O difícil encontro da justiça com a educação: problematizações sobre a justiça restaurativa

What this is about

This article from the University of São Paulo examines how restorative justice arrived in São Paulo schools and what meanings it acquires there. It draws on two training materials: the document of the Justiça e Educação program in Heliópolis and Guarulhos, prepared by CECIP, and the CDHEP report from Campo Limpo. To these it adds eight interviews conducted in 2015 with teachers from two municipal schools in Jardim Ângela, in the south of São Paulo, who had gone through CDHEP training. The approach is critical and draws on authors such as Ricoeur, Derrida, Fraser, and Bauman to think about what a just school is. It is addressed to education researchers and to teams that design or apply restorative programs in schools.

Annotated table of contents

• Introdução (Introduction). Presents the research from which the article arises and its framework in the struggle for democratization and human rights in Brazil. Runs through the ideas of justice of Ricoeur, Derrida, and Fraser that guide the questions about the what, who, and how of justice.
• Justiça e educação de mãos dadas? A introdução da justiça restaurativa (Justice and education hand in hand? The introduction of restorative justice). Describes the training material of the Justiça e Educação program and recalls that restorative justice was formally introduced in Brazil in 2004, with three pilot projects, one of them in São Caetano do Sul. Raises the question of transferring these practices from the Judiciary to the school.
• "Quando justiça e educação querem andar de mãos dadas": conflitos e violência («When justice and education want to walk hand in hand»: conflicts and violence). Analyzes how the document justifies the alliance by school violence without offering a diagnosis of that violence. Reviews the values the text attributes to restorative justice and discusses, with Bauman, the idea of a crisis of values.
• A transformação de escolas e comunidades (The transformation of schools and communities). Examines the goal of making justice more educational and education more just. Points out that the document equates incivilities, conflicts, and violence without clarifying which will be addressed.
• Os casos da justiça restaurativa (The cases of restorative justice). Shows that circles are reserved for disciplinary infractions and minor offenses committed by adolescents. Warns that the lack of clear definitions can lead to criminalizing conduct and to excessive control in schools.
• "Reconhecer, responsabilizar-se, restaurar" («Acknowledge, take responsibility, restore»). Presents the CDHEP report on cases in São Caetano do Sul and Campo Limpo, which exposes limits and tensions of the practice. Highlights three contributions: listening, openness to otherness, and breaking rigid classifications, which it links to Bauman and to Duschatzky and Skliar.
• Entrevistas com os/as professores/as que iniciam trabalhos com justiça restaurativa nas escolas (Interviews with the teachers who are starting restorative justice work in schools). Describes the profile of the eight people interviewed, four men and four women, their prior knowledge of the figure of the mediating teacher, and their expectations. In the section «Quais são os casos?» (What are the cases?) it analyzes the episodes reported, such as a fruit fight in the cafeteria, disrespect toward teachers, gender-related aggression, and religious intolerance, and asks whether they call for a circle or for pedagogical action.
• Uma certa conclusão e novas perguntas: a escola ficará mais justa com a introdução da justiça restaurativa? (A certain conclusion and new questions: will the school become more just with the introduction of restorative justice?). Gathers the answers: four teachers believe the school would be more just and the rest express doubts or limits. Concludes that there is hope in the proposal, though not an expectation that it will deeply transform school relationships.
• Referências (References). Lists the bibliography cited, including the documents by Ednir (2007) and CDHEP (2014).

Key ideas

• The passage of restorative justice from the judicial system to the school deserves to be problematized, because these are institutions with different logics.
• The training documents justify the proposal by school violence, but they do not define what violence occurs or how often.
• Without distinguishing indiscipline, incivility, and violence, the proposal risks expanding control and criminalization of adolescent conduct.
• The CDHEP report shows that the restorative field is not uniform and that circles do not by themselves guarantee transformation.
• Listening, openness to the other person, and the revision of fixed labels are the contributions the article recognizes in restorative practice.
• In the interviews, cases of violence are rare; the proposal is understood mainly as conflict mediation and as a way of working on discipline, with respect as the goal.
• Many of the cases reported would call for a whole-school pedagogical response rather than a restorative circle.
• Teachers express distress and a lack of spaces in which to be heard, and some see the circle as a place for that.

Practical uses

• Which school situations should be taken to a restorative circle, and which require pedagogical action?
• How can a restorative program in a school be prevented from ending up expanding control over students?
• What do teachers expect from training in restorative justice, and what doubts does it raise for them?
• What diagnosis of conflict and violence is needed before implementing a program in a school?
• What place does teacher suffering have in school restorative practices?

Key terms

restorative justice, just school, education, restorative circles, conflict mediation, mediating teacher, school violence, indiscipline, incivilities, otherness, human rights, ECA, teacher training, São Paulo