Unit 2: What Are The Benefits of Restorative Justice/Practices?
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Unit Objectives
By the end of this unit you will:
- Read articles from schools who utilize restorative justice practices
- Identify the positive effects that came from their restorative practices
- Reflect on major issues in your school
- Connect how restorative practices could have a positive effect on your school's issues
First-Hand Accounts of Restorative Justice
Restorative justice has been gaining popularity over the past few years in schools, especially following the pandemic. Restorative justice emphasizes accountability and mediation. There are countless stories of the positive impacts that have come from schools shifting from zero-tolerance to restorative justice approaches.
- Read this article about a student led mediation
- Read this article about a student experiencing restorative practices for the first time
- Read this article about a school that shifted its discipline approach
Make a list of 5-8 positive effects you recognized from the 3 articles.
Make it personal...
Each district has a discipline policy and even among schools in a district there can be variations in discipline policies. What is your district's discipline policy? Within your school, how do administrators handle discipline? What are some positive parts of your discipline policy or how issues are handled?
Summarize your answers to these questions in a list of bullet points. It is no secret that no school is completely faultless or perfect. There are issues that come up and have a negative impact on the environment in any school. With this in mind and after reading the articles, what are some major disciplinary issues that exist in your school? For example, do students put up major resistance to any policies such as a dress code or a no headphone rule? Can you think of any students who you see frequently in trouble?
Write down 2-3 issues you were able to think of.
Now, the point of that exercise was not to just think of everything wrong with your school. Are any of your schools problems similar to anything discussed in the articles? Do you see a way that restorative practices could make a positive change in how your school deals with these issues?
For each of the previous issues you wrote, list one idea as to how restorative practices could help solve the problem. If you do not think restorative justice would be a beneficial solution for the problem, explain why.
References
Okafor, Chimdindu. “Here's What Happened When My 'No Excuses' School Piloted a Restorative Justice Program.” Chalkbeat Newark, Chalkbeat Newark, 7 Jan. 2022, https://newark.chalkbeat.org/2022/1/7/22869270/restorative-justice-pilot-no-excuses.
Sullivan, Emily Tate. “When Zero-Tolerance Was Failing Students, This School Turned to Restorative Justice - Edsurge News.” EdSurge, EdSurge, 27 Mar. 2019, https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-03-26-when-zero-tolerance-was-failing-students-this-school-turned-to-restorative-justice.
Wang, Stephanie. “Students Need Restorative Skills 'as Much as They Need Math and Science,' Indianapolis Educators Say.” The Indianapolis Star, Chalkbeat, 9 Jan. 2020, https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2020/01/09/restorative-justice-indianapolis-school-sees-more-than-catchphrase/4419024002/.