A Cycle of Discipline at the Expense of Healing
By Mia Shaw
“Cool-out” corners. Sending students to other teachers’ classrooms. In-school suspensions.
In the world of education, these behavior management strategies make up some of what is referred to as exclusionary discipline practices, or any school disciplinary action that removes students from their usual classroom environment. For two years, I taught eighth-grade physical science at a Las Vegas middle school that was characterized as being low-performing compared to other middle schools in the city. While we experienced common middle-school misbehaviors throughout the year (i.e. tardies, off-task behavior, and chatting during instruction), there were also instances of truancy, physical fights, graffiti tagging, and the selling of illicit drugs. Unfortunately, the teachers on my team were not effectively trained on how to address such behaviors, so as a normative practice, the teachers and administrators (including myself) relied heavily on exclusionary discipline to address these behaviors, particularly the strategies mentioned above. What I found most troubling about our perspective on discipline was how aware we were of the various challenges and traumas many of the students were experiencing outside of school. While our intention was to create a positive environment where all students can learn, we assumed isolating or removing them from class would allow for the rest of the class to continue the lesson in the moment. However, the students most often punished became increasingly disengaged from school, there was a dissolution in our class community (as students began to identify some of their classmates as “bad kids” and sought to separate themselves from them), and at times an atmosphere of tension from students not wanting to disobey the rules in front of other students.
The disciplinary practices schools employ to manage student behavior can have a significant impact on school climate and ultimately student learning. However, in their attempt at negating misbehavior, many schools tend to rely heavily on traditional disciplinary practices (which emphasize negative consequences and social control strategies) that may temporarily curb student behavior but have detrimental effects in the long-run. Furthermore, exclusionary discipline, including suspension and expulsion, is most frequently used in schools serving students with the greatest academic, social, emotional, and economic need and tends to disproportionately target students of color, boys, and students who are considered low-performing. Despite its intention to deter students from misbehaving, exclusionary discipline increases the risk of students not only repeating other undesired behaviors but also not graduating on time, dropping out of school, or becoming involved in the juvenile and criminal justice system through what has been termed the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
Fortunately, there have been schools that have worked to shift their disciplinary practices from those considered individualistic and punitive to those that emphasize community, learning, and healing. For example, programs like Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth in Oakland, California provide an alternative to zero-tolerance policies. Restorative justice (RJ) brings together people who have harmed with people who have been harmed in a constructive circle where both parties attempt to understand why the harm was caused and discuss solutions to repair it. Because punitive discipline creates additional harm by emphasizing the punishment, RJ works to understand the needs of the people affected by the original harm and provide a space for healing. Other schools have replaced detention with having students practice meditation and yoga. The goal was to provide students from low-income neighborhoods marked by high-crime rates with strategies to cope with their stress and anger.
Restorative justice and mindfulness practices are only some of the efforts school districts are employing as a way to address the disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline on Black and Latino students. While schools continue to explore alternative methods to discipline students and create a positive learning environment, I would like to call attention to three points that schools and their respective districts should consider:
The relationship between school structure and the reliance on punitive discipline. Schools should reflect on what structures they have in place that can create a reliance on teachers utilizing exclusionary disciplinary practices. What are schoolwide attitudes regarding discipline as a practice? Is the objective of discipline to shame and punish or to repair harm? Are there many first-year teachers at the school who are overwhelmed by the demands of their first year? Are there law enforcement officers present at the school who create a feeling of threat for students?
Racialized biases among teachers and administrators. Many Black and Latino students are constantly disciplined due to school personnel negatively perceiving their behaviors or being hypervigilant in their observations of certain Black and Latino students (as if looking for them to misbehave). Teachers and administrators should examine potential biases they may have against their students of color.
Need for more school counselors and psychologists. At many schools, one counselor is responsible for hundreds and hundreds of cases of students. Due to the lack of counselors, teachers, administrators, and out-of-school coordinators—who are already juggling an unreasonable amount of responsibilities—become the ones in charge of meeting the emotional needs of students (whether or not they have the training to do so). This has created a need for districts and local governments to invest in bringing more school counselors and psychologists to schools with the most need.