Restorative justice leads to more bad behaviour in classrooms, say teachers
BAD behaviour in classrooms is being fuelled by fashionable “restorative justice” schemes, the head of a teachers’ union has said.
The schemes are failing to deter unruly pupils from misbehaving, according to Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).
She said that restorative policies were fine in principle but poor implementation could lead to teachers becoming “disempowered” and discipline getting worse.
Some schools were interpreting restorative justice as merely having a conversation with a pupil about the incident, without any sanctions being applied.
In such cases, a senior leader at the school would preside over a meeting where both the teacher and student set out their version of events, and then come to an agreement about what happened. “What members are telling us is that in some schools, all that is happening is that the restorative conversation is seen as the sanction in itself,” Ms Keates told The Daily Telegraph.
“And then pupils are thinking, ‘Well, there aren’t any sanctions here for what I do, all I’ve got to do is sit down and have a conversation with the teacher’. And so it isn’t a deterrent.”
She said that taking this approach signalled to pupils that teachers were considered “equally culpable” for bad behaviour and this led to an erosion of authority.
In recent years there has been a rise in popularity of restorative justice policies in schools, prompted by a greater focus on the principle in the criminal justice system, according to Ms Keates.
But she said that in some cases, these policies were making behaviour worse in schools by creating an atmosphere of impunity.
“Good pupil discipline comes having good leadership and making it clear that teachers have got to be respected, and setting out clear expectations on pupil behaviour” she said.
“Where that doesn’t take place, that makes the job in the classroom for teachers more difficult.”
Ms Keates said that poor discipline in schools was also being fuelled by larger class sizes due to a rise in student numbers coupled with teachers leaving the profession.
Cuts to local services had also led to more children with behaviour problems being educated in mainstream schools, she added.
Youngsters who would have previously been taught in specialist units or had specialist support were now in being integrated back into the classroom.
An Ofsted chief has spoken out against “demoralising” restorative justice policies in schools.
Sean Harford, national director of education at Ofsted, said last year that the policies had led to a pupil who had “played up in class and been insolent to the teacher” later lying about what happened.