Restorative Justice

I struggle with how much care I give my students. I have colleagues saying I need to discipline more, but I see the results they get from giving the same student lunch detention over and over again and I just don't see anything changing. Sure, I give the occasional lunch detention when I see fit, but one of my colleagues introduced me to this knew way of disciplining that reminded me of restorative justice that is talked about in Ginwright's chapter from Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Urban Activists and Teachers are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart. Instead having lunch detention, or after school detention or sending the students to the Principal right away she makes them write a letter of apology. They are to say what they did wrong, and how they will correct it in the future. This is not always the change I want to see though.

So Now What?

Ginwright's chapter made me rethink the format she gave me for this letter of apology. Students are too consumed with themselves and how it affects themselves. From the readings this weak, I think students need to be aware of how their actions affect others in the room. I now want to prompt students on the letter of apology with how their actions affected others. Even though I have these letters I will usually talk to my students first, and try and figure out what might be happening beyond the surface. Many times they will not talk to me or shut down. The readings made me wonder: What if I had them include this in their letter of apology? Sometimes people are more comfortable writing out what is bothering them than saying it out loud. I am never satisfied with what the students tell me in their letters. They always say something like "I did this wrong because..." and then just restate the rule of the classroom as a means to fix their behavior. I know that will never be the case. Maybe if I prompted them more and made them think about their reasons for doing it, and how it affects the whole class I may have a better result? I am not sure, but we shall see.
Here is a link discussing Restorative Practices: Implementing Restorative Practices

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 8, 2018 at 4:35 AM

    Great reflection Alyssa, I agree with the idea of you making them think about the reasons for their actions and how it affects others. Hopefully that one small change will help your students open up even more to you. Good luck! :)

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  2. Danielle BeaucheneApril 9, 2018 at 5:57 PM

    Hi Alyssa!

    I completely understand your view and see the same thing happening in the upper grades at my school. The write ups do not seem to have any impact on the unwanted behavior as the same behaviors are occurring. As a school, we are trying to really get the students into "Mindfulness". Studies have shown that these de-stressng and calming techniques have had a significant impact in lowering write ups and detentions... we shall see!My students are very young but they too get into trouble. When they do I have them fill out a perspective diagram with me after we have conferenced and done some yoga. The sheet focuses on other people's perspectives of them when they are exhibiting particular behaviors. So I sit and we fill in ,, "okay how do you think your friends were feeling when you were screaming and kicking the chair?" I usually get a response back" I think they probably felt scared." We continue through out the list, "how do you think they are feeling about you"... and then I send it home with a note explaining the situation and how it was handled. This is something new I am trying because students definitely have a hard time understanding how others view them and their impact on the class. I like your idea of having them write down why instead of having to tell you if they are more comfortable with that. I think you are doing a great job and it really shows you care about your students and want to help them change for the better.

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