Restorative Justice Works

After 17 years in the classroom and countless “initiatives” thrown my way, few of these PD sessions have ever made their way into my classroom. Yet, back in my early teaching days in the Bronx, New York, I was lucky to have a principal say “maybe you should try a circle… hey, there's this training coming up!” that happened to be a Restorative Justice training offered by the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. Restorative Justice is a common buzz-word thrown around staff development meetings and flashed across Powerpoint slides, but what IS it, actually? And does it work in schools?

• Restorative justice is a set of practices and principles, developed by Indigenous folks in North America and shared with Westerners beginning in the 1990s, as Canadian courts began to wrestle with recidivism in tribal communities, and a new approach was needed. RJ is how people resolved conflicts in communities for millenia, before we had carceral systems, suspensions, detentions or punishment as central methods of response to conflict in schools.
• In the early 2000's, RJ began to make its way from court and prison settings to schools, in critical response to the zero tolerance movement of out-of-school suspensions and criminalizing of young people through metal detectors, uniformed officers on school campuses, and a movement toward more support of young people, instead of criminalization. Research showed zero tolerance policies disparately impacted Black, Brown, Indigenous youth and young people with disabilities.

One of the main RJ tools that are used in schools are restorative circles, or talking circles. In these highly structured conversations, a facilitator asks a question to the participants, who are seated in a circle of chairs, without tables between them. Each person in the circle has the opportunity to respond, or to pass if they don't wish to speak. Circles are democratic spaces where each person's voice is heard, and where conflict can rise, be given space and resolved together. As one of my teachers, Belinda Dulin of the Dispute Resolution Center says, “the circle takes care of itself.”

Unfortunately, most school districts are reluctant to depart from traditional forms of discipline and conflict resolution. But when adopted, Restorative Justice can be used in classrooms K–16 as community building techniques, as well as approaches to resolve harm and conflict that may happen between peers in a classroom setting. I've seen incredible success in classrooms and entire school communities when restorative philosophies are adopted, student voice is highlighted and listened to, and adults make a pedagogical shift to understand relationships as a key part of impacting students' success in the classroom. For example, instead of viewing a community-building circle as a “waste of instructional time”, teachers and school staff would see this conversation as an opportunity to learn more about each student, which will help us be able to better teach each young person in our care.

RJ can also be an effective tool in creating a school culture of warmth, acceptance, belonging and care—when used BOTH proactively and in response to conflict. The “why” of this work, for me, is in its ability to transform both young people and adults who participate in RJ processes. I believe wholeheartedly that this work disrupts the school to prison pipeline, by connecting with young people at a critical time to a community who cares for them, by reducing suspensions, disruptions to learning, and time out of school through conflict resolution and alternatives to suspension, and in building strong relationships to help students bridge the trauma they may have experienced, moving toward healing and healthier school, and personal relationships.

Some school districts have adopted some forms of RJ, but the practice lacks authenticity. Often circle is used only in response to conflict, or make circle mandatory (when it should be voluntary). Many schools advertise that they “do” Restorative Justice, but don't necessarily listen to the voices of their students, especially marginalized students, like students with IEPs, Black, Brown and Indigenous students, and LGBTQIA+ youth. Understanding the needs of students by regularly tuning into their feedback can help foster an environment of inclusivity, and circle can also hold space when mistakes happen. Some schools might believe in the concept of Restorative Justice but often lack the skills and training to effectively implement it.

There are questions and criticism around this work, and we'll explore those more deeply this year. Leading the way through this work is a simple question: “How can we show districts the power of Restorative Justice and help them implement a form that will work for their schools?”