Restorative Justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by inappropriate behavior. It began in the criminal system, but this paper looks at how Restorative Justice can be implemented in a K-8 school setting. In school settings, Restorative Justice gives students a model of managing conflict implicitly rather than having conflict managed explicitly for them by adults. It empowers students with the skills needed to solve their own conflicts on their own or in small groups. Having only reached school communities in the United States within recent years, Restorative Justice is helping to strengthen campus communities, decrease scenarios of bullying, and reduce conflicts among students. Through the use of qualitative
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I have gathered a group of local teachers who have recently began implementing RJ in their school and classrooms and held a discussion with them. The focus group is phenomenological (Calder, 1977) because it gives me “access to the common sense conceptions and everyday explanations” around my topic – What are the successes and obstacles in implementing Restorative Justice in the K-8 setting? Phenomenological approaches emphasize the individual participants’ voices because, as Carter (1993) states, “these stories capture…the richness and the complexity of our understandings” of our topic (p. 5). Denzin and Lincoln (2005) refer to these as “critical personal narratives,” placing them within the realm of qualitative research. I am also informed by autoethnography – a method that combines autobiography, the story of one’s own life, with ethnography, the study of a particular social group (Watson, 2009). In my case the teachers are voicing their own stories of implementing RJ and this forms the “particular social group” I am …show more content…
Did you self select to implement RJ? If so, why? Or, if it was it a mandate, who required that you implement it? Did you administration offer support of any kind in regards to the implementation of RJ?
2. What type of training or professional development did you receive on RJ?
3. What were you initial thoughts about implementing RJ?
4. How was it different than what you learned in your teacher credential program classroom management course?
5. Did it work for you? What were the results that you’re proud of?
6. What obstacles have you hit and how did you – if you indeed did – overcome them?
7. What advice would you give to a teacher implementing RJ for the first time?
I will facilitate this focus group, recording it with permission, transcribe the recording, and look for themes in regards to the successes and challenges of implementing RJ in the K-8 school
I have gathered a group of local teachers who have recently began implementing RJ in their school and classrooms and held a discussion with them. The focus group is phenomenological (Calder, 1977) because it gives me “access to the common sense conceptions and everyday explanations” around my topic – What are the successes and obstacles in implementing Restorative Justice in the K-8 setting? Phenomenological approaches emphasize the individual participants’ voices because, as Carter (1993) states, “these stories capture…the richness and the complexity of our understandings” of our topic (p. 5). Denzin and Lincoln (2005) refer to these as “critical personal narratives,” placing them within the realm of qualitative research. I am also informed by autoethnography – a method that combines autobiography, the story of one’s own life, with ethnography, the study of a particular social group (Watson, 2009). In my case the teachers are voicing their own stories of implementing RJ and this forms the “particular social group” I am …show more content…
Did you self select to implement RJ? If so, why? Or, if it was it a mandate, who required that you implement it? Did you administration offer support of any kind in regards to the implementation of RJ?
2. What type of training or professional development did you receive on RJ?
3. What were you initial thoughts about implementing RJ?
4. How was it different than what you learned in your teacher credential program classroom management course?
5. Did it work for you? What were the results that you’re proud of?
6. What obstacles have you hit and how did you – if you indeed did – overcome them?
7. What advice would you give to a teacher implementing RJ for the first time?
I will facilitate this focus group, recording it with permission, transcribe the recording, and look for themes in regards to the successes and challenges of implementing RJ in the K-8 school