Restorative Justice

Students are going to misbehave as they learn and grow — It's how we respond to their misbehavior that matters. We believe that students should have a chance to learn from their mistakes and to restore any damaged relationships with others (Smith, Fisher, Frey, 2015). This view is known as the restorative approach to discipline. 

My approach to discipline is going to reflect the restorative approach by putting emphasis on relationships and character being violated rather than school rules. I solely believe that if we can critique and self-reflect on our own actions, then we can make better choices in future. Open discussions will be my motivation for this action plan. Learning how to express ourselves openly and freely with respect for one another will be a part of my strategy. Also, sincerely forgiving each other and creating boundaries for each other so that the situation does not happen again. With students being from so many backgrounds and family households, different perspectives and actions can cause conflict without the other person knowing. Instead of the traditional approach to discipline, my philosophy is all about restoring love in the classroom. 

Rationale 

Whereas traditional discipline focuses on the violation of rules, restorative practices focuses on the violation of people and relationships (Smith, Fisher, Frey, 2015). My course of action is based on restoring the atmosphere in the classroom instead of making it worse. When students care about the relationships they have with others, they work to keep those relationships healthy and to repair any damage to them (Smith, Fisher, Frey, 2015). This brings me to my outlook of family. I want to strive to keep my classroom family orientated, so that we always accept each other back in, no matter what mistakes or bad choices we have made in the past. As long as we learn, forgive, and strive to be better than yesterday.