Restorative Literacies: Creating a Community of Care in Schools

Through eight compelling stories of restorative literacies, Wolter explores the complex relationships among cognition, metacognition, identity, behavior in schools, and literacies. Based on the principles of restorative justice, restorative literacies are designed to help educators repair harm, restore relationships, and expand the concept of literacy for some of our most disenfranchised and disengaged students. Restorative literacies are not just about growing readers and writers per se. They are about creating a community of care that involves students, teachers, administrators, and families so that all students experience racially, culturally, linguistically, and economically responsive instruction in multiple forms of literacies. Drawing on the author’s rich experiences cultivating a love of reading among her students and studying the practices of other educators, Restorative Literacies advances a provocative set of examples about centering the voice and stories of people in our quest to humanize and reimagine how we care for, about, and with others.

Book Features:

  • Presents a literacy model of restorative justice that includes participation from teachers, principals, administrators, and parents.
  • Contains engaging narratives from elementary and secondary schools to illustrate concepts and strategies.
  • Explores compassionate listening as a conscious process of assuring that all involved are fully heard, a skill that requires removing assumptions, judgement, and bias.
  • Identifies practices that take a positive view of learners, as opposed to referring students to special education.
  • Uses restoration as an alternative to pushout practices that are designed to control students and often prevent them from reaching their capacity.

“Restorative Literacies offers a refreshing perspective on the power of story in cultivating emancipatory, restorative, and transformative contexts of learning, teaching, and development. . . . During these times of civil and civic unrest, this is the book we need in education.”
—From the Foreword by H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education, Vanderbilt University

1138416133
Restorative Literacies: Creating a Community of Care in Schools

Through eight compelling stories of restorative literacies, Wolter explores the complex relationships among cognition, metacognition, identity, behavior in schools, and literacies. Based on the principles of restorative justice, restorative literacies are designed to help educators repair harm, restore relationships, and expand the concept of literacy for some of our most disenfranchised and disengaged students. Restorative literacies are not just about growing readers and writers per se. They are about creating a community of care that involves students, teachers, administrators, and families so that all students experience racially, culturally, linguistically, and economically responsive instruction in multiple forms of literacies. Drawing on the author’s rich experiences cultivating a love of reading among her students and studying the practices of other educators, Restorative Literacies advances a provocative set of examples about centering the voice and stories of people in our quest to humanize and reimagine how we care for, about, and with others.

Book Features:

  • Presents a literacy model of restorative justice that includes participation from teachers, principals, administrators, and parents.
  • Contains engaging narratives from elementary and secondary schools to illustrate concepts and strategies.
  • Explores compassionate listening as a conscious process of assuring that all involved are fully heard, a skill that requires removing assumptions, judgement, and bias.
  • Identifies practices that take a positive view of learners, as opposed to referring students to special education.
  • Uses restoration as an alternative to pushout practices that are designed to control students and often prevent them from reaching their capacity.

“Restorative Literacies offers a refreshing perspective on the power of story in cultivating emancipatory, restorative, and transformative contexts of learning, teaching, and development. . . . During these times of civil and civic unrest, this is the book we need in education.”
—From the Foreword by H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education, Vanderbilt University

22.49 In Stock
Restorative Literacies: Creating a Community of Care in Schools

Restorative Literacies: Creating a Community of Care in Schools

by Deborah L. Wolter
Restorative Literacies: Creating a Community of Care in Schools

Restorative Literacies: Creating a Community of Care in Schools

by Deborah L. Wolter

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Overview

Through eight compelling stories of restorative literacies, Wolter explores the complex relationships among cognition, metacognition, identity, behavior in schools, and literacies. Based on the principles of restorative justice, restorative literacies are designed to help educators repair harm, restore relationships, and expand the concept of literacy for some of our most disenfranchised and disengaged students. Restorative literacies are not just about growing readers and writers per se. They are about creating a community of care that involves students, teachers, administrators, and families so that all students experience racially, culturally, linguistically, and economically responsive instruction in multiple forms of literacies. Drawing on the author’s rich experiences cultivating a love of reading among her students and studying the practices of other educators, Restorative Literacies advances a provocative set of examples about centering the voice and stories of people in our quest to humanize and reimagine how we care for, about, and with others.

Book Features:

  • Presents a literacy model of restorative justice that includes participation from teachers, principals, administrators, and parents.
  • Contains engaging narratives from elementary and secondary schools to illustrate concepts and strategies.
  • Explores compassionate listening as a conscious process of assuring that all involved are fully heard, a skill that requires removing assumptions, judgement, and bias.
  • Identifies practices that take a positive view of learners, as opposed to referring students to special education.
  • Uses restoration as an alternative to pushout practices that are designed to control students and often prevent them from reaching their capacity.

“Restorative Literacies offers a refreshing perspective on the power of story in cultivating emancipatory, restorative, and transformative contexts of learning, teaching, and development. . . . During these times of civil and civic unrest, this is the book we need in education.”
—From the Foreword by H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education, Vanderbilt University


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780807779491
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Publication date: 03/12/2021
Series: Language and Literacy Series
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 751 KB

About the Author

Deborah L. Wolter is a retired literacy consultant for Student Intervention and Support Services in Ann Arbor (Michigan) Public Schools. Her books include Reading Upside Down: Identifying and Addressing Opportunity Gaps in Literacy Instruction. Visit the author's website at deborahwolter.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword H. Richard Milner IV vii

Preface: Everyone Has a Story ix

Whose Stories Get Told? x

Chapter Overview xi

Acknowledgments xv

1 What Are Restorative Literacies? 1

Response, Repair, and Restoration 2

How Restorative Justice Informs Restorative Literacies 3

Considering the Community 4

Relationships Among Identity, Behavior, and Literacies 5

Humanity, Justice, and a Natural Sense of Curiosity 7

Children's Rights to Read 8

Relationships Among Responsive Teaching, Sustainability, and Restorative Practices 10

Restorative Literacies 13

2 Noticing the Language of Stories 15

Noticing the Language of Stories 16

Hearing the Language of Silence 19

Watching for Deficit Language 21

Hearing the Language of Race 22

Listening to Goals Instead of Systems 24

3 Compassionate Listening 28

Active Listening and Observing 29

Multiple Lenses 32

Developing Relationships 36

Trauma-Informed Listening 37

Responding to Difficult Behavior 38

Upholding Voices 40

4 Thinking About Literacies 42

Defining Literacies 43

Expanding the Literary Canon 45

Minding Gaps Between Reading Processes and Reading Instruction 50

Literacies in Context 56

5 Restoring Relationships 58

Testing and Vulnerability 59

Fostering Love of Literacies 60

Literacies in Communities and Schools 61

Access, Library Culture, and Diversity 62

Motivation and Engagement 65

Fostering Choice in Reading 67

Scaffolding Strategic Reading 71

Time and Space for Voluminous Reading 72

6 Repairing Harm 74

Dismantling Labels and Categories 75

Groups and Circles 78

Characters in a Restorative Circle 82

Restorative Circles With Multiple Lenses 83

Restorative Circles on Disciplinary Literacy 84

Strategic Reading in Restorative Circles 86

Thoughtfully Choosing and Abandoning Books 87

7 Strengthening Learning With Agency 89

Deeper Inclusion 91

Inquiry and Equity 92

Active Learning and Agency 95

8 Developing Leadership and Sustainability 98

Defining Leadership 99

Toward Sharing Power 101

Opportunities for Developing Leadership 102

A New Collaboration 104

9 Recognizing Literacies and Identities 108

Uncovering Identities 109

Decentering Whiteness 111

Toxic Posittvity 115

Fostering Readers' Identities 116

Conclusion: Restorative Literacies and Restorative Care 118

Stories of Humanity 119

References 122

Index 135

About the Author 144

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Restorative Literacies offers a refreshing perspective on the power of story in cultivating emancipatory, restorative, and transformative contexts of learning, teaching, and development….During these times of civil and civic unrest, this is the book we need in education.”
—From the Foreword by H. Richard Milner IV, Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Education, Vanderbilt University


“Wolter offers educators a definitive deep dive into transforming a classroom into a vital and inclusive space. Through storytelling and empowering the voices of students, Restorative Literacies takes restorative practices beyond ‘managing’ behavior and towards creating classrooms that honor human dignity and the uniqueness of every young person’s experience.”
John Bailie, president, IIRP Graduate School

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