Restorative Discipline
in Schools
An introduction to restorative justice
based alternatives for
school discipline
Lee Copenhagen, LCSW
Tennyson High School 2012-13
Teaching today in California
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Education finance under Prop 13
Population increases in Hayward
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Diversity over last decade
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1980-2000= approx 50K more residents
2000-2010= only 4K
Approx 30K 5-19 year old, about same for decade
Caucasian: drop of 10%
African American & Asian; about same
Latino/a: increase about 10%
Class Size has increased
New economic challenges
since 70’s
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Computers & telecommunications
Outsourcing of jobs
Doubling of US population
Minorities and Women win legal right to participate
in workforce & enter enthusiastically
Excess of labor causing private wages to freeze
Easy & cheap credit
Rates of unemployment & poverty increase
2008 collapse of housing industry
(Wolff, 2012)
Education funding
Diverse population
Rising achievement
What must be done to address the
challenges in urban schools today:
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Secure housing, food, & health care, so that children
can come to school ready to learn each day
Supportive early learning environments
Equitably funded schools which provide equitable
access to high-quality teaching
Well-prepared & well-supported teachers & leaders
Standards, curriculum, & assessments focused on
21st century learning goals
Schools organized for in-depth student & teacher
learning
(Darling-Hamond, 2010)
The role of discipline
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“to teach or to train”
Short term goal: stop inappropriate behavior
Long term goal: take responsibility for own
behavior & learn self-discipline skills
The role of punishment
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“Where did we ever get the crazy idea that to
make people do better we first have to make
them feel worse?” (Nelson, Lott & Glenn,
2000).
Obey when the enforcer is present
Negative effects well documented
Student blames punisher rather than taking
responsibility for the harm of their
misbehavior
The shift in classroom
management over 20 years
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from focus on intervention-recognition &
punishment of misbehavior
to focus on prevention through development
of classroom communities in which norms are
established & academic routines promote
constructive work (Darling-Hammond &
Bransford, 2005.
Behavioral approaches that emphasize good
behavior and use punishments sparingly
Why look beyond
behaviorism?
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emphasis on controlling behavior often leads
to resistance rather than buy-in
overuse of extrinsic rewards and sanctions
can undermine intrinsic motivation
(so neither, self-maintenance of positive behavior, or
self- responsibility skills, are developed in students.)

teachers need more than behavioral controls
How to manage well:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Creating meaningful curriculum & engaging
pedagogy to support motivation,
Developing supportive learning communities,
Organizing & structuring the classroom,
Repairing and restoring behavior respectfully,
and
Encouraging moral development.
(Darling-Hamond & Branford, 2005)
Dr. Terrence Roberts
Little Rock Nine Foundation
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Do what it takes to
make relationships
Build strong dyads
Model learning
Make a real
commitment:
“I will do whatever it takes to
help THS be a better school for
our students”
The role of restorative discipline
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Concerns with appropriate consequences
Focus on empathy & repairing the harm
Teaching the student needed skills
As alternatives to retributive consequences
Definition of Restorative Justice
“Restorative Justice is a process to
involve, to the extent possible, those who
have a stake in a specific offense and to
collectively identify and address harms,
needs, obligations, in order to heal and
put things as right as possible.”
Howard Zehr, 2002
Shared interest
Offender
Interests
Victim/Offender/
Community
Victim
Interests
School
Communit
y
Interests
RJ in Colorado
High School Video
http://vimeo.com/15006396
Click on above link or paste to browser
http://www.restorativejusticecolorado.org/restorative-justice-in-schools.html
Guiding questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Who has been hurt?
What are their needs?
Whose obligations are they?
What are the causes?
Who has a ‘stake’ in this?
What is the appropriate process to involve
the stakeholders to put things right?
(Zehr, 2002).
Restorative discipline:
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Recognizes the purpose of the misbehavior
Addresses the needs of those harmed
Works to put things right
Aims to improve the future
Seeks to heal
Uses the collaborative process
Stutzman & Mullet, 2005).
OUSD 3 Tiers
Punitive
vs. Restorative
Misbehavior defined as breaking school rules
or letting the school down.
Misbehavior defined as harm (emotional/
mental/physical) done to one person/group by another.
Focus is on what happened and establishing
blame or guilt.
Focus on problem-solving by expressing feelings and
needs and exploring how to address problems in the
future.
Adversarial relationship and process. Includes an
authority figure with the power to decide on penalty, in
conflict with wrongdoer.
Dialogue and negotiation, with everyone involved in
the communication and cooperation with each other.
Imposition of pain or unpleasantness to punish
and deter/prevent.
Restitution as a means of restoring both parties, the
goal being reconciliation and acknowledging
responsibility for choices.
Attention to rules and adherence to due
process.
Attention to relationships and achievement of a
mutually desired outcome.
Conflict/wrongdoing represented as impersonal
and abstract; individual versus school.
Conflict/wrongdoing recognized as
interpersonal conflicts with opportunity for learning.
One social injury compounded by another.
Focus on repair of social injury/damage.
School community as spectators, represented by
member of staff dealing with the situation; those
directly affected uninvolved and
powerless.
School community involved in facilitating restoration;
those affected taken into consideration;
empowerment.
Accountability defined in terms of receiving
punishment.
Accountability defined as understanding impact of
actions, taking responsibility for choices, and
suggesting ways to repair harm.
Traditional Discipline
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Based on a system of punishment and reward
Not typically used as a teaching tool
Makes the school culture adversarial
Tends to support labeling of students:
bad and good kids
Bandage approach with few lasting effects
Victims get little from the process
Their Maladaptive Responses

The spectrum of things kids do when life’s demands
exceed their capacity to respond adaptively:
 Cry, sulk, pout, whine, withdraw
 Screaming, swearing, spitting, hitting, kicking,
destroying property, lying, truancy
 Self-injurious behavior, self-induced vomiting, drinking
or using drugs to excess, stabbing, shooting
Some kids when pushed to their limits don’t have the
skills “to hold it together”
Behavior 101
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequence
trigger
response
result
• Positive consequences reward and reinforce behavior.
• School discipline programs: Behavior that ‘works’ for the
student continues and maladaptive behavior is “gets”
something desirable, or “escapes” or “avoids” something
undesirable.
• But, punishments are seldom effective, and lose effect
with repetition, even if progressively more harsh.
• What lagging skills are preventing the student from
behaving adaptively?
Situational Analysis
Behind every challenging behavior is an
unsolved problem or a lagging skill (or both).
 Lagging skills (behavior) are the WHY
 Unsolved problems (triggers) are the WHO,
WHAT, WHEN & WHERE
 Natural, punishing, and illogical consequences;
none teach cognitive lagging skills or help kids
solve problems

Lagging Skills
 Executive
functioning Skills
 Language
processing skills
 Cognitive
 Social
flexibility skills
Skills
(see Thinking Skills Inventory)
Orchestrating your class
“Research illustrates that classroom
management relies as much on developing
relationships and orchestrating a productive
learning community as it does on determining
consequences for inappropriate behavior”
(Darling-Hammond & Branford, 2005).
Crisis Response Institute’s
Integrated Experience Model
Crisis Development/Behavior
Levels
Staff Attitudes/Approaches
1.
1.
Anxiety: noticeable change in
behavior
Supportive: empathic,
nonjudgmental
2. Defensive: starting to lose
rationality
2. Directive: re-direct, set limits
3. Acting-out: total loss of control
3. Nonviolent Crisis Intervention®
4. Tension Reduction: decrease in
emotional energy
4. Therapeutic Response: attempt
to re-establish communication
Handling Unmet Expectations
Plan A
 Adults impose their will on students
 Greatly increases the probability of acting-out
 Authoritarian, Strict Father model
 Plan C
 Dropping expectations, temporarily
 Passive model
 Plan B
 Resolving the problem in a realistic and
collaborative manner
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Plan B (s)
 Emergency
Plan B
 Timing
 Empathy
with “what’s up?”
 Reflective Listening
 Proactive
1.Empathy
Plan B
(plus reassurance)
2.Define the problem
3.Invitation “I wonder if there is a way…?”
What would Restorative
Discipline look like?
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Cooperative, supports community building, culture of
mutual respect
Focus is on the behavior as a bad choice, not the
student as a bad person
Restorative measures used as primary, traditional still
available as last resort
Gives misbehavior a context, the students see how
their actions affect others
Reduces the amount of time spent on disciplinary
action because the root of the
problem is dealt with
Comparison of RJ Practices
Restorative
discussions
Circles
Mediation &
conferencing
Involves:
Responds to:
- Peer mentors
- Teachers and other school
staff
- Members of the school
community
- Minor student worries
- Minor disruptions
- Need to debrief and discuss issues
- Challenging situations
- Worried parents
- Disruptions
- Interpersonal conflicts
Involves:
Responds to:
- Class groups
- School council
- Whole staff
- Class issues/harm within class
- Problems affecting students
- Staff issues
Involves:
Responds to:
- Peer mediators
-Teachers and other school
staff
- Trained facilitators
- Family members
- Student conflicts/ Staff conflicts
- Staff-student conflicts/ Staff-parent conflicts
- Concerns about a student or behavior
- Minor issues involving harm caused in a
group of students
- Minor issues involving harm/
disruption in a group of students
- Issues needing parental involvement
- Exclusion issues
Adapted from Transforming Conflict at http://w\w.transformin»connict-Qrg/Restorativc Approaches and Practices.htm.
(An aside on Zero Tolerance)
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NAACP
American Psychological Association
Advancement Project & Harvard University
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Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Pipeline
ACLU
Where could we use RJ?
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Classroom discipline
Conflict Resolution
Truancy
Suspension
Individual Education Plans
Disciplinary Hearings
School-wide Strategies
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2008 Denver Public Schools’ Strategies
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Administrative/Legal
Restorative
Skill-based Therapeutic
2009 San Francisco USD
2010 Oakland USD
Alameda County Restorative Juvenile Justice
Strategic Plan 2009-2012
School-wide Strategy
5%
15 %
30%
Maximum Intervention &
Reintegration
Family Group Conferences,
Circles Of Support and
Accountability
Moderate
Intervention &
Reintegration
Restorative Conversations,
Victim-Offender Dialog,
Teacher-Student Dialogs
Prevention
Minimal Intervention
Hallway Behaviors and Reminders
Routines and rituals,
Hall monitors, Daily
Class Check-Ins
On the way to and from school
50 %
Whole School Practices that promote and strengthen a
sense of belonging and ownership, healthy relationships
between adults, between students, between adults and
students. Class meetings, values and guidelines. School
values and guidelines
Routines
and rituals
Denver Public Schools
DPS (cont.)
Why Restorative Justice?
Evidence from Practices
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Positive School Culture
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Increase achievement and test scores
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Reduced Suspensions
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Attendance to disproportionate minority contact
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Reduced Retaliation
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Increased Student Accountability
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Increased Family Involvement
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Increased Teacher Retention
Transforming Conflict’s Model
What Are School Peacemaking
Circles?
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A Process for bringing students together as
equals to talk about the offense
Provides an atmosphere of respect & concern
for everyone
Face-to-face encounter to repair harm
Led by trained Circle Keepers &
Participants decide Circle outcome
What are Circles? (cont.)
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Voluntary for victim
Admission of responsibility by
offender
Incident-based, behavior-based
Looks at underlying causes
Focuses on empowering
participants
Comes to consensus agreement
PEACEKEEPING CIRCLES
KEEPER
COMMUNITY
MEMBER
SUPPORTER
VICTIM
OFFENDER
FAMILY
MEMBER
SUPPORTER
POLICE
OFFICER
FAMILY
MEMBER
COMMUNITY
MEMBER
HUMAN
SERVICES
KEEPER
PROBATION
OFFICER
Where Circles Fit (Schools)
SUSPENSION
CLASSROOM
ROLEPLAYS,
TEACH RJ SKILLS
PRE- RETURN TO
CLASS, PROGRAM
Circle
Opportunity
ISS OR
IMMEDIATELY
EXPULSION
RE-ENTRY TO
DISTRICT
Thanks to:
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Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
Minnesota Dept of Corrections
National Institute of Corrections
Oakland Unified School District
Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency
Prevention
Oxford Hills School District, Maine
University of Minnesota School of Social
Work
References
ACLU of Northern California. (2010). Discipline in California
Schools:
Legal requirements and positive school environments.
Amstutz, L. S. & Mullet, J. J. (2005). The Little Book of Restorative
Discipline for schools: Teaching responsibility; creating
caring climates.
California Legislative Analysts Office (2011). Calfacts. Online at
http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2381
Chapman, J. (2009). Prop 13: Some unintended consequences.
Public Policy Insitute of California. Online at
http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=116
Claassen, R. & Claassen, R. (1996). Making Things Right:
32 activities teach conflict resolution & mediation skills.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The Flat World and Education: How
America’s commitment to equity will determine our future.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Branford, J. (Eds.).(2005). Preparing
Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn
and Be Able to do.
Goldstein, A. P., Glick, B. & Gibbs J. C. (1998)..Aggression
Replacement Training: A comprehensive intervention for
aggressive youth, (Rev. Ed).
Greene, R. W. (2008). Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through
the Cracks and How Lost at School: Why our kids with we can
help find them.
Greene, R W. & Ablon,J. S. (2006). Treating Explosive Kids: The
Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach
Hopkins, B. (2004). Just Schools: A whole school approach to
restorative justice.
Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond Discipline: From compliance to community, 2nd Ed.
Nelson, J., Lott,Lynn, & Glenn, H. S. (1993). Positive Discipline in the
Classroom: Developing mutual respect, cooperation and responsibility
in your classroom.
State of Illinois, (2008). Implementing Restorative Justice: A guide for schools.
Wolff, R. (2012) Occupy the Economy: Challenging capitalism.
Zehr, H. (2002). Little Book of Restorative Justice.
Expect miracles
Lee Copenhagen, MSW, LCSW, is a nationally certified
restorative justice trainer and practitioner who has conducted
trainings in victim offender dialog, circle keeping, mediation,
delinquency prevention, and restorative justice. Lee has been
working on high school campuses for over twenty-five years in
many different roles including juvenile investigator, youth
probation officer, social worker, youth gang researcher, teacher,
counselor, family therapist, and parent.
www.cojustice.org