An ASCD Study Guide for Better Than Carrots or Sticks
This ASCD Study Guide is designed to enhance your understanding and application of
the information contained in Better Than Carrots or Sticks , an ASCD book written by
Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey and published in August 2015.
You can use the study guide before or after you have read the book, or as you finish
each chapter. The study questions provided are not meant to cover all aspects of the
book, but, rather, to address specific ideas that might warrant further reflection.
Most of the questions contained in this study guide are ones you can think about on
your own, but you might consider pairing with a colleague or forming a study group
with others who have read (or are reading) Better Than Carrots or Sticks .
Chapter 1. Punitive or Restorative: The Choice Is Yours
1. Discuss the quote on page 1 that is often attributed to Frederick Douglass.
What has your school done to build strong children?
2. Review figure 1.1 on page 3. Which of the restorative practices and beliefs are
in place in your classroom, school, or district?
3. Explore the reasons why the "rewards and punishments" approach is
problematic. What are your experiences with this approach, and what might be
improved?
4. When are rewards appropriate? How can rewards be used in a restorative
environment?
5. Explore the reasons why the "shame and humiliation" approach is problematic.
What are your experiences with this approach, and what might be improved?
6. Explore the reasons why the "suspension and expulsion" approach is
problematic. What are your experiences with this approach, and what might be
improved?
Chapter 2. Relationships and Meaningful Instruction: The
Foundations of Restorative Practices
1. Review the list of elements that comprise an invitational education (p. 22) and
discuss how each of these elements is mobilized in your classroom, school, or
district.
2. Discuss the four teaching types (Fig. 2.1, p. 23). Rather than focus on your
current style or the styles of your colleagues, recall teachers from your past
who fit into each of the categories. What do you remember most about each of
them?
3. Several approaches for developing relationships with students are presented
beginning on page 24. Which of these work for you? How can you help others
to develop stronger relationships with students?
4. Use the Student Interest Survey (Fig. 2.2, p. 17) to get to know a student and
then share the experience with others. What did you learn that will help you
develop stronger relationships with students and thus improve classroom
management?
5. Review the aspects of quality instruction. Watch a teaching video, either from
one of your colleagues or from a website, and analyze it for consistency with
various aspects of quality. What trends do you notice? What are areas of
strength? What are areas of need?
6. How might purpose-driven instruction change classroom dynamics? If students
know what they are expected to learn and why, might they engage more with
learning tasks and behave a bit better?
7. Review the five social and emotional competencies (pp. 42–43). Which of these
are included in your classroom, school, or district efforts? What areas need
developing?
8. Self-regulation is an important characteristic to develop in students. What have
you found to be an effective way to develop self-regulation? How do agreedupon expectations contribute to self-regulation?
Chapter 3. Classroom Procedures and Expectations: Structures That
Support Restorative Practices
1. Discuss the value of rules and procedures. What rules have you found useful in
creating effective learning environments? What procedures ensure smooth
operation of a classroom?
2. Review the various procedures presented on pp. 56–57. Could any of them
work for you? How might you adapt some of these for use in your own
classroom?
3. Educational Leadership asked students what they wanted in a teacher. The list,
explained with examples, begins on page 61. Use this list as an inventory to
assess the efforts at your school or district to engage students. Where are there
areas for growth?
4. Think of a specific behavioral incident to which you've had to respond. What
antecedents might have triggered the problematic behavior? What were the
consequences of the behavior? (If analyzing problematic behavior is not a
familiar practice, review pp. 67–71.)
5. Most problematic behavior is guided either by avoiding something or
attempting to get something. Discuss examples of students' behavior with
colleagues and try to determine if they were guided by either impulse.
6. Analyze the problematic behavior of a specific student using the Survey of
Observable Behavior (p. 73). Based on your analysis, what actions could you
take to address the behavior? Use the sentence stems on p. 76 to guide your
thinking.
7. Use the continuum on p. 78 to identify your common approach(es) to
addressing problematic behavior. Discuss specific situations with your
colleagues in which each of the approaches was used to return the classroom
to a learning environment.
8. Review the list of ways to de-escalate a situation (p. 80). Some people turn this
list into a poster or place the list near their teaching stations. How can you use
these tools to calm students down when they are frustrated, angry, or upset?
Chapter 4. Peace Building: Using Informal Restorative Practices Every
Day
1. Review the various ways that peace is maintained (keeping, making, building).
Which of these are strengths in your classroom, school, or district? Which need
work?
2. What is a "restorative mindset"? Do you and the people you work with have
one? If not, what can you do to develop one?
3. Practice affective statements with friends and colleagues in a low-stakes
situation. Role-play as part of a professional development session the ways in
which these statements can be used. Debrief how the statements made you
feel.
4. Schedule a class meeting using the agenda on p. 91. Let your students know
the purpose in advance and invite them to contribute items to the agenda.
After a few of these meetings, ask students if they value the experience and
how the meetings can be improved.
5. Discuss informal classroom circles with your colleagues. Try one out with
students. Start with a low-stakes topic that is interesting to them, and decide
whether it will be sequential or not. Discuss the guidelines for circles with
students and invite them into the process.
Chapter 5. Peacemaking: Strategic Implementation of
Formal Restorative Practices
1. Talk with someone you trust about a time you were wronged. Use the question
on p. 108 to discuss your experience. Ask yourself what justice would have
looked like and whether you would have liked to repair the harm that was
done.
2. If you are brave enough, repeat the exercise above but this time focus on a
time when you caused harm (intentionally or unintentionally) to someone else.
Use the questions on p. 109 to discuss your experience. Ask yourself what
justice would have looked like and whether you would have liked to repair the
harm that was done.
3. Consider the aspects of restorative plans (p. 113). Discuss the ways in which
these aspects can be integrated into the interactions teachers, counselors,
administrators, parents, and others have with students when serious situations
arise. How can these aspects be systematized such that students begin to
understand the harm they cause and how to repair that harm?
4. Review the phases Mullet (2014) recommends (p. 115) to ensure that all voices
are heard and that relationships are repaired. Practice these in role-playing
situations, then discuss with colleagues the gaps in practice that need
addressing. Use the questions on p. 117 (Fig. 5.1) to practice each of the
phases.
5. What is the difference between getting even and getting well? How might
understanding this difference improve student behavior and create a healthy
learning environment?
6. Discuss the various formal classroom circles with colleagues. Identify
individuals who can facilitate these circles and begin using them in low-stakes
situations to develop them as habits. Invite students to raise topics worthy of
discussion in formal circles.
7. Review the restorative conference follow-up form (Fig. 5.2, p. 126). Discuss
what might happen if this type of information were not provided to teachers
and staff following high-stakes conferences. Commit to using the form (or
another similar tool) to ensure that you establish and maintain communication
routes.
8. Review the section on re-entry plans (p. 129). What processes does your school
use to ensure that students re-enter the learning environment in as productive
a way as possible? Share with others. If the plans you have in place are not
sufficient, begin drafting new procedures to ensure that re-entry is productive.
Chapter 6. Creating the Mindset for Restorative Practices
1. How welcoming is your classroom, school, or district? What needs to happen
for students, teachers, parents, and administrators to feel more welcome?
2. What data do you use to make decisions in your classroom, school, or district?
Do these data include student perspectives and areas related to discipline?
What implications do the data have?
3. Conduct a Discipline Audit (Fig. 6.1, p. 138). What actions will you take as a
result of the audit?
4. How can problems be prevented in the first place? How does having a
preventative mindset contribute to a healthy, productive learning environment?
5. Are you part of a productive team, or do you feel alone? Developing a team
mindset can reduce stress and improve job satisfaction, not to mention provide
support for challenging situations. Engage in some team-building activities
with colleagues to facilitate strong relationships between and among the
adults in the school.
6. Reread the last sentence in the book. Consider what is within your power to
change, and begin to do it. Ask yourself if students for whom you are
responsible feel hopeful and cared for. Take action, even if there is only one
student you feel you must reach. You could be the one person who makes the
difference for that young person.