Professional Development: Restorative Justice
A few weeks ago I was able to attend the professional development workshop called Creating a Positive Junior/Intermediate Classroom Environment: Using Restorative Practices to enhance Classroom Management and support Mental Health. It was an incredible experience; I had never really heard about what restorative justice is until this conference.
Restorative Justice in a Nutshell
If I could summarize in one sentence I would say that restorative justice is a process where the perpetrator and the victim of violence or harassment can meet to hear each other's side of the story and find peace and closure to move forward. In a classroom setting, this can be done fairly quickly with the teacher acting only as a facilitator (i.e. not probing or stating their opinion) while the students involved in the incident can share their perspective on what happened. In it's most formal form, restorative justice is used to help 'restore the harm caused by crime.'
The facilitators of the workshop I attended use restorative justice practices extensively at their school for minor and major incidents. They have developed a series of standard questions they use when approaching a conflict. These questions allow for the teacher/facilitator to remain impartial.
Another topic that arose is how using restorative justice in it's full form or modified form, or even just the simple positive classroom strategies is a way of supporting the whole child and, in my opinion, another form of differentiated instruction. Not all students come to school with the life skills necessary to be successful at school (socially and academically) and it's our responsibility as educators to provide instruction on problem solving in non-academic contexts.
Quick Tips for a Positive Classroom Environment
- Say hello to all your students in the morning.
- Don't assume guilt by asking 'why did you do that?', instead ask 'what happened?' This allows for the instigator/perpetrator to be heard.
- Have a 'brag and drag*' at least once a week to get a feel for how your students are doing, and, again, allowing your students to be heard.
In Practice
After attending this workshop I went back to my practicum placement and discussed with my associate. And, it turns out, she uses restorative practice in her classroom regularly. After seeing the success in her classroom I am truly a believer in the practice. She has a large class (31 students) across two grades (4 & 5) and several with high needs. She told me about some of the girls who had been at odds since grade 1, but after she facilitated a restorative justice circle with them they were able to understand the conflict better and work through their issues. Don't get me wrong; they weren't best friends afterwards but there were never major conflicts afterwards that required intervention since they had the skills and the perspective to deal with issues themselves.
The other major impact I saw, and worked on developing myself, was students feeling comfortable enough to share what was going on with them. For example: there was one student in particular who was very articulate when it came to how he was feeling and was able to approach the classroom teacher or me when he felt frustrated and needed space or some other accommodation.
Additional Resources
*A brag and drag circle is when everyone in a circle has the opportunity to share one 'brag' (a positive in their life) and one 'drag' (a negative in their life). The rules of a brag and drag are simple: don't talk while other people are talking and you have the right to pass if you don't want to share.
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