Bridge Builders | Issue 3

Math educators wanting to explore RJ? Stuart McQueen (2022) can help!

In 2022, Stuart McQueen demonstrated the theoretical connections between Evans and Vaandering (2016) Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) and Carpenter and colleagues’ (2015) Cognitively Guided Instruction in Mathematics (CGI) frameworks, arguing that both have a “shared vision of equity and agency for all students” (p.2).

She argues that:

• RJE on its own is focused on everything that happens in the school while upholding the values of dignity, respect, and mutual concern.
• Its interconnected pieces call on educators to foster healthy relationships while repairing harm and creating equitable learning communities.
• At the same time, CGI upholds children’s thinking as the foundation for instructional decisions. Educators who implement CGI learning as a relational and generative experience with four interconnected themes:
  • “Knowledge is connected”
  • “Knowledge is generative” (p. 6)
  • Students describe and justify their thinking in math
  • Students know they are mathematical thinkers who believe mathematics makes sense. Students believe they have the power to make sense of math.
• While neither CGI or RJE explicitly acknowledge or address anti-racism as an essential part to their work, RJ in practice is explicit about addressing racism in interpersonal ways. CGI combined with the ethics and values of RJ can support it as an anti-racist practice.
• For RJ to persist at its highest capacity, it must implement an ongoing analysis of race and racism, be responsive to mental health needs, and operate through a socio-emotional framework (Huguley et al., 2022).
• RJ is not simply practices that happen in specific moments inside or outside the classroom but should be woven into the fabric of students’ connections with their school

Application to Schools for Educators and Administrators

• Create spaces to nurture relationships such as restorative circles in math to engage students in mathematical discussions that helps justification and argumentation, helping to create a caring and trusting culture
  • Community circles can also be used for personal check-ins and discussing mathematical progress
• Believe every student comes to math class knowing some math and can expand their mathematical ideas. Challenging your beliefs and assumptions of what children can do furthers educators’ reach of justice.
• Use the details of children’s thinking and their thought trajectory to support their understanding, classroom instruction, and create relational experiences
• Hold space to understand how children think about mathematics and allow their knowledge to shape instruction.
• Mathematical practices can and should exude RJ through interdisciplinary units that highlight the brilliance of Black learners and “center their mathematical learning identities” (p.6).

RJ in Middle and High School Settings: Building Community and Empowering Students

The Sandwick and colleagues is a case study from five public schools in New York City that utilized and implemented RJ. The study focused on racially and socioeconomically diverse middle and high schools during various stages of RJ .Implementation is a vulnerable time during RJ practices, in the first few years it is introduced systematically to a school community. If we want success RJ that supports all students, then we need to spend careful consideration of the implementation process.

Findings

• Schools used a variety of approaches to implement RJ, such as:
  • One-on-one student meetings, restorative conversations mentoring, efforts to build community, various modalities of talking circles and counseling
• Schools created space for student voice & autonomy in RJ, as students facilitated/led:
  • Circles, community-based events, peer mentoring programs, and peer mediation groups to resolve conflicts
• Schools worked in tandem with community-based organizations
• Most staff, students, and parents interviewed felt that RJ had a beneficial effect
  • Some felt RJ “addressed root causes of conflict better than more punitive disciplinary responses” (p. 14)
• Other school community members found RJ to have a negative effect
  • Some worried that school safety would be at risk without punitive discipline

Application to Schools for Educators and Administrators

• Community building should be a focal point of RJ
  • Staff to student relationships are important
  • Leadership supporting staff helps in implementation
  • Engaging families may be challenging, so intentionality must be present in developing school-family partnerships
• Commitment to RJ implementation would necessitate a move away from the typical power dynamics of schools
  • Students would be more equal partners
    • Partnerships can be promoted via leadership roles for students
  • Staff should focus on self-reflection to promote personal growth
• Staff may view RJ as “soft” for not using tradition punishment
  • Communication between all school community members (students, staff, and families) is key
  • Communication allows all involved to know that accountability measures are in place
  • Communication helps with both trust and buy-in
• RJ can be an extra burden for staff
  • Schools can create dedicated roles or teams to support RJ and share the load
  • Schools can integrate RJ into schools holistically (staff meetings, assemblies, events that engage families)

Takeaways from our Conversation with Shanté Stuart McQueen, PhD:

• Everything can and should be viewed from a restorative lens, it is not only a single serve tool.
• It is critical to take time throughout the day to teach emotional connection and relationship building – not only with students but with yourself.
• “Rigor” is not about things being hard for students to do, rigor comes with complexity and critical thinking.
  • Value is lost when difficulty alone intentionally outweighs complex and critical thinking experiences.
• Academic concepts are often imbedded within our cultures and all children come into school with knowledge that can be supported. Believing that all students are knowledgeable supports racial and restorative justice.
• Implementing RJ takes time and practice! Getting the structures in place is key.
  • It’s okay to take a couple of minutes just to practice the basic structures.
• The work is working! Keep going! You can create an oasis for students even if it is not happening in other spaces yet.

Thank you for reading and listening to another installment of Bridge Builders: The Newsletter and Podcast. We are grateful to do this work and share it with others. We strongly believe that community is a valuable asset and want to extend gratitude to you for being part of our Bridge Builders community. Until next time!

With hope and solidarity,
Olivia Marcucci, PhD, Faculty Editor
Mercedes Alicea and Alex Parker, Co-authors