Discipline that Restores: Strategies to Create Respect, Cooperation, and Responsibility in the Classroom

No education library should be without Discipline That Restores: Strategies to Create Respect, Cooperation, and Responsibility in the Classroom, a monumental effort to articulate a reproducible step-by-step process to increase cooperation and mutual respect in schools by coauthors Ron and Roxanne Claassen. Discipline That Restores (DTR) uniquely blends theory, strategies, and best practices of Conflict Resolution Education, Peacemaking, and Restorative Justice and is illustrated with a multitude of case studies to form an effective discipline system. Understanding the core issues of getting students to cooperate has never been so clear and concise. DTR supports the positive behavior of all students and is especially effective with those students who are most resistant to authority by involving them in processes that empower them to be responsible and accountable. DTR transforms discipline into learning experiences that decrease stress, improve effectiveness, and build relationships.

After teaching mathematics for ten years, Ron Claassen (M.A. M.Div. D.Min.) founded the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program in Fresno, the first in California. Along with an active mediation practice, he is a professor at Fresno Pacific University and the co-founder (1990) and director of its Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies. He was the recipient of the 2007 Carl and Esther Robinson Outstanding Advocate for the Common Good Award. Roxanne Claassen, teacher, mentor teacher and peer mediation coordinator with elementary and middle school experience and a Master's Degree in Conflict and Peacemaking, has experienced the value of these structures, models, and strategies in her teaching career spanning over two decades. As pioneers in the fields of conflict resolution and restorative justice, they have written many articles and have trained administrators and teachers for over 20 years. They live and work in the innovative and diverse Fresno County, California.