GENDER BIAS, RESTORATIVE PRACTICE A Critical Reflective Analysis on the Implicit Gender Bias of Restorative Practice Megan Whitney Pennsylvania State University Problem Statement The purpose of this action research project is to determine how most teachers describe their disciplinary practice using an electronic multiple-choice survey to gather preliminary quantitative data. This survey will be created using the Restorative Practice’s social discipline window to define the four basic approaches to discipline: Punitive, neglectful, permissive, and restorative. I will then use the collected data to facilitate in-person surveys and interviews with 4 female teachers that identified themselves as permissive. I will use a ranking style survey apply the concept of individuation to evaluate on a scale of 1 – 10 how they define their unique characteristics. This data will then be the guide to the interview where I will gather the teacher’s personal narrative of an experience...
During the last exploration, I dove into restorative practices. I spent a large amount of time looking closely at the social discipline window. The International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) uses this concept originally modeled by the work of a corrections researcher, Daniel Glaser and the thinking of a criminologist, John Braithwaite. Together, their thinking suggests that “human beings are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more likely to make positive changes in their behavior when those in positions of authority do things with them, rather than to them or for them.”(Wachtel, 2005) . This concept can be used by educators and others who are concerned with cultivating leadership by assessing the efficiency of the approach they are using. What I found most interesting about the framework was their identification of the four types of power that is utilized within the four different quadrants. Those who practice punitive discipline must mai...