Complexity in restorative justice education circles: Power and privilege in voicing perspectives about sexual health, identities, and relationships

Abstract

ABSTRACT Restorative justice pedagogies, such as dialogue or peacemaking circles, allow students to learn how to share and listen with peers, set boundaries for moral dialogue, and engage constructively with each other’s perspectives. This study is part of a larger project focused on teachers’ professional development and circle implementation. The focus of this article is on one teacher’s approach to using circles in teaching her intermediate health curriculum unit, situated in a school with a strong restorative justice initiative. In this restorative classroom, dialogue was integrated into regularly enacted academic as well as interpersonal curriculum; this interrupted, or at times reaffirmed, the status quo. Data includes classroom observations, professional development observations, teacher and student interviews, and a reflective researcher journal. Dialogue enacted in this classroom illustrated moral issues students grappled with, relating to sexual health, inclusive sexual identities, and sociocultural relationships. Results illustrated how the teacher’s pedagogical choices transmitted values and shaped opportunities for critical dialogue, and that students’ social and cultural capital impacted how certain topics were discussed.