The biggest thing that stood out to me from watching the videos is how uncomfortable I think I would be in one of these circles.
Despite my squirmishness about it all, I am impressed by the goal of trying to understand the perspective of others and get to the root causes of the problem.
If the change in climate of the Philadelphia school is as dramatic as the videos claim, and the change can really be attributed to restorative discipline practices, I am impressed.
Questions I have include:
Does this really work, and how can we really measure if it works? Anecdotal evidence doesn't really impress me. How can we collect hard data to tell what effect it has?
How much time does all this take away from me teaching math?
David, I agree with your comment. I would feel extremely uncomfortable in this situation as well. However, i thought that the videos were great examples as to how to handle students and conflict. I do however, also agree with the evidence factor. I wish there would have been more scientific backup to these practices.
ReplyDeleteI am with you Dave. It seems good on paper and edited video but I wonder how much good it would do to get some thug to tell their feelings. Maybe it could work but it would be a whole new world for guys to enter.
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