Restorative practices are aimed at shifting focus away from just punishing and towards repairing harm done to people.
It builds on trying to create relationships. Listed below are a few strategies to help build strong relationships and empathy.
Thinking about Math Education, Crisis Prevention Institute, IIRP
Proactive Strategies
Morning Meetings Circles
One great way to help students learn is to build in SEL within the day. A great way to start each day is by taking a couple minutes and building in a regular meeting where everyone can "check-in" with each other. This helps to build a strong classroom culture of respect and empathy.
Current event or talking guide
To help guide the facilitation of a group circle, it can be helpful to have either an object or a specific topic to discuss (like a current event or question geared towards engaging students into sharing their thoughts, beliefs, or experiences).
Integrating Circles into daily lessons / activities
Building in circle time throughout the day as part of regular lessons can be a great way to help build SEL competencies within students. An easy way to do this would be to have the students spend a couple minutes before and after exams or assignments where they can discuss in pairs or small groups some things that may be challenging before the task and then review what strategies they used after the task is completed.
Reactive Strategies
To learn more, please visit any of these great resourcesWhen unexpected problems arise, it's good to have a plan in place ahead of time that the teacher and students are familiar with. One such plan is a restorative circles. These can be as formal or informal as needed. For smaller, minor issues (like in class, playground, or in the hall) an small, quick, and informal "circle" with the 2 parties and an adult can sometimes be adequate.
Some of the talking points could be as follows...
Questions for the offendee(s)
1. What were you thinking as the
"event" occured and how has it
impacted you?
2. What could the other person
do to make things right?
Questions for the offender(s)
1. Review what happened and
who has been impacted.
2. Review the what has happened
since.
3. What can / should you do to
improve the situation.
For larger, more severe incidents, it may be more appropriate to handle them at a later time, and with more parties included (staff, parents, etc.) In order for this to be effective, the practitioner should be trained and familar with restorative practices, and both parties should feel comfortable in that moment.
