Teachers of Color Implementing Restorative Justice Practices in Elementary Classrooms: A DisCrit Analysis

ABSTRACT

This article provides case studies of two elementary school teachers of color who enact restorative justice practices in their classrooms, which include students of color with disabilities. Although the positive effects of restorative justice practices has been well-documented for general education classrooms, less is known about how restorative justice interacts with disability justice and accounts for disability and difference. Additionally, there has been little research on the influences of restorative justice practices with young children, including those in early elementary grades. In this study, we explored these gaps and how two teachers of color envisioned and enacted restorative justice practices. Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) illuminates how teachers of color navigate structural racism and ableism through restorative justice practices in their classrooms. The article concludes with recommendations for building networks and community to resist institutional barriers to implementation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Notes

1. The term multiply marginalized refers to the ways in which youth of color with disabilities are treated and experience the US school system (see Kulkarni, 2021).

2. We looked for TOCs who self-identified as using RJ in their classrooms practically and conceptually, but given the limited research on restorative practices with students of color with disabilities, we did not identify specific RJPs that the TOCs needed to employ.

3. As noted by an Individualized Education Plan or 504 Plan.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Saili S. Kulkarni

Saili S. Kulkarni (she/her/hers; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8133-798) is an associate professor of special education at San José State University. Her work specializes in DisCrit in teacher education. She is the cochair of the Disability Studies in Education Special Interest Group for the American Educational Research Association and the principal investigator of a Racial Equity Special Grant from the Spencer Foundation focused on restorative, humanizing discipline practices for young children of color with disabilities.

Melanie M. Chong

Melanie M. Chong (she/her/hers) is a graduate student in special education at Vanderbilt University.