Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education: Fostering Responsibility, Healing, and Hope in Schools

by Katherine Evans, Dorothy Vaandering

A fully revised & updated handbook for teachers and administrators on creating just and equitable learning environments for students; building and maintaining healthy relationships; healing harm and transforming conflict.

Much more than a response to harm, restorative justice nurtures relational, interconnected school cultures. The wisdom embedded within its principles and practices is being welcomed at a time when exclusionary discipline and zero tolerance policies are recognized as perpetuating student apathy, disproportionality, and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Relying on the wisdom of early proponents of restorative justice, the daily experiences of educators, and the authors’ extensive experience as classroom teachers and researchers, this Little Book guides the growth of restorative justice in education (RJE) into the future. Incorporating activities, stories, and examples throughout the book, three major interconnected and equally important aspects of restorative justice in education are explained and creating just and equitable learning environments; building and maintaining healthy relationships; healing harm and transforming conflict. Chapters

The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education is a reference that practitioners can turn to repeatedly for clarity and consistency as they implement restorative justice in educational settings.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development, Social Justice, Counselling, Read For School

168 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2022

Reviews

[Brendan E-M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly useful in setting the (approachable) paradigm shift needed to build restorative schools. Embracing these themes changes teaching dispositions right off the bat - other practical strategies for RJE can be explored elsewhere.

[Becky Marder-Reifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great introduction into the key values of restorative justice in education. It made me want to learn a lot more - a sign of a good book! Highly recommend as a quick read for educators interested in adding restorative justice to their practice. Also includes pages of recommended books and organizations to learn more.

[Ayanna Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read that provides the history of restorative justice in education, and also explains how to effectively implement restorative justice as part of a dignified school. It is not about discipline. Dignity is at the heart of restoring relationships. As my school begins a restorative practice journey, it seems all the appropriate steps are in place according to this text.

[Jacob Rollins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A introductory reading on restorative practices in connection to education. Great reading for getting a foundational understanding of the topic. Might want to explore other works if you want to dive deeper into it.

[Ciarra Grobe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly insightful for individuals that are joining school leadership in restorative justice coordinator or coaching positions!

[Liz Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Katie Florida · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful introduction to the concepts of restorative justice in education, what it is important, and practical considerations for it's implementation. Not a training guide, more a tool to persuade readers if the importance of this topic and give them history and context.

[Kristen Luppino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sussenct overview with many other resources listed. I learned a lot and made a lot of connections to some PD I've been in and other books I have read. Oh, and have made another list of books to read on similar topics!

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

If anything, this book has helped me to see more clearly the starting assumptions that are usually taken for granted by more leftist approaches to "justice." The ironic thing is that this text, which repeatedly says we need to talk about our assumptions about justice and harm, only indirectly explained its own assumptions. The way it laid things out made sure to keep its own arguments airtight so that you couldn't see the more foundational assumptions, and thus the cracks. Essentially, it prioritizes the few "problematic" students over the vast majority of normal or high-achieving students. Namely, it insists upon things never really being someone's fault (denying personal responsibility entirely), instead asking us to search for the "root" cause of the bad behavior (usually conveniently political or sociological).

Whereas a more traditional Retributive Justice approach sees a person hurting someone else and forcibly removes them from the victim, Restorative Justice attempts to make both parties happy simultaneously. I can commend it for at least attempting to see if the perpetrator can be helped in some way so as to prevent future relapses, but the problem with it is that it's an extremely time- and resource-intensive approach. This isn't to say that jailing people is better because it's cheaper, but what Restorative Justice approaches actually ask us (as educators) to do is to basically become the parents. The problem is that these parents aren't parenting anymore, and everyone else pays the price, teachers especially. When a parent hits their kid, neglects them, forgets about them, etc., it's teachers and classmates who have to deal with the kid's bad behavior (so the theory goes). So yes, providing counseling, role models, and grace is a good thing, but the problem is that it's the parents being pieces of shit that's the true root problem. Thus it seems odd to me that Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) implicitly focuses on making the government and other institutions gigantic, instead of fostering a grassroots return to parenting and community.

It also seems odd to me that the "problem" students are focused on to the exclusion of the rest of the students; in other words, the child acting out is prioritized above all the kids who already behave well and respect others. This, to any traditional notion of "justice" seems ass-backwards. Thus, it's cute that the author strategically avoided giving the etymological meaning of the English word Justice ("the exercise of authority in vindication of right by assigning reward or punishment;" also "quality of being fair and just; moral soundness and conformity to truth") and instead chose more convenient definitions, like (their interpretations of) the Judaic, Islamic, and indigenous ones.

Don't get me wrong: I think that reciprocity is a beautiful thing, and the world would be much better if we shifted our focus away from competition and back toward collaboration. But I'm still worried about the 80% of students that this leaves out. I understand the bleeding heart liberal impulse to help those who struggle the most, but doing so isn't without its drawbacks. Thus, this book's general lack of honesty in dealing with those drawbacks hurts it significantly.

For example, when talking about equality vs equity, they point out how students should get everything they "need" to succeed. The problem with this is that it places undue pressure on teachers, converting their role from educators into parent-figures. This isn't what we signed up for. We became teachers because we were passionate about a given subject, and wanted to share that passion with students. I understand that empathy is a part of the job, and is especially needed in some domains more than others (like in my English classes where kids sometimes trauma-dump in their writing). But does this mean that I need to be their therapist? Shouldn't they seek out a proper therapist for that, instead of making it my problem? I don't say that out of coldness, but out of the recognition that I'm only one person and only have so much bandwidth to deal with problems (my own and theirs).

In other words, RJE asks educators to be godlike, with unlimited energy to advocate/make systemic changes, unlimited empathy to relate to every student, unlimited patience to put up with every bad student, and unlimited wisdom to solve every problem. In other words, it's a utopian pipe dream. Maybe, in an ideal world where schools actually got the budgets they needed to be successful (instead of just the military getting that sort of budget), we could afford to hire a shit-ton of RJE administrators, therapists, counselors, trainers, etc., but isn't that just institutionalizing the problem? Isn't the problem, by their own admission, disconnection? Isn't the solution much more basic: getting kids more involved, and if possible, improving parental involvement? In other words, I'm not sure why this is the responsibility of teachers, who are already overworked and under-supported. Isn't it the responsibility of the community? Ya know, that thing being actively destroyed by social media, capitalism, and other malicious technologies?

But then again, this would force us to have honest discussions about worldviews, which is too close to politics, which we're not mature enough to discuss anymore. The sad thing was that some of the apparent assumptions of RJE actually undermine their stated goals, especially the false "need" of "autonomy"; far from being a "need", this is a modern expectation (egotistical as such), which quite frankly never existed in premodern times. It's a very attractive and ego-stroking one at that, which means it's very unlikely to ever be undone in this immature age, but it's one of the root issues causing problems, not one of the universal requirements for "peace". The other is this pernicious word "dignity", which I think operates as a cover for the word "egotism". I'm reminded of an "antiracist" book I read back in 2020 which was supposedly written by a Christian. This author attempted to justify their cousin asking for a gun to kill a guy who stole his Jordans. She tried defending this irrational, egotistical response as "an attack on his dignity" (or somesuch bullshit). I saw it for what it was, but she was in too deep to see the insanity of the event.

Thus, despite mentioning Rogerian arguments, I don't think this book is able to honestly or adequately explain the status quo, and thus cannot make a very convincing argument for its own side of things. That, plus its unstated assumptions, which include putting all the responsibility of parenting and community-building on teachers instead of on parents. Lots of food for thought, but I have indigestion.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff here. Almost exclusively theory based discussion and writen well enough for me to want to further explore actual strategy and concrete technique.

[Doug L · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn’t much in here that was new or interesting, so perhaps I wasn’t the target audience for this book. It seemed written for someone who had never heard of restorative justice and it didn’t give very many examples of restorative justice in practice. In fact, most of the book focused on the question “Why do schools need restorative justice in education (rje)?” as opposed to “How do schools actually practice restorative justice in education?” It is unfortunate that the authors felt pressured to devote so many pages to justifying the philosophy of rje instead of delineating its specifics.

I am not opposed to rethinking how schools discipline their students, and for administrators to consider the whole person before they decide how to respond to a student who is struggling academically, socially, or behaviorally. I think that one of the best arguments for rje is the institutional perpetuation of the school-to-prison pipeline in the US. Schools need to be sensitive to the cultures and home lives of their students if they wish to teach, build community, and mold young citizens.

At the same time, schools need to be able to hold students accountable for their decisions and their actions. If a student who is late to school every day never experiences consequences for their tardiness, they have no incentive to show up on time, however valid or moving their excuse for their daily tardiness. So, teachers and administrators need to have the flexibility to work with students and families while also enforcing the school’s policies to the extent that these policies promote the well-being of their students.

I have never seen a “community circle” work in practice, so it is hard for me to imagine how this intervention is worth a school’s resources. I would especially need convincing if community circles sacrificed classroom time for other students in the community. No intervention should come at the cost of losing significant amounts of time-on-learning.

The main issue I see with rje is that its philosophical scope is too narrow. It views all student behavior through a Foucauldian lens, and attributes a student’s words, actions, and decisions entirely to social, cultural, and economic factors. It does not consider how cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, or neurobiology influences a student's behavior. If we wish to educate the whole person, we cannot ignore the internal factors that are part of who a person is and how they think. Nor is rje a theory of pedagogy. It contains some guidelines as to how to treat your students with respect, dignity, and mutual concern, but most of that is plain old common sense. It provides some prescriptions for inclusive and culturally sensitive curriculum, but again, these prescriptions alone do not constitute a theory of curriculum design.

I see rje as an important lens through which a teacher can choose to view their institution’s culture and policies. But it is not the only lens, it is not the only valid philosophy for schools to adopt, and it cannot solve all your classroom’s problems by itself.

[Anth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has many points with which I agree, and I’m curious about how Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) could work in a school setting, though it takes a commitment. Toward the end, the book shows two schools who adopt RJE, one whose program excels and the other whose program deteriorates and is abandoned. I think my school district would be the ladder. It takes a commitment from year to year not for one year, and I think a program like this would start with great intentions and end with miserable results.

I was also thinking about how strategies like talking circles sound like a great way to create a sense of community and give students the opportunity for restoration but how hard it would be without co-teacher or smaller class sizes.

It also has to start early. I could see elementary implementation first, then middle school implementation, then high school implementation, which talks to how much of a commitment this kind of program is or should be resourcefully and in longevity.

I do wish this book would have made suggestions that the individual teacher could use in his or her classroom. Most of the approaches the book suggests are school-wise implementation policies.

[Kasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introductive to restorative justice and how it fits in educational contexts. The authors used accessible language, making this an easy text to breeze through. I appreciated the chapter on the history of RJE, particularly with the links explicitly made about between Indigenous communities and lived realities and restorative justice. Also, I had no idea that Maslow created his hierarchy of needs after spending time with the Blackfoot Nation and basing it on how the Nation functioned as a society.

This is very readable, and I think this is a good read for good teachers who care about their practice.

[Lauren Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

For being a “little book” this book sure does provide a lot of information. The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education provides the framework, history, some actionable steps, reflections, and many other resources to continue learning. The author states, “Restorative justice in education is not a program; it’s a framework”. It’s a way of living in a learning community that humanizes our students, honors dignity and values the worth and interconnectedness of all people. This book is a great place to begin your journey of restorative justice in education.

[Matthew Provencio · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a high school student, this book really makes me look at the way my school deals with discipline in a different lens. It has inspired me to gift the book to my principal as an act of trying to encourage a different form of dealing with troubled children. I am hoping that I can help the administration see this form of justice from a students point of view and they will understand why it would be a good idea to implement the ideas into the existing system.

[Lizzie Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect introduction that gets the gears working in the minds of educator personal on the steps staff in the education sector can do to implement RJE. This principle of “Restorative justice” is needed for “facilitating learning communities that nurture the capacity of people to engage with one another and their environment in a manner that supports and respects they inherent dignity and worth of all”

[LeighAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am presently working on my certification in Trauma and Resilience in Education as well as Restorative Justice in Education. This book, while required reading, is a blessing. The "little books of restorative justice" (do an Amazon search) have proven to be incredibly worthwhile thus far. Evans is no stranger to the research or the experience. Her writing proves there is work to be done, but more importantly, it IS possible and there IS hope.

[Lauren Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This handbook provides a great introduction of restorative justice as a philosophy-framework that should inform practice and undergird the culture of a school. For those well versed in RJE, there may not be groundbreaking information, however as a school social worker I find there are useful examples and activities that would be very useful in collaborating with other educators who are not familiar with RJE.

[Poonam Dubal · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a great intro to restorative practices, definitely check this book out. It has a lot of the basics you need to understand the intent and philosophy behind restorative practices and also looks at the practical applications of restorative practices (e.g. circles, conferences) in different settings.

[Terry Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this one after reading Fania Davis’s excellent entry in the series. I think perhaps it’s a great introductory text, if you are completely unfamiliar with restorative and relational work, but that’s not where I’m at. The 6th chapter on Repairing Harm and Transforming Conflict and last chapter that drives a little into implementation were most helpful.

[Bob Marcacci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advocates building relationships as the core of successful instruction—not just relationships with students, but with colleagues, as well. In fact, we probably often do not realize how poorly we exemplify social interactions to our students when we fail to build those relationships successfully with our colleagues.

[Brooke’s Book Daze]

Read this for a college course. Restorative justice is definitely something I would like to use in my future classroom. I do feel like this book seems like more of a starting/ jumping off point. If I wasn’t also talking about it and practicing it in my college course, I’m not sure that reading this alone would suffice - but maybe. I did feel like this book was a little repetitive at times.

[Drick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book puts forth the concept of Restorative Justice in Education (as opposed to the more common Restorative Practices) and outlines the way a Restorative Justice approach to K-12 education call for a significant cultural change in K-12 education

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This talks about restorative justice not just as a discipline practice, but as a system of beliefs, values, and practices.

File under: textbook-esque

Learned about: restorative justice, respect, dignity, teaching

[Lisa Keuss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty is packed into this "little book". Provides a solid foundation for understanding the philosophy behind Restorative Justice and is practical enough to encourage a teacher to implement some of the practices.

[Brianna Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utah Public Education needs RJE badly.

These values are based fundamental principles of humane civil conduct. We need more of this. Thank you for your thoughtful work and articulation of principle.

[Patrick McDermott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back from my GoodReads hiatus 🤭 anyway, idk what I was on (Adderall), but I FLEW through this! It provides a great framework for restorative justice in education and a realistic action plan for teachers.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my Youth Justice Reimagined course this term (Fall 2024). Good overview, especially of the interlocking three principles. Gave some good idea of why my one practical experience in a school was rough.

[Michelle Peet · Rating 4 out of 5]

All educators need to read this.

[Melissa Hodgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great OVERVIEW of Restorative Justice in Education.