Restorative Justice and Transdisciplinary Praxis: An Investigation in Ontario Schools and a Framework for Moving Forward in School Mental Health Promotion

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Schools are, for many nations, among the most enduring societal institutions. As such, they serve as repositories of wisdom, learning, and tradition. Tradition can be of incalculable cultural value, but can also serve as a functional barrier in some cases. Promotion of mental health in schools is a violation of traditional thought for many. This chapter discusses transdisciplinary praxis as a functional framework within which needs of contemporary students can be effectively addressed. This framework involves abandonment of the punitive practices, exclusion, and deficiency based assessment traditional in many schools and in juvenile justice in favour of restorative justice, community building, and considering behaviour within environmental context. Restorative practices have garnered such support so rapidly that some leading universities now offer graduate degrees in their study and implementation.