Investigating the use of restorative justice circle process in individualized education plan meetings

Abstract

Parent satisfaction with Individualized Education Plan meetings varies widely. To improve parent satisfaction, the literature recommends improving parent involvement. Restorative justice circle process seeks to accomplish this by emphasising the value of individuals. Though circle process has been used in education, to my knowledge, it has not been used with parent-teacher conferences. During this study, restorative justice circle process was implemented in an IEP meeting and data was gathered before, during and after this meeting through semi-structured interviews. The focus of this research was parental perspective relating to this new approach to school-parent collaboration. It was determined that circle process allowed the creation of a space where relationship bonds were strengthened, power sharing occurred, and true collaboration was possible between parents and school staff.