Restorative Justice in the Classroom / Progress in Mathematics (PDF)

"Parker-Shandal's book moves educators and administrators away from thinking about restorative justice as a disciplinary response and toward an understanding of restorative justice in education (RJE) and circles as ways to create just and equitable classrooms that encourage diverse perspectives and problem solving. Her sound theoretical framework coupled with real teachers' implementation struggles and achievements offer us a vision of how circles and RJE can confound mandates to teach false narratives by elevating marginalized voices, promoting critical thinking, and transforming conflict."
-Martha A. Brown, Author of Creating Restorative Schools: Setting Schools Up to Succeed (2018), USA

"The circle discussions in the book bring the reader directly into the daily rhythm of a classroom, in all its awkward, inspirational, and mundane glory. The reader relates to the teachers as they make decisions regarding how to respond to student comments and emotions; the reader also senses the incredible impact that such decisions can have on student relations and wellbeing. With sensitivity and respect, Crystena supports teachers to better embody an anti-racist approach to RJE."
-Kristin Elaine Reimer, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Culture, and Society, Monash University, Australia

This book focuses on how teachers can transmit and practice values through classroom circles that attend to and empower all students' voices. A growing number of teachers are using relational pedagogy, drawing on Indigenous circle practice, as a pedagogical tool. Done well, circles can build and sustain dialogue and peaceful relations. Done poorly, circles reflect and reinforce relations of power, which, if disregarded, can be damaging for participants whose voices are silenced or not sufficiently heard. Parker-Shandal's consideration of teachers' professional learning and training in restorative justice in education focuses on ethnographic, classroom-based research in diverse urban elementary schools. Her data include observations of classrooms, teacher surveys, and interviews with students, teachers, and principals. The book provides a detailed account of the lived experience of students and teachers as they engage with and experience the transformative power of constructive dialogue about conflicts embedded in curriculum subject matter through restorative justice pedagogies.

Crystena A. H. Parker-Shandal is Associate Professor of Social Development Studies at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo, Canada.