positive discipline student engagement with restorative practice models
TRANSCRIPT
Positive Discipline Student engagement with restorative practice models
Georgene Fountain Montgomery County Public Schools Maryland ES Music Educator
Baltimore City Community College - EnglishTuskegee University - SociologyTuskegee University - Special EdIndiana University School of Music
Make practical sense of disparities in suspensions
Student engagement alternatives to suspension
Improve education organizations
Make practical sense of disproportionate suspensions
Seminal work on mass incarceration
Michelle Alexander
Go Michelle Alexander!
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Make practical sense of disparities in suspensions
“What is your organization doing about the mass incarceration of 2.3 million
Americans?”
-Michelle Alexander
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Make practical sense of disparities in suspensions
MSEA Maryland State Department of Education: Feb 2012
Report on Disparities in Out of School Suspensions & In-school Arrests
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Make practical sense of disparities in suspensions
Male students of color & disabled students
Disproportionally higher suspension ratesDisproportionally higher in-school arrest rates
5 minute ACTIVITY
What are some causal factors for disparities in suspensions? What inspires you to stop the disparities?
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Make practical sense of disparities in suspensions
“an act more as a perpetuator of racial order than an objective
arbiter of infraction and penalty.”
“adult perceptions of a student’s appearance, neighborhood, family,
social background”
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Make practical sense of disparities in suspensions
“Instead of schools being a pipeline to opportunity, schools are feeding our
prisons.”
-Michelle AlexanderRethinking Schools, Vol. 26, No. 22, 2011-12
Marian Wright Edelman
Academic difficultiesTruancyActing outMental Health ConsequencesDropping OutPushed OutPrison
Teachers,
Reduce disparities in school
discipline NOW!
Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
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Implement Restorative Practices
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
The race and social background of the doer was
more important than the incident
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
“Restorative Practices:Fostering Healthy Relationships & Promoting Positive Discipline
in SchoolsA Guide for Educators”
National Opportunity to Learn Campaign
Advancement ProjectAFTNEA
NEA / AFT PractitionersResearchers
Defines restorative practiceWhy it fosters healthy school relationshipsHow it can be a usefulModels, steps for school-wide implementationSelf-reflection for practitioners
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
San Francisco Unified School District:
Relationships are central to building communityEnsure everyone is valued, everyone is heardEmphasizing doing things “with,” not “to” or “for”
Focus on the harm done rather than only rule-breakingEngage in collaborative problem solvingEnhance responsibility and empower change and growth
Least formal tool Affective Statements
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
Douglas County School District, Castle Rock, CO:
"Affective" teacher communicates how the student's behavior makes them feel.
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
For example:
“I feel frustrated when people are talking when I am trying to teach. I get distracted and lose my train of thought. It makes me feel like the time I spent preparing was wasted and is not appreciated.”
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
Not intended to shame, vent personal stressors, but to develop empathy, establish boundaries and provide authentic observation.”
Journey Within
Use affective questions
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
For the person causing the incident:
1. What happened?
2. What were you thinking of at the time?
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
3. What have you thought about since?
4. Who has been affected by what you have done? In what way?
5. What do you need to do to make things right?
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
For the person affected by the incident:
1. What did you think when you realized what had happened?
2. What impact has the incident had on you and others?
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Student engagement: Decrease discipline programs
3. What has been the hardest thing for you?
4. What do you think needs to happen to make things right?
5 minute ACTIVITY
Brainstorm then decide on a fictitious incident/ scenario where you would use Restorative Questions
Improve education organizations
School to Prison PipelineImprove education organizations
NEA AdvocacyExecutive and Legislative Branches
NEA partners with…
AFT Council of State GovernmentsAdvancement Project National Opportunity to Learn Campaign
NEA 2013
New Business Item 22
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Improve education organizations
“NEA shall disseminate to state and local affiliates best practices and school discipline policy recommendations to eradicate what is metaphorically called the “school-to-prison-pipeline”…
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Improve education organizations
“…whereby school districts issue out-of-school suspensions for non-violent and non-dangerous conduct, not solely to, but in particularly higher numbers to, male students of color.”
-Georgene Fountain (MD) author-Julius Thomas (CA) seconded
NEA 2014
Discipline policy change
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Improve education organizations
Resolutions Statement on discipline: b-71
“The association believes that policies promoting educational processes which emphasize prevention, effective interventions, and rehabilitation…”
“…will decrease the use of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, in-school arrests, and the practice that is commonly called the “school-to-prison pipeline” that can lead to future incarcerations.”
5 minute ACTIVITY
What you can do to increase awarenesswithin your organizations?
Every male of color will be in prison, on parole or on probation at some point in their life if mass incarceration does not stop.-Sentencing Project
“Are ya’ through?!”
Thank You!Working for a better world