"'Act
firm' yet 'be flexible,' 'set high standards' yet 'remember their
fragile egos'... In the middle grades, everything is always 'this' and
'not this' at the same time"(Cushman & Rogers, 2008, p. 5).
Navigating middle school is like walking a tightrope, for teachers as
well as for students; it makes sense, then, that we can learn and grow
together, working cooperatively to make our time in middle school
productive and positive.
Conflict
resolution is an ever-present element of middle school culture, and
educators and schools have utilized several
systems over the years in tackling this element. Corporal punishment
may be one of the oldest forms of conflict resolution, meant to punish a
wrong-doer for his or her actions. There are newer forms of conflict
resolution making their debut in society, especially in schools, such as
restorative circles. More and more schools are finding that problems
can be resolved without physical punishment.
According
to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, corporal
punishment is "a discipline method in which a supervising adult
deliberately inflicts
pain upon a child in response to a child's unacceptable behavior and/or
inappropriate language" (AACAP, 1988). The same article states, "The
immediate aims of such punishment are usually to halt the offense,
prevent its recurrence and set an example for others. The purported
long-term goal is to change the child's behavior and to make it more
consistent with the adult's expectations" (AACAP, 1988). According to
Cushman and Rogers (2008) and the children they interviewed, this sort
of discipline only makes students want to act out more: "My science/math
teacher always embarrasses kids. If you forgot your math book, or if
your homework is overdue for this amount of time, she'll announce it to
the whole class, instead of just telling you privately. I don't think
they should do that. It makes me feel embarrassed. I just want to go
away and crawl into a hole or something" (Gabe, p. 93). Cushman and
Rogers (2008) add that "if [your students] feel your disappointment too
keenly, they are likely to withdraw or retaliate" (p. 93).
Restorative
circles, on the other hand, are a relatively new idea to help
facilitate a healthier conflict resolution practice, and it's found some
success in schools and juvenile facilities around the world (Garmon,
2013, Making Healing Part of Justice).
Restorative circles are situations "in which authors, receivers, and
community are brought together" (Garmon, 2013). A restorative circle
involves "authors" and "receivers" to come together and discuss what
happened, why it happened, and the reactions and/or intentions of all
involved parties. There is a TED Talks video
that better explains restorative circles (see below), featuring Ann
KcKnight, who talks about an example where she has personally used
restorative circles in an educational setting.
Some
of the students who talked with Cushman and Rogers (2008) also talked
about systems they've used in their classrooms that sound very familiar
to the idea of restorative circles. Thea, for example, said, "We have a
town meeting and the seventh graders come with the eighth graders. Or
we get a partner with the seventh graders, and then we talk about our
thing and tell them how we feel and stuff like that" (p. 45). This
approach to conflict resolution allows students to explore what emotions
they are putting out into their community and how those emotions are
being received, especially at a time when, developmentally, middle
school students are just figuring out who they are, what they believe,
how they plan to act, and they're trying on different personalities and
personae to see which one fits best.
As
an intentional teacher, I plan to introduce my students to the use of
restorative circles in one form or another as a method of conflict
resolution. I also plan to involve my students in creating their own
classroom norms, and parts of their curriculum to help show them that
they do have the power to affect change in a positive way. I wish to
empower my students, above all, with confidence that they can learn,
they can succeed, and it's up to them to have a positive outlook.
References
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. (1988). Corporal punishment in
schools. Retrieved from http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/policy_statements
/corporal_punishment_in_schools
Cushman, K., & Rogers, L. (2008). Fires in the middle school bathroom: Advice for
teachers from middle schoolers. New York, NY: The New Press.
Garmon, M. (2013). In Restorative justice (Making healing part of justice). Retrieved
from http://lakechalice.blogspot.com/2013/02/making-healing-part-of-justice.html
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