Between retributive and restorative compulsory school teachers’ discipline activities

Abstract

In Slovenia, compulsory schools have, since 2009, been obliged to define their own concept of moral and character education under the formal framework of the Primary School Act. Disciplinary measures in schools are underpinned by two main punishment theories: the more traditional retributive responses to undesired conduct, and the more recent restorative approach. The present study explores the views of 109 teachers from 13 compulsory schools regarding disciplinary measures through the prism of this paradigmatic divide. A qualitative analysis of group dis-cussions in which teachers evaluated the disciplinary measures at each of the 13 schools will be presented. Only three discussion groups were predominantly restorative oriented. Given the proven negative effects of retribution-oriented disciplinary measures, the findings are not encour-aging. We conclude that schools need a clearer disciplinary framework with systematic acquisition of knowledge and practical experience in the field of educational and discipline strategies, and that teachers must con-tinuously reflect on their own disciplinary practices.