Abolitionist Values

While they have become more common in recent years in non-indigenous circles, restorative practices were created by and have been implemented by indigenous peoples and communities around the world for centuries. Particular acknowledgement should be brought to Native people of North America, Africa, and New Zealand who have been generous in making information around best practices to those of us outside of indigenous spheres.

When students have opportunities to name, for themselves, what has and has not caused harm or disruption in and outside of the classroom, uneven power dynamics and white supremacist ideals of moral “goodness” are disrupted; the voices of the impacted are more important than the voices of leadership, especially when participants are mandated to exist in a space.

Students’ willingness to engage with conflict and the impact of wrongdoing head-on when they have the knowledge that “getting into trouble” is not a factor is astounding. Groups like the Abolitionist Teaching Network promote restorative practices in education as a way to combat school-to-prison pipelines on the individual level. I agree with this, and believe in avoiding punitive action in work with students, especially children, at all costs. This means, from day one, creating a culture of accountability and shared responsibility in the learning space, and having participation in restorative practices be encouraged, yet voluntary.

See:

• We Want to Do More Than Survive : Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Bettina Love

• https://abolitionistteachingnetwork.org/

• Chapter 4 of Reading, Writing, and Racism: Disrupting Whiteness in Teacher Education and in the Classroom by Bree Picower

I have engaged in restorative practices in the community for about 5 years, formally working in the field of restorative justice for the past 2 at the University of Michigan Office of Student Conflict Resolution (OSCR). The office took an alternative approach to punitive measures around student conflict and conduct, instead implementing Adaptable Conflict Resolution. While in my time at OSCR, I had the opportunity to collaborate with leaders in the sphere of restorative justice in education, providing conflict coaching, facilitated dialogue, restorative justice circles, and informal conflict resolution for alcohol and other drugs (ICR4AOD).

• Conflict Coaching

  • Individual meetings to discuss conflict styles, communication skills, and best practices for conflict management either in general or specific to a pertinent conflict

• Facilitated dialogue

  • A conversation hosted by a multipartial facilitator to foster understanding between two or more conflicting parties

• Restorative Justice Circles

  • Process that most closely resembles those in traditional indigenous restorative practices

  • A more structured conversation in which there is typically one harmed party, a respondent, and any community members or supports who may be impacted by harm caused or conflict at hand

• ICR4AOD

  • Alternative to punitive action for violation of student conduct requirements around alcohol and other drugs that results in no disciplinary record

  • Facilitator holds discussion with participant around how they feel about their substance use, any impact the relevant incident has had on themself, their peers, or the community at large, and what kind of restorative and/or educational measures might be beneficial from the perspective of the participant in terms of accountability

“Language primarily is the use of codes to pass information, thoughts, ideas or emotions; the shared information is only meaningful when the receiving party can decode the message sent. A wrong interpretation of the code can lead to a conflict, which in turn can result in a war if not well managed. The use to which language is deployed can be the reason of peace or war in a community. Language also tend to defer from society to society, gender, class, religion etc.” (Tobalese 2017)

• Coded language is phrasing that’s true meaning is only properly understood when the listener understands its subtext. For those involved in social and racial justice circles, you may have heard the phrase “coded language” to describe situations in which white people, often educators, will use terms like “grit” which technically don’t have overt racial implications, to almost exclusively glorify the trauma of their Black and brown students (Schermele). I believe in extending language accessibility and practices around it to all students, partially as a way of avoiding punitive impacts of misunderstanding. For example, people who are in the process of learning the dominant language of a space are going to have a harder time deciphering coded language because what is being said contrasts from the definition of words that they are learning, and people with cognitive disabilities, especially those on the autism spectrum and schizophrenia, often have trouble understanding coded language because it is cognitively difficult for them to take anything outside of how it is presented at face value.

• This also rings true in our work as educators. The way we use language can cause connection or conflict. The biggest thing to note here is having intentionality in our language and how it may be read or interpreted by others; are we getting the message across that we are hoping to?

• In practice, this means a level of kind directness with others that I implement with students and colleagues.

• Classic classroom example:

  • TEACHER: Alright, class, it’s time to clean up.
    JIMMY: *isn’t helping to clean up*
    TEACHER (frustrated with the fact that Jimmy isn’t cleaning up): Jimmy, do you want to help clean up?
    JIMMY: Nope!

• What just happened?

  • The teacher wanted the whole class to clean up

  • The teacher indicated that it was time for that

  • Jimmy either didn’t hear her or did not comprehend that expressing that it is “time” for something means he is expected to do it, so he continues on with his activity

  • The teacher, in an effort to explain to Jimmy that he is being told to clean up, asks him if he “wants to”

  • Jimmy answers the question literally, as it was posed

• Alternative Frames:

  • TEACHER: Alright, class, it’s time to clean up.
    JIMMY: *isn’t helping to clean up*
    TEACHER (frustrated with the fact that Jimmy isn’t cleaning up): Jimmy, here are the directions for right now: first, put down your materials. Next, put each material where it belongs. Then, return to your seat to hear the next set of directions.
    JIMMY: Okay!

  • TEACHER: *at the beginning of class, writes an agenda on the board that includes each step of what is expected of the students during that lesson*
    JIMMY: *isn’t helping to clean up*
    TEACHER (frustrated with the fact that Jimmy isn’t cleaning up): Jimmy, please do step one from the board, then come back to me and I can prompt you for step two.
    JIMMY: Okay! *starts to clean up*

  • TEACHER: Alright, class, everyone is now going to stop what they are doing and clean up their materials.
    JIMMY: *Helps to clean up*

• Another example:

  • COLLEAGUE A: Your music is really loud.
    COLLEAGUE B: Yeah! I like it loud!
    COLLEAGUE A: I’m trying to study.
    COLLEAGUE B: Oh, cool, good luck!
    COLLEAGUE A: *rolls eyes and leaves the room*

• Alternative frames:

  • COLLEAGUE A: Your music is really loud.
    COLLEAGUE B: Yeah! I like it loud!
    COLLEAGUE A: I’m trying to work.
    COLLEAGUE B: Oh, cool, good luck!
    COLLEAGUE A: Sorry, I wasn’t being very clear. I pointed out that your music was loud because it was too loud for me to concentrate on working, so what I’m trying to do is ask you to please turn your music down or put on some headphones so that I can focus a bit better.
    COLLEAGUE B: Ohhhhh, sorry! Yeah, I can totally turn it down, no problem!
    COLLEAGUE B: *turns down music*

  • COLLEAGUE A: Hey, can you please turn your music down or switch to headphones? I’m trying to work on a big presentation for I have tomorrow and it is hard for me to concentrate when there are loud noises in the background.
    COLLEAGUE B: Oh, sure! Sorry about that.
    COLLEAGUE B: *puts headphones in*