"The underlying premise of Restorative Practices rests with the belief that people will make positive changes when those in positions of authority do things with them rather than to them or for them." |
Restorative Practices is a framework for building community and for responding to challenging behavior through authentic dialogue. Restorative Practices shift the conversation between teachers and students to be less punishment-oriented and to offer an opportunity for all people affected by an action to have dialogue about how to make things right and restore the classroom community.
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restorative/community circles
Restorative Circles are an excellent way to bring Restorative Practices into the classroom and establish a supportive community. Circles help to build self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship skills. During circle time, participants sit in the circle to discuss group issues or reflect on their feelings. There is a talking piece, used to identify who is allowed to talk at a particular time and sometimes a centerpiece to allow participants to have a symbolic item to focus on. Circles can be used to check in about your day, resolve conflict, or for academic conversations. Circles have many parts and require planning to make them effective and meaningful. Check out what the Center for Restorative Process has to say about conducting effective Restorative Circles.
Here are a few more examples of effective community circles in action!
Here are a few more examples of effective community circles in action!
affective statements
Affective statements, or feelings statements, are personal expressions of feelings as a response to someone else’s actions. With affective statements you state your feeling, the reason for the feeling and what you need to feel better. Affective statements can be used between teachers and students or peer-to-peer. It is important for teachers to model using the statements with their students, so students see positive examples of expressing feelings and making requests.
Consider placing a “Feelings Script” in your classroom to model for students how to use affective statements if they have to solve a conflict on their own. Affective statements help build social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Role play with students how to give feedback to classmates respectfully and how to receive feedback if they are the person who has done something to hurt someone’s feelings.
Restorative questions
When harm occurs it’s important to consider how the relationships between the individuals involved and the school community are impacted, and provide an opportunity to allow for those involved in the incident to express themselves, be held accountable and take responsibility to determine what needs to happen to repair the harm and prevent it from happening again.