Using restorative practices to foster accountability and transform the disciplinary process with students.
Janet is a current IIRP student pursuing her Master of Science in Restorative Practices. She serves as a resource teacher for grades 7–12 at Lloyd P. Hance Community School in Lake County, California. In this role, she instructs and supports students to develop feelings of self-worth, attain self-discipline, and accept personal responsibility in decision-making; to become productive members of the community; and to improve academic skills.
She also provides career and vocational awareness and education as well as services to students with special needs. She regularly assesses student progress and offers individual instruction to assist students in meeting educational objectives. Janet is committed to integrating restorative practices within her school, especially when it comes to disciplinary processes, because she believes that students should be active participants in decisions that affect their education.
Q: What brought you to the IIRP?
A: In 2022, I started my employment at a community school for at-promise youth, teaching students in the county who had been expelled or were on probation. In the summer of 2023, I attended a professional development training at my school that was run by the IIRP. I have always known the importance of building relationships in the classroom, but this training taught me about the Social Discipline Window and the power of “With.” I quickly started implementing restorative practices in my classroom and was so excited when I discovered that the IIRP offered graduate programs so I could continue to grow as an educator.
Q: Please tell us about your professional work now and what makes you passionate about it.
A: Implementing restorative practices in my classroom has been a game-changer. My students are learning to communicate through conflict and take ownership of their actions. Nothing is more rewarding than having a student request a restorative conversation after an incident with their classmate. Rather than holding grudges, they want to move forward and have meaningful relationships with one another.
Q: What would you like to see in this restorative work in the future?
A: I would love to see restorative practices implemented with fidelity in every school and classroom. It should be common practice for students to learn to participate in difficult conversations and resolve conflicts together. Too often, students are left out of the conversion of discipline when it would be more meaningful for them to be involved. My students should be participants in their disciplinary and expulsion process instead of simply receiving consequences decided by people who aren’t directly involved. Expulsion itself could potentially disintegrate if restorative practices were to become an active pillar in education.
