Circle Pedagogy in Criminal Justice Education at a PWI: A Student/Faculty Collaborative Autoethnography

Abstract

The restorative justice movement is grounded in the longstanding traditions and philosophies of indigenous and First Nation communities. As a restorative practice, circles have the potential to reactively repair harms and proactively build and strengthen community bonds. More recently, circles have been used to facilitate dialogues in a variety of community settings, including workplaces, schools, and correctional institutions. The authors first met as teacher and student at a Predominantly White Institution in a Race and Crime course where the instructor used circles in a classroom context. The circle as a pedagogy encourages critical thinking and community engagement as an alternative to a traditional banking pedagogy. By emphasizing values such as voluntariness, vulnerability, and egalitarianism, circles mirror a Freirean dialogical pedagogy. The authors went on to form a mentor-mentee relationship and attended online community circles together. This exploratory paper reflects on the authors’ experiences in classroom and community circles in order to share what they have learned about the purpose and application of circles. In the classroom, circles provide students with a safe space to have their voices heard and to listen to the perspectives of others, thus allowing them to engage in productive dialogues about controversial subjects.

Keywords:

• Circle pedagogy
• restorative justice
• autoethnography
• race and crime

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Talking piece is an object that is meaningful to the circle-keeper, the “person holding the talking piece has the undivided attention of everyone else in the Circle and can speak without interruption” (Pranis, 2005).

2 Centerpiece “represents the center of the community, reminds us of our collective nature, and provides a place for participants to rest their eyes. Like the talking piece, center pieces are even more meaningful when they represent something of value.” (Finch, 2017).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vanessa Lynn

Vanessa Lynn is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Marist College.

Anna T. Chase

Anna Chase is currently a master’s student in the Counseling Program with a specialization in the Clinical Mental Health program at the University of Southern Maine.