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Our classrooms are not set apart, but rather are microcosms of the larger society. As such, it is our responsibility as educators to ensure the next generation has the abilities and tools to confront the major issues of the day. If we wish to have our students understand, to be able to wrestle with, and become informed, participatory agents in the process of addressing those major (and often controversial and/or personal) issues facing human societies than we must find effective ways to engage our students in the type of discussions that encourage such behavior. One such method could be modeled on restorative justice, which is a process that looks to mediate a resolution through discourse between individuals rather than using the apparatus of the state (or in our instance, the classroom). Using that model, we can use the practice of restorative circles to create a space that is safe for students to voice (and confront) their beliefs, engage with other students in a respectful manner concerning their differing beliefs, and extend their understanding of the varying perspectives, priorities, constraints, and consequences surrounding the issue.
-Introduce the concept/practice of restorative circles
-Introduce 'controversial' topics that come up in or related to science content, and the difficulties educators can face with such topics in the classroom
-Take one topic, have a example classroom created, walk though an example, or maybe use guests as fill ins to represent views and go through demo of how to use
