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Liberty, respect, responsibility
Liberty, respect, responsibility
What is Restorative Justice?
What is Restorative Justice?
A Restorative Response to Harm
A Restorative Response to Harm
Because our current school discipline and criminal justice systems operate contrary to restorative principles, it is common for implementation of restorative practices to be misunderstood and face resistance. Despite this, restorative justice is an intuitive concept for most people. In his seminal work, Changing Lenses, Howard Zehr compares the ways we may respond to crime and wrongdoing in either a retributive (punitive) or restorative manner:
Retributive Justice
Retributive Justice
What rules or laws were broken?
Who broke them?
What is the punishment?
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice
What was the harm?
What are the needs of everyone involved?
What are the obligations to address the needs and repair the relationships? Who are the stakeholders that need to come together for this dialogue?
Restorative justice allows affected parties the opportunity to collectively define the impact and determine steps to make things as right as possible for everyone—the person(s) harmed, the person(s) who harmed others, and the broader community. Restorative justice takes incidents that might otherwise result in punishment and finds opportunities for students to recognize the impact of their behavior, understand their obligation to take responsibility for their actions, and take steps towards making things right.
Involving those affected is a cornerstone of restorative justice—restorative questions cannot be adequately answered without the involvement of those who have been most affected. Through this process, students learn how to manage their relationships with adults and peers and become better equipped to understand how their behavior impacts others. This encourages accountability, improves school safety, and helps students to develop skills so the school community can succeed.
From the Oakland Unified School District Restorative Justice Homepage
Looking for a place to start?
Looking for a place to start?
Check out Cult of Pedagogy's blog post and Jennifer Gonzalez's interview with Victor Small concerning Restorative Justice. The post also contains links to books for further reading.
Videos
Videos
The videos below provide an introduction to restorative justice and its use in education.
Restorative Justice at Oakland's Fremont High
Restorative Justice at Oakland's Fremont High
EdSource, May 14, 2018
How one high school is working with students to create a safer, more compassionate community.
For more information visit the Fremont High School Restorative Justice Homepage
For more information visit the Fremont High School Restorative Justice Homepage
And the Oakland Unified School District Restorative Justice Homepage
And the Oakland Unified School District Restorative Justice Homepage
SFUSD - Restorative Practices: Student Voices
SFUSD - Restorative Practices: Student Voices
SFUSD, July 1, 2012
SFUSD has rolled out a District-wide implementation of Restorative Practices in dozens of schools. Restorative Practices is based on the assumption that students respond better when things are done WITH them rather than TO them. Students exposed to Restorative Practices reflect on how they feel regarding the use of Restorative Circle in the classroom.
Restorative Justice in Schools
Restorative Justice in Schools
VOA Africa, May 8, 2013
Journalist Laurel Bowman reports on the use of restorative justice practices being implemented in the City Springs, Maryland school district.
The Alliance School of Milwaukee Restorative Practices Model
The Alliance School of Milwaukee Restorative Practices Model
MediaMakersInc, April 5, 2018
The restorative practices in Milwaukee Public Schools revolve around a student-led community of "circle keepers" who conduct peer mediation and community building using a circle process developed on a Native American model.
A New Way of Learning: Restorative Practices
A New Way of Learning: Restorative Practices
Fatima Barber-Neider, June 4, 2020
Reading Five Minute High School FilmFEST Best Documentary 2020 created by Fatima Barber-Neider, senior at Conrad Weiser High School exploring Restorative Practices.
Conrad Weiser Area School District, Robesonia, PA
Restorative Practices and Community Building (virtually)
Restorative Practices and Community Building (virtually)
Kelleth Chinn, May 12, 2020
Learn how restorative practices can be used to create and maintain school community in a virtual setting.
Link to this slideshow is at: https://tinyurl.com/yb59u7fj
Indigenous Peacemaking
Indigenous Peacemaking
Native American Rights Fund, June 14, 2017
Learn more about Indigenous Peacemaking—what it is and how it can benefit a community. Discover how the Native American Rights Funds's Indigenous Peacemaking Initiative can help implement peacemaking in a tribe or community.
This video provides some insight into the Native American origins of many practices of restorative justice including circle practices.
Democratic Classrooms
Democratic Classrooms
Marcos Torres, Teaching Tolerance, April 9, 2008
Marcos Torres discusses the move from an authoritarian classroom to a democratic one.
"Control is something that is demanded. Control is something that comes through building rapport and classroom community."
"A democracy is participatory in nature, and should be participatory in the classroom as well."
"With that kind of philosophy in mind, classroom management becomes a lot easier. Issues of discipline and acting out, those issues go way down."
Restorative practices is an emerging social science that studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities.
This website offers training, conferences, and resources for educators and others who are embarking on their restorative practices journey.
The website also hosts an extensive collection of research, reports, guides for implementation, and other practical resources.
We believe in collaborative leadership and grassroots democracy. We work in alliance with youth and parents to build this democracy in our schools. We use restorative justice to build those alliances.
We are part of a movement to abolish the prison industrial complex and challenge “the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe.” (Critical Resistance)
We see structural racism and capitalism as the core of the problems in public education. We recognize restorative justice as a historical tradition of resistance developed by communities of color – from undocumented immigrants to First Nations. We chose to use restorative justice to honor this tradition and build from this long-standing history.
Webpages and resources to support the implementation of restorative practices in the San Francisco Unified School District.
At the core, restorative practices are about building and sustaining positive relationships and community.
CASEL: The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
CASEL: The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
CASEL is a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL supports educators and policy leaders and enhances the experiences and outcomes for all PreK-12 students.
Adopting an evidence-based SEL program is not enough to ensure positive outcomes. The success of a program depends on high-quality implementation. Poor program implementation can undermine a program’s success and its impact on student outcomes.
For Middle and High School students: check out the CASEL Guide to Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs, 2015.
Restorative Practices for Education
Restorative Practices for Education
The Schott Foundation has created a free PDF Guide for Educators who are interested in restorative justice practices and promoting positive discipline in schools.
"Restorative practices are processes that proactively build healthy relationships and a sense of community to prevent and address conflict and wrongdoing."
"Restorative practices are processes that proactively build healthy relationships and a sense of community to prevent and address conflict and wrongdoing."
The Guide offers concrete suggestions for teachers, administrators, and other staff to develop a restorative rather than retributive approach to school discipline. Many of the suggestions concern the attitudes, practices, and structures that support a restorative approach to discipline. These can include:
Circle discussions - for conflict resolution, community building, and learning
Peer mediation and peer juries - as an integral part of conflict resolution (often supported by peer-mediation training courses)
Community service - to connect with the community, build and restore relationships
Preventative conflict-resolution modeling and social-emotional learning (SEL) - helping students and staff learn how to recognize and manage emotions, make ethical decisions, and resolve conflict with compassion and respect
From the Schott Foundation for Public Education, Restorative Practices: A Guide for Educators website.
Restorative Justice is more than conflict resolution
Restorative Justice is more than conflict resolution
A wealth of resources to help individual teachers and whole schools implement a program of compassionate, creative, and inclusive alternatives for responding to school discipline issues (from Restorative Resources).
A blog post from Jennifer Gonzalez (2019, November 10) on her site, Cult of Pedagogy. The post includes an interview with Brad Weinstein, co-author of Hacking school discipline: 9 ways to create a culture of empathy and responsibility using restorative justice (2019).
"Discipline must come through liberty."
"Discipline must come through liberty."
-Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method (1912, p. 86).
Camelback Montessori High School in Phoenix, AZ. [Image retrieved from https://www.teachforamerica.org/stories/what-happens-when-montessori-meets-teenagers ]
More Links to Resources
More Links to Resources
The rise of restorative justice in California schools brings promise, controversy - review article by David Washburn and Daniel J. Willis (2018, May 13). EdSource.
Restorative practices in schools work . . . but they can work better - article by Tim Walker (2020, January 30). National Education Association.
An alternative to suspension and expulsion: 'Circle Up!" - article about the Oakland school district, originally a published as radio piece on Morning Edition, by Eric Westervelt (2014, December 17). NPR.
What teachers need to know about restorative justice - very rich article reviewing restorative justice practices in K-12 schools by WeAreTeachersStaff (2019, January 15). Classroom Ideas. WeAreTeachers.
Restorative justice: Resources for schools - review article with links to key resources by Matt Davis (2013, October, 4). School Climate. Edutopia.
Restorative practices in schools - webpages with recent research, reports, guides, videos, and other materials concerning restorative practices in K-12 school settings. Updated regularly, International Institute for Restorative Practices.
Restorative Justice: Shaping how we do community - webpage with resources and links to various programs offered by Alternatives, Inc. a nonprofit group based in Chicago, IL.
Tutorial: Introduction to restorative justice - introductory lessons on the theory and practice of restorative justice created by the Centre for Justice & Reconciliation, a program of the Prison Fellowship International.
What two new studies reveal about restorative justice in middle school and how it can be done better - article by Joie D. Acosta, Catherine H. Augustine, Matthew Chinman, and John Engberg (2019, April 17). The Rand Blog. Rand Corporation.
Restorative justice isn't a panacea, but it can promote better relationships among students - opinion piece by Joie D. Acosta, Matthew Chinman, Catherine H. Augustine and John Engberg (2019, October 21). The Rand Blog. Rand Corporation.
Democratic Classrooms - professional development resources from Teaching Tolerance.
Restorative Resources - webpage for a nonprofit organization based in Sonoma County, which offers support and training for schools, educators, and criminal justice.
Restorative Practices - Stats Quick Guide - a PDF compiling data from several school systems that have instituted restorative practices, from Restorative Resources.
What happens when Montessori meets teenagers? - review article by Lean Fabel (2018, June 11). Teach for America.
The starts and stumbles of restorative justice in education: Where do we go from here? - policy document and review by Anne Gregory and Katherine R. Evans (January 2020). National Education Policy Center (NEPC).
Why I Don't Have Classroom Rules - opinion piece by David Tow (2017, October 11). Edutopia.
Key stage 3: Avoiding the year 8 ‘dip’ - article by Matt Bromley (2016, September 28). SecEd. About the British system of education and Year 8 (roughly 7th Grade in US schools) dip in achievement
CIRCLES
CIRCLES
Teaching restorative practices with classroom circles - PDF instructional guide created by Amos Clifford (no date). Center for Restorative Practices. Developed for San Francisco Unified School District.
Peacemaking circles: A process for solving problems and building community - PDF explaining the origins, use, and principles of the circle process in democratic and restorative educational practices, created by Oakland Unified School District.
Sample prompts for circles - PDF with sample prompting questions and topics for circle work.
Using circle practice in the classroom - short article by Mary Davenport (2018, August 16). Teaching Strategies. Edutopia.
Restorative justice practice of Native American, First Nation, and other Indigenous people of North America: Part two - article by Laura Mirsky (2004, May 26). IIRP News. IIRP Restoring Community.
The indigenous origins of circles and how non-Natives learned about them - brief explainer (no date) from the Living Justice Press, a nonprofit publisher for restorative justice based in St. Paul, MN.
Introducing healing circles and talking circles into primary care - journal article by Lewis Mehl-Madrona (Spring 2014). The Permanente Journal 18(2), 4-9. Helpful description of the origins and meanings of circles and circle practice in Lakota and other North American groups.
Talking Circles - introduction to circles as an educational process from First Nations Pedagogy Online.
COUNTER NARRATIVES
COUNTER NARRATIVES
The promise of 'restorative justice' starts to falter under rigorous research - review article by Jill Barshay (2019, May 6). The Hechinger Report.
My child was a victim of restorative justice. But it doesn't have to be this way - Blog post/opinion piece by Julia Carlson (2019, October 21). Education Post.
Suspension bans hurt kids - opinion piece by Max Eden (2018, January 24). U.S. News & World Report.
Nine criticisms of school restorative justice - blog post by Mikhail Lyubansky (2019, March 7). Psychology Today.
Restorative practices may not be the solution, but neither are suspensions - article by F. Chris Curran (2019, Feburary 5). The Conversation.
The debate in my head: Restorative justice - opinion piece by Keith Lambert (date). Education World.
5 Reasons implementation of restorative practices fails in schools - blog post by Joe Brummer (2016, February 28) on his personal blog page.
Restorative justice reduces suspensions in elementary grades but on. middle school, study shows - popular review article by David Washburn (2019, January 4). EdSource.
Check out Twitter for community discussions about restorative justice.
Check out Twitter for community discussions about restorative justice.
Search restorative justice and RJLeagueChat
Search restorative justice and RJLeagueChat
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