Our country’s education system is in a dire state, and it needs to be altered. We cannot keep walking down the wrong road and wait for things to get altered on their own suddenly. Therefore, at present, it becomes extremely important to find a new way of handling things in our schools – a process that will not just stop the overwhelming decline that has plagued our education sector at this moment but also produce the preferred results. And the solution lies in restorative education.

Restorative education stands for a form of education where outdated, unprogressive methods are abandoned for restorative and healthy practices to promote better understanding and relationships among people. It is necessary to opt for restorative education because it addresses the problems that have overwhelmed the education sector at present.

Our Troubled Education System

The problems our education system finds itself entangled in did not happen suddenly. They have been triggered by historical issues that existed for a pretty long time but were managed badly. Consequently, these issues persisted and have refused to go away to date. If we are truly planning to advance education, we must rely on restorative education, which can act as a cure for the disorder prevalent in this sector.

Roles to Be Played By Restorative Education

As mentioned earlier, restorative education will significantly help lessen the rampant crisis in our schools. Given below are some vital roles it should play.

Addressing Discrimination in Schools

The goal of restorative education is to improve our education system’s flawed aspect. A well-documented issue is the social problem of gender and racial inequality. Despite this issue being a recognized one, finding an effective way to get rid of it has often proved hard. The cases of bullying, which are connected with gender and racial differences, are being reported at an alarmingly increasing rate. It is anticipated that restorative education will decrease the frequency of this problem in our schools. It is likely to make the students involved understand what their actions can trigger and then help improve the relationships among people of different genders and races.

Enhancing the Value of Teacher-Student Relationships

Restorative education should help in creating high-quality teacher-student relationships. It has been discovered by multiple studies that a rock-solid relationship between teachers and their students helps improve academic performance. But it is sad to notice that the teacher-student relationship in schools is not so great. Students have a tendency to see their teachers as boring, strict individuals who feel happy by making their life agonizing. On the other hand, teachers consider their students to be unserious. This is where restorative education can help. It must address troubling issues in schools, such as the use of punitive measures. For instance, in a school where students are disciplined with corporal punishment, an alternative method of making them reflect on their faults and becoming repentant can be used.

Parting Thoughts

It is high time we stop the declining standards of America’s education and pull the plug on the appalling state this sector is in. I am sure that the solution to this chaos is to choose restorative education.