Restorative Practice Resources Tagged With: discipline

In my conversations with other educators, there is usually confusion around the definition of restorative practices due to the common emphasis placed on restorative justice, which focuses on repairing relationships when harm has occurred as an alternative to punitive approaches to discipline. In contrast, restorative practices focus on not only repairing, but also building and strengthening relationships and social connections within communities.

Much more than a response to harm, restorative justice nurtures relational, interconnected school cultures. The wisdom embedded within its principles and practices is being welcomed at a time when exclusionary discipline and zero tolerance policies are recognized as perpetuating student apathy, disproportionality, and the school-to-prison pipeline.

'Schools need to be transformed into communities where everyone belongs, where differences are accepted and membership is unconditional. Schools can and should be places that all students can love. Making this change will require educators to think differently about student behavior and reflect on how they respond to it.

 

Dec. 12, 2019 — Researchers in the UTSA College of Public Policy, assistant professor of social work Jelena Todic and criminal justice lecturer and restorative justice coordinator Robert Rico are joining forces with Up Partnership and three local school districts in a collaborative applied researc...

 

'Making Restorative Practice Explicit in Classrooms A definition of Restorative Practice The social science of promoting and sustaining strong and healthy relationships across the school by implementing proactive and responsive programs rather than reactive strategies. This leads to increased social capital, improved individual self-discipline, selfregulation, emotional well being leading to improved academic outcomes and improved whole school climate.'

'Restorative practices include teachers and staff working more collaboratively with students and encouraging them to express their feelings in different ways and to understand and respect others. A focus is on healing the hurt associated with negative behaviors. Opponents characterize restorative approaches as anti-discipline and claim these approaches don’t hold students sufficiently accountable for their actions. That is not true: Restorative approaches, by definition, provide high levels of accountability.

'Punishment ignores reasons for the behaviour For centuries society has used the blunt stick of punishment as proxy for discipline. But in so doing we misunderstand the meaning of discipline, and we therefore experience mixed results (at best). Punishment means that we make someone pay a price for what they've done. We exact retribution. We believe that this will help them learn a lesson. Punishment is ultimately about hurting. Punishment has some fatal flaws.'