Reforming School Reform: Reimagining School Discipline Through Restorative Justice Practices

• In Event: School Discipline Policies and Programs

Abstract

This presentation will discuss ongoing dissertation research of one alternative, fully restorative school in the United States, to better understand the use and practices of restorative justice as a classroom management tool, and as a way to handle disciplinary issues in an alternative school environment. There is considerable underrepresentation of research on the implementation, sustainability, and development of restorative justice practices within schools, particularly from the perspectives of students, teachers, and school counselors.

Using the conceptual framework of critical pedagogy, restorative justice theory, and developmental discipline to guide the process of data collection and analysis, the presentation will focus on the use of restorative justice practices as a teaching tool, and as a disciplinary tool from the perspectives of teachers, counselors, administrators, and students. Twenty interviews with teachers and students have been completed, and more than ninety hours of observation have been conducted within an alternative school in Pennsylvania. Further data collection is expected to continue in the spring of 2017, and will include observations at the school, and interviews with students, teachers, administrators, and counselors not yet interviewed.

Author

• Holli Vah Seliskar, Kaplan University/Kent State University