"When Old Ideas Feel New Again: Restorative Practices Rooted in History"
If there’s one phrase that stands out as a groan-inducer at end-of-summer PD, it’s surely, “This year’s new initiative is _____________.” Especially if the “new initiative” has a familiar ring.
We’ve talked with many veteran teachers who have experienced the new initiative merry-go-round for decades. A school or district adopts the latest popular instructional or behavioral approach, then moves away from it to something different in a year or two. And sometimes, one of these “new” approaches feels awfully similar to something that was introduced years before. This is the embodiment of cycles in educational reforms, where old things come back again, perhaps with an update, or wrapped in a prettier package. It is a natural part of being an educator–and sometimes it leads to cynicism, eye rolls, and yes, groans.
We’d like to offer a counter-argument: spiralling around to revisit a foundational teaching approach actually provides an opportunity to refresh and grow our practices.
New initiatives grow out of a push for education reform.
Education Reform is a phrase that is used a lot. It pops up in political campaigns, town hall meetings, and (of course) professional development. Essentially, education reform happens when effort is put towards consistent improvement of our schools, with the goal of fully educating our young people so they can contribute to our society as a whole.
One way to achieve education reform is through progressive education.
Progressive education in a nutshell is a way to achieve education reform. It is a student-centered, rather than a teacher-driven, approach to learning. The Education Revolution Association breaks it down beautifully and makes what we think is an excellent case for using it.
Let’s position RP in the education reform cycle.
Restorative Practices have certainly been highlighted as one of these new initiatives in schools in recent years. With the goal of creating safe and supportive environments for all, as well as building skills to face and learn from mistakes, RP provides an alternative to authoritarian disciplinary practices. This includes both proactive community-building and a significant shift in responses to challenging behaviors.
The roots of RP are ancient.
It’s important to note that Restorative Practices are NOT new even if the phrase is relatively new to some in education. They are both ancient and modern in scope. Thousands of years ago, our human ancestors lived in small communities where every person brought value (*ahem* survival) to the group. There had to be a way for someone who caused harm to learn from their mistake and to re-integrate. Over the ensuing centuries, some communities of people never forgot how they built and maintained relationships, despite massive efforts of colonizing forces to demonize, destroy, and erase this knowledge. In North America, many Indigenous groups keep this way of life alive, and have even shared their knowledge with others (which benefits us here at P2RC. Please refer to our Land Acknowledgment page to learn more about the relationship between RP and its Indigenous roots).
RP-type practices have been bearing fruit for decades
For over 100 years educational thinkers have returned to the ideas of doing “with” rather than “to” students; the importance of community; teaching the whole person; and thinking critically about issues of power and oppression.
John Dewey and Democracy in Education (Late 1800’s - Mid 1900’s)
By the late 19th century in America, the US education system was firmly established and most American kids were attending school fairly regularly. Just a few decades later, in 1916, John Dewey wrote his groundbreaking book Democracy in Education. In it, Dewey collected research and other educational philosophers’ ideas and synthesized them. Albeit through a settler-colonial point of view, he makes a case to reform public education, positing that “education is not a preparation for life, but is life itself.” A good education fosters continuous growth, adaptability, and the ability to keep learning. Student-focused classrooms, experiential opportunities, and social as well as academic skill-building are priorities in Dewey’s publication. Though this book is over 100 years old, Dewey remains a strong guiding presence in progressive education today. We recommend you read this excellent article if you want to delve deeper into Dewey’s relevance to current-day education.
Maria Montessori (Late 1800’s - Mid 1900’s)
Around the same time as Dewey, Maria Montessori was developing her own approach to education. She published books well into the mid-20th century, such as To Educate the Human Potential in 1948. Like Dewey, Montessori advocated for student-centered and experiential learning opportunities. She taught teachers to observe their students (calling it follow the child) and provide engaging lessons in a prepared environment. Montessori wrote about teaching even the youngest students how to take care of their environment with her Practical Life lessons — have you ever drunk fresh-ground coffee made by a 5-year old? I have, and it’s pretty marvelous. Montessori and Dewey certainly do not overlap in every area, but her approach centers children and treats education as part of one’s whole life; and Montessori schools continue to spread across the US and world today. We can see Montessori’s approach reflected in RP through the practice of hospitality and welcome, honoring the needs of the whole person, and a focus on community care.
Paulo Freire (Mid-Late 1900’s)
Brazilian-born philosopher and educator Paulo Freire renewed the progressive idea of learning with children, as opposed to teaching to children, in his work Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970). Freire wants to empower students so they can transform their worlds, not just take their assigned place in the hierarchy of the establishment. He emphasizes the importance of real-life experiences and seeks to educate those living on the socioeconomic margins of society. His influence remains relevant today, and we see his ideas reflected in the values inherent to Circle practice. Freire describes dialogue as a process of mutual learning, where everyone's voice is valued; learning through dialogue requires respect, trust, and a willingness to challenge one's own assumptions. In order for learning to be effective there needs to be an equity of voice amongst participants.
bell hooks (Late 1900’s-2020’s)
Where Paolo Freire’s views were limited by his tight focus on patriarchal values, bell hooks widened the lens. She echoes her predecessors when she frames education as a way to empower students to become self-actualized adults, but she also emphasizes elevating Black people, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community: Her 1994 book Teaching to Transgress challenges teachers to integrate love for the whole person into their pedagogy: “To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.” Before Restorative Practices were a “buzz word” in education, bell hooks advocated for the power of community building, reminding us that “our own capacity to generate excitement [in our classroom community] is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.”
Gholdy Muhammad (Current)
Building upon hooks’ focus on reaching traditionally marginalized groups, Gholdy Muhammad is active in today’s education reform landscape. In her 2020 work Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy, she explains her Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL) Framework, which guides educators as they seek to move beyond traditional “teach to the test” schooling to more authentic approaches. Muhammad stresses the importance of affirming one’s identity, developing solid academic skills, strengthening knowledge of the world, thinking critically about issues of power and oppression, and centering joy in learning. By creating the HRL Framework, Muhammad furthers the work of hooks and those before her, as well as highlights restorative tenets such as curiosity, strengths-based thinking, and dignity for all.
Un-groan the new initiatives
Now that we’ve explored various progressive thinkers in education, let’s reframe how we view these so-called new initiatives. No new initiative is a panacea. We build on what was good about past practices and past learning and we evolve, integrate that new understanding, and create something better. When the next new initiative comes along, see if it actually validates what you already do. What is it about this new approach that is familiar? Where does it improve or even replace old thinking that didn’t serve you or your students? What we’re striving to do is to create the best possible environment for student achievement, and so we cycle back to things from the past – because they worked. We need to develop the grit to ride these cycles and see the big picture. We must continue to have high standards & high expectations, while also utilizing foundational ideas and tools from those who came before. We should not sacrifice one to achieve the other. So groan if you must; but then take a big breath to fill up the new space left in your lungs, and use it to grow.