Racialized Conflict: The Role of School Counselors in Prevention and Restoration between Black Students and White Teachers

• In Event: Reimagining Youth Agency: Pedagogies of Voice, Power, and Possibility

Abstract

Student-teacher conflict is a persistent issue in K-12 education, with disproportionately negative impacts on Black youth who often experience racialized discipline, implicit bias, and power-laden misinterpretations of behavior in classrooms led predominantly by white educators (Gregory et al., 2016; Fronius et al., 2019; Darling-Hammon, 2023). These racialized dynamics not only harm academic engagement and self-efficacy but also fracture trust, belonging, and psychological safety for Black students in school settings. Traditional disciplinary responses - grounded in control, compliance, and punitive logics - often exacerbate these tensions and further alienate Black students from their educational environments (Anyon et al., 2016).

This conceptual paper examines how restorative practices, particularly as defined by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), can serve as a powerful tool for relational repair in racially charged student-teacher conflicts. Using the Social Discipline Window as a theoretical framework, the paper explores how balancing high expectations (“accountability”) with high emotional and relational investment (“support”) can create conditions for authentic repair, especially when race and power are at the center of harm. The analysis emphasizes the importance of centering student voice, agency, and lived experience, particularly for Black students, as essential to any restorative process (Braithwaite, 2002; Braille, 2019).

Drawing on a synthesis of literature on restorative practices in education and culturally responsive school counseling, the paper offers intentional, equity-oriented strategies for school counselors to lead both proactive relationship-building efforts and responsive interventions when conflicts occur. These strategies acknowledge the historical and systemic mistrust that Black families and youth may hold toward school institutions, and they aim to disrupt patterns of racial harm through restorative dialogue and racial literacy..

A critical interpretive mode of inquiry is used to examine current literature and professional standards to identify key opportunities and threats to implementing racially conscious restorative approaches in schools. School counselors are uniquely trained and positioned to facilitate such relational repair between Black students and white teachers. This paper contributes to the field by offering a practical path for school counselors to be the catalyst for such restorative engagement. It also sets the stage for future empirical studies exploring school counselor perceptions, implementation challenges, and student outcomes linked to improved relationships between Black students and white teachers.

Authors

• Paul C. Harris, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Audra Lancaster Boyce, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Jessica Fort, Virginia Commonwealth University