Teaching restorative justice: developing a restorative andragogy for face-to-face, online and hybrid course modalities

Abstract

Teaching restorative justice in an academic setting is different from teaching almost any other academic course. Courses taught in the context of academic criminal justice programs tend to reinforce the structural inequalities in society, replicated and reinforced by instructor driven classroom experiences. In contrast, effective teaching of restorative justice should emulate the values of principles of restorative justice in the organization and management of the course. Teachers of restorative justice must 'walk the talk' and apply restorative principles and values to the design and delivery of the course itself. A conceptual framework for 'restorative andragogy' is developed that blends principles and values of adult learning with those of restorative justice. Four principles of this approach are identified and applied across three instructional modalities -faceto-face, online only, and hybrid courses. This approach provides a theoretically grounded model for effective teaching of restorative justice courses.

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Hybrid Course Modality to Increase Student Engagement and Mastery of Course Content in Undergraduate Research Methods Classes

“…The hybrid modality, which uses technology to encourage active learning, may have also done a better job of capturing student attention, increasing interest in the class, and easing anxiety about the material. Online components to education can serve to reduce psychological barriers to participating in class, freeing students to more fully engage with the material and their peers (see Braun, 2008;Gilbert, Schiff, & Cunliffe, 2013;Hummer, Sims, Wooditch, & Salley, 2010;Stack, 2013).…”

Restorative Pedagogy in the University Criminology Classroom: Learning about Restorative Justice with Restorative Practices and Values

“…Largely, the development of restorative pedagogy scholarship to date stems from two areas: restorative schooling (Hopkins 2003(Hopkins , 2012Morrison and Vaandering 2012;Vaandering 2014aVaandering , 2014bMorrison 2015); and education on restorative justice (Toews 2013;Pointer et al 2020;Pointer and McGoey 2019;Gilbert et al 2013). Restorative schooling not only involves the use of restorative justice practices in reaction to harmful behaviour or conflict, in many cases restorative values and principles are actively used within school communities to inform interactions and relationship building (Morrison 2007;Hopkins 2003).…”

“…In this way, if education is taking place in an environment centred on restorative practices and values, and in which educators are guided by restorative values, such as a restorative school, this promotes that all teaching and learning activities, in relation to any topic, will likely involve restorative pedagogy. Secondly, the development of restorative justice education, in a range of contexts, has also shaped knowledge regarding restorative pedagogy (Vaandering 2014b;Toews 2013;Pointer et al 2020;Pointer and McGoey 2019;Gilbert et al 2013). In this context, restorative pedagogy refers both to teaching and learning about restorative justice, as well as facilitating this education in a restorative way (Pointer et al 2020).…”

“…Despite the progression of restorative justice, and the expansion of higher education, Deckert and Wood highlight "surprisingly little has been written on how the subject is taught within universities" (Deckert and Wood 2013, p. 70). The relevance of restorative justice to degree level criminology curricula, as well as evaluations, approaches, and reflections on including and teaching the topic in criminology and/or criminal justice degree programmes have been the focus of previous research by academics in the United States of America (USA) (Smith-Cunnien and Parilla 2001;Britto and Reimund 2013;Carson and Bussler 2013;Kitchen 2013;Waltman-Spreha 2013;Gilbert et al 2013;Stroup 2019) and in New Zealand (Deckert and Wood 2013). However, no previous studies have explored restorative justice teaching and learning in criminology across multiple degree programmes or in a UK context.…”

African American pre-service physical education teachers’ learning about aquatic courses

“…Second, the pre-service teachers and the course instructors should increase social interactions and be open and responsive (Gilbert et al, 2013). Lewis et al (2015) recommend using peer assessment in facilitating peer feedback and evaluation within an aquatic course discussion.…”