Posts
Savannah Sawle
Item of Interest
11/09/2016
I
chose to discuss restorative justice in the school settings for several
reasons, particularly because I feel it has the potential to be very effective.
In my field placement, we have had a group called Alternatives Inc. provide
training on implementing Restorative Justice in the school setting. I feel that
that my placement is the perfect candidate for utilizing this intervention, as
there is ample opportunity to restore justice in the classroom settings and
among peers. Many of the school facility and staff have a strong mindset fixed
on punitive intervention and feel as though their hands are tied because
suspension is not an acceptable intervention any longer. Almost daily I observe
school faculty and staff feeling helpless because suspension is off of the
table when a student misbehaves. Unfortunately, it seems as though most school
facility and staff let this sense of helplessness overcome them, and as a
result, do not buy-in to tools that are provided such as Restorative Justice.
As
an intern, I am trying to implement Restorative Justice as much as possible and
allowing myself to be the guinea pig who uses the intervention to see how it
works in the school. So far, it appears as though the students are very
responsive to it; especially when circling for conflict resolution. I’m hoping
I can show the school faculty and staff that Restorative Justice will be a more
proactive approach to school related issues so that, if anything, it can make
their lives a little more harmonious. I would encourage other interns to use
Restorative Justice approaches in their placement because now is a time for
trial and error, and we are currently in a very neutral position being “just
interns.” I understand that change can be hard at times; however, I feel that
Restorative Justice is actually the path of least resistance and will in turn
create a better learning environment for both teachers and students.
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