Restorative Practice Resources Tagged With: discipline

In my conversations with other educators, there is usually confusion around the definition of restorative practices due to the common emphasis placed on restorative justice, which focuses on repairing relationships when harm has occurred as an alternative to punitive approaches to discipline. In contrast, restorative practices focus on not only repairing, but also building and strengthening relationships and social connections within communities. The mainstream conception of restorative justice is credited to Howard Zehr and is thought to have originated within the criminal justice system in the 1970s. However, a 2017 report from the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, notes the growing demand from the field that practitioners acknowledge many of the values and practices of restorative justice come directly from Indigenous communities in North America and across the globe.

Much more than a response to harm, restorative justice nurtures relational, interconnected school cultures. The wisdom embedded within its principles and practices is being welcomed at a time when exclusionary discipline and zero tolerance policies are recognized as perpetuating student apathy, disproportionality, and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Relying on the wisdom of early proponents of restorative justice, the daily experiences of educators, and the authors’ extensive experience as classroom teachers and researchers, this Little Book guides the growth of restorative justice in education (RJE) into the future.

'Schools need to be transformed into communities where everyone belongs, where differences are accepted and membership is unconditional. Schools can and should be places that all students can love. Making this change will require educators to think differently about student behavior and reflect on how they respond to it.

Real discipline should be more than deciding what consequences to use with students; it should always be about learning. So when students break the rules or have trouble, educators need to ask, "How can we help them learn what they need to learn, and how can we meet their needs?" The answers to those questions should shape both our discipline practices and the type of school that we provide for our children.'

Dec. 12, 2019 — Researchers in the UTSA College of Public Policy, assistant professor of social work Jelena Todic and criminal justice lecturer and restorative justice coordinator Robert Rico are joining forces with Up Partnership and three local school districts in a collaborative applied researc...

'Making Restorative Practice Explicit in Classrooms A definition of Restorative Practice The social science of promoting and sustaining strong and healthy relationships across the school by implementing proactive and responsive programs rather than reactive strategies. This leads to increased social capital, improved individual self-discipline, selfregulation, emotional well being leading to improved academic outcomes and improved whole school climate.'

'Restorative practices include teachers and staff working more collaboratively with students and encouraging them to express their feelings in different ways and to understand and respect others. A focus is on healing the hurt associated with negative behaviors. Opponents characterize restorative approaches as anti-discipline and claim these approaches don’t hold students sufficiently accountable for their actions. That is not true: Restorative approaches, by definition, provide high levels of accountability. They are emerging as an alternative to zero-tolerance approaches that see students who’ve committed wrongful actions be suspended without hearing about the impacts of their actions — directly from their victims — and without explicitly focusing on repairing the harm done.'

'Punishment ignores reasons for the behaviour For centuries society has used the blunt stick of punishment as proxy for discipline. But in so doing we misunderstand the meaning of discipline, and we therefore experience mixed results (at best). Punishment means that we make someone pay a price for what they've done. We exact retribution. We believe that this will help them learn a lesson. Punishment is ultimately about hurting. Punishment has some fatal flaws.'

'Restorative Practices is an approach to discipline and relationship management that can transform the climate of a school and strengthen relationships between students, and between teachers and students, laying the foundation for improved academic and personal outcomes in education. This RPforSchools site was established by a secondary school teacher, restorative practitioner and trainer from Brisbane, Australia. On the site you will find links to important websites, articles, books and videos on Restorative Practices in the School setting, as well some of my own papers, articles and Conference presentations.'

'Keeping Them Connected: Restorative Justice in Schools in Australia and New Zealand – what progress? The traditional response of schools to school discipline is based on the retributive approach which has long characterised the criminal justice system. Research now indicates that this approach generally fails to satisfy the victim, the offender and the community. In the context of criminal offending, attention is increasingly being paid to the application of restorative practices. In New Zealand the restorative justice model has been operating since 1989 for youth offending and is now being implemented in the context of adult offending also. The Australian states and territories are following to varying degrees. Restorative practices move the focus from punishing the offender to requiring them to take responsibility for their actions. Because of this focus they are not seen as a ‘soft option’, and there are many indications of their success. Many schools are now applying this model to school discipline. A variety of different practices are being employed to keep young people in school and connected with the education process, while still not compromising school safety. This article explores the incorporation of restorative practices as alternative and proactive responses to behavioural problems within some Australian and New Zealand schools. The focus here is on particular restorative practices with the acknowledgement that there is a much wider picture which involves changes in school cultures to embrace, in a practical manner, principles of citizenship and democracy. This concept is the subject of significant research which is discussed by the author in a previous article.

'Before having a restorative conversation, I always personally ensure that all parties involved are okay with having the said conversation. If someone is not ready to have the conversation- They may need more time, a better understanding of what restorative conversations are, or they may not feel that they want to participate in the discussion for other reasons. It is essential we respect the feelings of those we serve. Restorative conversations are helpful in many ways, but it is not always necessarily the answer or the only path to problem solve.' Identify problems, but give your time and energy to solutions. My Own Experience As a current middle school assistant principal, discipline is a daily part of my daily job responsibilities. Followi…

Too many schools today are pushing children into pipelines of incarceration and violence instead of liberation

More and more schools are adopting a behaviour model that encourages kids to take responsibility for their actions. So how do restorative practices work?