The Restorative Approach at Halifax City School: A Critical Case Study

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Restorative Approaches for Education: “Right” Relationships in Curriculum, Classrooms, and School Cultures

Abstract

On October 24th, 2012, Nova Scotia Departments of Education and Justice collaboratively declared that the province would become the first Canadian jurisdiction to institute a restorative approach. In this context, I conducted case study research during the 2012/2013 academic year on the restorative approach at Halifax City School, where I have been a classroom teacher since 2008. This paper draws from the work of critical race theorists Gloria Ladson-Billings (e.g. 1995, 2011) and William Tate (1995), and African Canadian scholars George Dei (e.g. 1996, 2002, 2007), Carl James (2010) and Michelle Williams-Lorde (2012), as well as Jennifer Llewellyn’s relational theory of justice (e.g. 1998, 2011). I pair critical race theory and relational theory together to construct an interpretive lens through which to take an in-depth look at the experience of implementing a restorative approach in a diverse urban school community against a backdrop of social inequality. Halifax City School is an inner-city elementary school that has a low socio-economic profile and serves a historic African Nova Scotian community, as well as many newcomer families. Case study findings address the following two questions: how does a restorative approach enhance the quality of relationships in school communities, particularly for people that have been marginalized, and what are some recommendations on how to best implement restorative approaches effectively and sustainably?

To carry out the case study, I conducted group interviews in the form of talking circles with students and staff at the school. This methodology was both a restorative and collectively consciousness-raising experience for participants, including myself as “reflective classroom ethnographer” (Martinovic and Dlamini 2009, p. 131). Four main themes that emerged from the data include: 1) strengthening social connection, 2) affirming identity, 3) fostering emotional engagement, and 4) resolving and preventing conflict. These themes are integrated around a core category of the school’s commitment to nurture shared social responsibility and social culture change. In addition, important implications emerged for the implementation of a restorative approach in education, including: 1) understanding a restorative approach in theory and practice, 2) participating in sustainable social opportunities to collectively develop, support, and strengthen the approach, 3) learning and collaborating in the broader community, and 4) ongoing evaluation.

My paper reviews the story of Halifax City School as it implements a restorative approach as a relational way of being together in community. In so doing, I provide important insights for the global restorative movement for schooling. This work is significant because it connects restorative approaches in education with critical theory (Vaandering 2010; Morrison & Vaandering 2012), a connection that has been under-explored by researchers to this point. This work also provides recommendations based on empirical research for using a restorative approach to change the social culture of schooling from one of control to one of engagement.

Author

• Amy Boudreau, Mount Saint Vincent University