility to not merely see their students as students but as fellow human beings, who eperience real stuggles, real stresses, reall anxieties, and real pressures.
Showing imense grace is an easy way for teachers to engage in restorative practices. Hearing the students story, and acting in accordance opens avenues for those student to not only feel cared for, but allows them to get back up, and strive again when they may fall short of what is "required" of them
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