Reimagining Discipline as Dialogical: Critical Theory, Restorative Practices, and Teacher Pushback

• In Event: Enhancing Classroom Management Through Professional Development and Teacher Education

Abstract

Using Freirean theory, this project illuminates the intersections between school discipline and student activism in the United States. It uses qualitative content analysis to examine one school district’s Discipline Handbook in depth. Specifically, the project has two major findings. First, it contends that current discipline rhetoric and practices work to annul activist proclivities in students. Second, it argues that Freire’s emphasis on dialogue suggests that restorative justice can be used to reconstruct activating school discipline experiences in the United States.

Author

• Olivia Marcucci, Washington University in St. Louis