Hacking School Discipline

Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein wrote Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy & Responsibility Using Restorative Justice as a part of the Hack Learning Series. These books all describe a group of "hacks" around various educational issues. We may be familiar with the definitions of hack being to cut roughly or gain unauthorized access to data, but a less common definition: to manage or cope, is what the series producers are utilizing.

The books follow a formula for each hack: define the problem, describe the solution, what you can do tomorrow, a blueprint for full implementation, overcoming pushback, and the hack in action (vignette). The nine hacks the book describes are:

1. create a culture of communication
2. restorative circles
3. teach acceptance of responsibility
4. create, clear consistent expectations
5. foster a growth mindset
6. teach mindfulness
7. cultivate empathy
8. build restorative support
9. use data to track success, increase attention on important items and modify programs in response to need.

The authors clearly have successfully utilized the components of restorative justice for many years. The text would be a good overview for a staff book study when a building was contemplating adopting restorative as a behavior program. It provides some good information but is probably inadequate to independently support the implementation of a program, particularly since doing so is a culture shift which takes time, training and support. The authors agree that a slow measured roll out is the way to develop expertise and garner support.

I like the three building-wide expectations they set forth:

1. engage in productive work
2. maintain a safe and clean environment
3. share space effectively (p. 82).

Other restorative justice plans I have seen increase the number to 5. These three seem broad enough to incorporate most concerns. Other authors have spelled out examples of what these expectations look like in different settings (ex. the bus, cafeteria, hall, math class), but these authors do not. In order to clearly communicate to students and staff what these mean, I think some work spelling out those issues is important. After all, productive work is not accomplishing one math problem during independent work time and then watching videos on your phone.

Two codicils are mentioned toward the end of the book. "If data shows that a certain strategy is not as effective with a certain subset of students, then adjust!" (p. 154) A couple of years ago I worked with a program and they instituted a particular Tier 2 intervention with a couple of students whose behaviors actually increased under the intervention- in frustration, I collected the data and presented to the tier 2 committee 15 weeks into the intervention. It still required a huge push to get something else into place. Early in my career I attended a week long Elements of Instruction workshop whose key components was monitor and adjust. We need to do this for our programs so that we can ensure they are having the impact we want.

"All staff must be consistent and committed to the mission of the MTSS [multitiered system of supports] model and the embedded restorative practices for this to work" (p. 154). I have seen staff sabotage interventions because they so not believe in them. I have seen the results of inconsistent implementation. It is not pretty. A slow roll out with discussion at staff meetings about success and challenges as the process occurs is important. Teachers will buy in when they see success, but poorly articulated or clearly thought out programs will encourage rigidity. Lack of training will result in poorly implemented and ineffective programs. Let the naysayer see positive results with their kids in someone else's classroom. Instead of ignoring their concerns, address them. Restorative Justice programs have been shown to be highly effective if they are properly implemented. Poorly implemented, they often exacerbate problems.