Pedagogical Strategies in the Sciences: Restorative Justice in Secondary Education

Nicole LoBocchiaro

About the Publisher

My name is Nicole LoBocchiaro and I am an aspiring Biology Secondary Education teacher. I chose to dedicate this site to explore restorative pedagogies in order to devalue the norms of exclusionary discipline. As an educator, I believe it is important to recognize marginalizations children have faced at a young age from this flawed system. By encouraging equitable success for all students as they near adulthood, the school-to-prison pipeline we currently experience has the potential to be undermined.

Restorative Pedagogies in Primary and Secondary Education

Summary

Restorative pedagogy offers a resolution to persistent punitive approaches in the classroom. The racial discipline gap which disproportionately harms Black and Latinx students in terms of expulsion creates opportunity segregation teachers need to be cognizant of. Essentially, restorative justice is rooted in African and Indigenous values and focuses on facilitating a community out of everyone affected by the wrongdoing of modern education. Within the resource, three overarching practices were most represented in primary and secondary settings: critical dialogue, circle pedagogy, and commitment to transforming institutions. By following the overarching ideas these three concepts represent, teachers can implement restorative pedagogy and discredit racial injustices in their classroom environment.

Teaching Strategies

Critical Dialogue

Critical dialogue criticizes the oppressive systems by including anti-discriminatory practices in the classroom. Conscientization is the outcome when participants explore their hidden biases and allows teachers to better visualize social issues that may affect their students. By facilitating discussions on unjust topics, uncomfortability will flood the classroom which can then prompt reflection on conflict.

Circle Pedagogy

As the practice states, students arrange in a circle. This strategy emphasizes equity within the classroom and equal distribution of power. As a result, students will be more likely to engage in discussion since the climate makes them feel cared about. This seating arrangement would be optimal when critical dialogue is taking place.

Commitment to Transformation

Teachers will undoubtedly be confronted with institutional forms of discrimination. As a result, they are required to have unwavering devotion to implementing restorative practices. If this is the case, the classroom will be better equipped against punitive strategies.

Wachtel's Social Discipline Window

Adopting the Strategy

Vertical Axis: Teacher’s expectations regarding the student’s behavior

Horizontal Axis: Approach to nurturing the needs of students

Restorative approach (high support and high control over the classroom)

Punitive approach (low support with high control over the classroom), and focuses on efficiency as well as discipline

Vaandering's Relationship Window

Both windows are related to each other because if teachers engage in restorative pedagogy, they honor their students. This is a model I want to follow as a future educator because in order to invalidate racial injustices in exclusionary discipline, you cannot manage your students. Instead, I would allocate equitable power to the students and allow them to feel valued. In order to accomplish this goal, I would follow the key theme of storytelling. Ideally, I would like to take 15-20 minutes in class on Fridays to give every student a chance to describe an account of their week (e.g., positives, negatives, anything systemic that is bothering them). This strategy would include both critical dialogue and circle pedagogy in a mature, secondary education setting.

Summary

As the majority of teachers are white and belong to the middle class, it is necessary that they develop the skills to teach all students equitably. Implicit bias is defined as the attitudes individuals hold about groups of people without conscious awareness. With these prejudices, children are likely able to sense unfairness in the classroom and could potentially cause them to become self-fulfilling prophecies after developing a negative relationship with school. Subsequently, minorities are prone to disproportionate amounts of exclusionary discipline which relates to punitive pedagogy. Altogether, in order to provide students the best education possible, teachers must discredit any biases and engage in methods that promote deeper connection.

How White, Middle Class Teachers Can Apply Psychology to Teach Students Who Are Different From Them

Teaching Strategies

Become self-aware & unlearn prejudicial habits

The instant we become aware of the implicit biases we all hold, we should act on it. Through reflection, we can understand where this stereotype came from and acknowledge the history behind it. In order to progress, replacing this bias with a non-stereotypical way of thinking about other groups will help us progress as educators.

Learn about students and their perspectives

Designing assignments that are culturally specific to each student by incorporating their home life would help children become more involved in the curriculum. Subsequently, they would relate more to content and grow a stronger relationship with school.

Individuate to counteract stereotypes

Individuating is defined as noticing behavior on the individual level and not associating them with a larger group. The goal, however, is to acknowledge race and ethnicity rather than ignoring it. Otherwise, we are neglecting the persistence through challenges of marginalized social groups.

Transform the school climate and culture

Focus on making silenced voices heard in the school environment, especially regarding parental involvement. Make second languages visible and represented. Recognize where the power lies, and if those who take higher level classes have an amplified voice at the cost of other students.

Adopting the Strategy

One of the ways I plan on incorporating these teaching strategies that counteract the damaging effects of implicit bias in my classroom is by having an assignment due quarterly that involves researching an individual who is the same race/ethnicity of the student. Since I plan to be a future educator in biology, the report would be on a person involved in the sciences. I would ask them to make connections to their home culture and draw similarities between themselves and the person they researched. Ideally, each student would have a chance to present their assignment which would give everyone insight to the many cultural differences that exist within the classroom. Bringing this concept to light while unrecognizing bias will help students to become more involved and develop a stronger relationship with the curriculum.

Recommended Books!

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People - Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald

Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do - Jennifer L. Eberhardt

Teaching With Racial Microaggressions in Mind: How to Recognize and Stop Using Racial Microaggressions in Your K-12 Classroom - Joseph R. Gibson

Summary

School refusal requires complex assessment, as it can be prompted by many factors. The observable qualities of children resisting school that can be viewed by educators includes consistently skipping class, repeated tardiness, or exhibiting challenging behavior in the classroom. With a pattern of missing educational instruction, this makes a child more prone to dropping out which can facilitate the school-to-prison pipeline. In order to effectively avoid this from occurring, teams that focus on positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) must figure out the cause of avoidance. There are interventions and assessments available to distinguish students who have feelings of anxiety around going to school, are tempted to skip due to rewards at home, or sense being neglected in the classroom.

School Refusal: Assessment and Intervention

Teaching Strategies

Keep note of attendance data and behavior history of all students. This way, if there is any sudden and consistent change, it will be easier to track.

Acknowledging anxiety and being conscientious of how this may affect children’s ability to complete work on time. If there is a harsh deadline they are not able to make, they may consider skipping class as the best option.

Specifically for students who are skipping school as motivation to seek attention, I would devote more time to developing stronger relationships with these children. An example of this is positively greeting each student every morning, and encouraging participation in the classroom.

Adopting the Strategy

Summary

This video differentiates traditional and restorative practices. It includes multiple methods that we, as teachers, can incorporate into our classroom to unite our students. As a proponent of restorative approaches, the clip emphasizes how it leads children in the direction of a better future.

Teaching Strategies

Instead of focusing on broken rules, reinforce responsibility

Bring attention to reasons, causes and feelings

Do not separate the victim from the instigator

Adopting the Strategy

I plan to adopt the strategies by encouraging my students to answer questions that hold them accountable for their actions without engaging in exclusionary discipline. An example of this would be asking students, “what have we learned, and how can we make different choices next time?”

Summary

10 adverse childhood experiences that researchers have linked to every major chronic illness in the US. Liz Knapp demonstrates these trauma-inducing instances with rocks on the Ted Talk. Her goal is to focus on restorative practices in school so they can thrive despite the “heavy rocks” they “carry” in their backpacks. She shares that children and adolescents who believe they are capable of expanding their intelligence are more successful in life. Teachers have two choices to handle the situation: disciplinary action or advise students to co-create a solution as a result of their actions. She shares a story about how two of her students damaged a bookshelf in the classroom. Instead of writing a referral and getting them expelled, she asked them to clean up the mess and brainstorm a way to fix the shelf. Knapp emphasizes how powerful and effective the restorative approach is in terms of engaging children in the classroom while also holding them accountable.

Focus on social emotional learning

If we build on this skill, students will become more successful in their post-secondary plans

Hold children/adolescents accountable

Instead of punishing students and excluding them from school, we can take these opportunities to develop a stronger relationship with those children. They have the ability to better learn from their mistakes when confronted.

Adopting the Strategy

How to Apply Restorative Pedagogical Strategies in a Science Classroom

While it may be difficult to encourage conversations that use critical dialogue related to science, I think it is invaluable to have moments with students where everyone can express anything that is bothering them. In doing so, not only are teachers able to develop a stronger relationship with their students, but they are presented with more opportunities to engage in restorative pedagogy. Eliminating any bias in the classroom, even if it is as simple as acknowledging the flawed system exclusionary discipline is built on, will guide adolescents on the path to success. While the sciences have specific material that is required to be taught, teachers can assign research projects that have the ability to expand everyone’s perspective. As minority students are often underrepresented in material, bringing infamous scientists to light by picturing them in the classroom and including quotes will facilitate a more supportive environment for every adolescent. A student believing they have the capacity to achieve anything is the motivation that they need, and exclusionary discipline only reinforces the idea that they do not belong in school. Essentially, the foundation of restorative practices ensures that no person is left behind.

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