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When we have this kind of punitive form of

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punishment, what I would ask is what is it

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teaching children in the long run? Punitive punishment is

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not the answer because it doesn't teach our

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children anything. Welcome to Neuroeducation, where

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we're exploring the neuroscience of how to switch on the brain to

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supercharge learning. I'll be sharing with you innovative teaching techniques,

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effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm

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your host, Angie Deeee. Together, let's revolutionize children's

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learning. Hello

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and welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.

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Thank you for tuning in for this episode. We're going

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to be diving in deep to looking at

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the reality of punishments and restorative

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justice within education, but this is also something

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that we can reflect on at home with how

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we treat our children and what kind of consequences

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punishments we're giving our own children and

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what really works in the long term. Traditionally in

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school we have what you would call a punitive method

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of punishment. That means if you've done

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something bad you get punished, you've been naughty,

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here's your punishment. You get a detention or you get a suspension or

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you get expulsion if you've done it enough times.

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But I would ask you to think, what

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is this teaching our children? If

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they've done something that's incorrect, if

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they've misbehaved and you give

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them a punishment that doesn't fit the crime, they

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bully somebody, they get a detention. Has

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the bullying stopped or

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will it stop? Maybe, maybe not. But has the child learned

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anything to improve that behaviour? So

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has they learned something to be, how to be more compassionate, how to relate

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more empathetically to, let's say if they bully Jessica, have

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they thought about that more deeply? Have they changed

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their morals to be kinder to

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others? So when we have this kind

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of punitive form of punishment, what

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I would ask is what is it teaching children in the long run?

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Is it teaching them to be responsible for their actions? Is

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it teaching them to make amends? to

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resolve their problems, to resolve their

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actions and ideally to reconnect with

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whoever the person is that they've done it to, to make

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sure they have made amends for the whole situation. Because

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ideally that's the kind of skill we want for life. If

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we fast forward 20 years and they're in a relationship and

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we have a husband and a wife partnership, what

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do we want each adult to be able

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to do in that relationship. If they make a mistake, if they've

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messed up, if they've done something wrong. We want them to be able to

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make amends. We want them to be able to talk about it, maybe to

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say sorry. We want them to have some kind of interception which

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means understanding what happened, what was going on in their mind, what

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was going on in their bodies, why did they act like that and

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how can they make a positive change not to do that in the future. So

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they're not re-acting negatively but they're responding consciously. If

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we want that to happen between husbands and wives or

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in between co-workers, in between adults, we

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have to coach children how to be able to do that from a young age.

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Punitive punishment is not the answer because

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it doesn't teach our children anything. Yes, they get

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disciplined for something they've done, but it doesn't teach them how

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not to do it in the future or how to change their behaviour.

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Restorative justice is the new buzzword in

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America and it's a buzzword for a big reason. It

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is working and transforming the lives of

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parents, teachers, and students in

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American schools. In one American school

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where they implemented restorative justice, which means

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we're going to restore relationships

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and restore what has gone on to make

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amends. So where they've implemented restorative

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justice, they have seen misbehaviour.

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That means students acting out, and

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suspensions and expulsions reduce by

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50%. Now if

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you could go to any teacher in a primary school or

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a high school around Australia and you could say I can

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reduce misbehaviour, suspensions and

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expulsions by 50% I'm sure

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they would be all ears. tell me how you're doing it,

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because it's something we all face. Unfortunately,

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with the demands of the curriculum, which we can debate later

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about how appropriate these demands of

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certain curriculums are in Australia, with the demands of the curriculum

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and the pressures that teachers face and the pressures students face,

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They are literally on a steam train going through

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subject after subject. How engaged are they? How interested

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are they? How empowered are they in their educational journey?

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Unfortunately for the teacher and the student, not a lot in

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our educational structure in Australia. However, this

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is something all teachers and even

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parents at home can do to improve

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student behaviour. And that is called connection.

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Restorative justice is about preventative first. So

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we're preventing the behaviour by connecting with a student. And

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if you think about this, if there's a teacher that

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you really like, how often did you

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misbehave for that teacher? Very rarely.

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If there's a teacher you didn't like, how often did

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you misbehave for that teacher? In Montessori,

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The first few weeks of any schooling year

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is really about bringing the students and the teachers together

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and making sure there's a cohesive classroom environment.

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So just like when you get to finally go on a school camp

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and they play all these team games, This is

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what is done at the beginning of every school year in Montessori and

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I feel like if teachers invest more

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time at the beginning of the school year, yes demands

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aside, into allowing children to

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build those relationships in the classroom and consciously building

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those relationships with their students then

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what we see is better and better behaviour. And the restorative justice

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and the research on it in America is so clear.

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It works. Yes, it takes time. It's

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not a one stop shop. It's going to be fixed in a minute. It

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takes time, but it works. It's an approach that

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works for the long term. And

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if you want a positive classroom environment, if

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you want your children to feel connected and

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to be working positively

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with you and with others around you for not

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just fear of punishment but for the joy of

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connection then this is something you

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want to be able to implement and research more on. Restorative

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justice, it's a buzzword and that's just

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because it works. Thank you for tuning in

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to this podcast. Do us a massive favor.

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