What Is Restorative Practices in Education?

What Is Restorative Practices in Education?

Restorative practices are a framework for school discipline that prioritizes relationships and community over punishment. Instead of turning to traditional measures like suspension, this approach focuses on healing, accountability, and connection when conflict happens. The goal is to guide students to accept responsibility and repair the harm they've caused. These practices work to both prevent conflict by building a strong community from the start and to respond constructively when issues do arise.

Restorative Practices Strategies and Activities

Restorative practices offer a structured approach to relationship repair and community building. Tools like a reflection and repair dialogue worksheet can help guide students through difficult conversations by focusing on what happened, who was affected, and what can be done to make things right.

These strategies are often divided into two main types: proactive practices for building community and responsive practices for when harm has occurred. The activities can range from informal daily check-ins to more formal, structured meetings involving everyone affected by a conflict.

Here are some restorative practice strategies and activities:

• Restorative Circles: Group conversations, often using a talking piece, where participants can share perspectives to build community or resolve conflict.
• Affective Statements: 'I' statements that communicate how another person's actions made someone feel, which helps build empathy.
• Restorative Questions: A series of prompts like 'What happened?' and 'Who has been affected?' to guide reflection and problem-solving.
• Peer Mediation: A process where trained students help their peers work through disagreements.
• Community Conferencing: A formal meeting that brings together everyone impacted by a specific incident to collectively decide how to repair the harm.
• Informal Conversations: Brief, one-on-one check-ins between teachers and students to address small issues before they escalate.
• Listening Circles: A safe space for students and staff to have constructive conversations about difficult topics, such as race and culture.
• Family-Group Meetings: Meetings that include family members to discuss a conflict and determine a path forward.
• Re-entry Support: Activities designed to help a student successfully return to the school community after a period of absence like a suspension.
• Community-Building Exercises: Activities that promote trust, respect, and a sense of belonging among students and staff.

Restorative Practices Benefits

While restorative practices are designed to repair relationships and build community, their application in schools comes with a complex set of outcomes. The success of these methods can vary greatly, leading to different experiences for both students and educators. When the process works, it can be a positive experience for everyone involved, but when it fails, it can leave relationships more strained than before.

On one hand, these practices can help teach accountability, build social skills, and reduce exclusionary discipline like suspensions. On the other hand, they can also lead to academic disruptions, place responsibility on teachers for student behavior, and may not address the root causes of misconduct.

Here are some of the reported outcomes of restorative practices:

• Focus on Behavior: The approach centers on a student's actions and their impact rather than on personal character.
• Reduced Suspensions: Schools using these practices often see a decrease in suspension rates, particularly for students from low-income families and Black students.
• Improved School Climate: Students may report feeling a greater sense of belonging and safety within the school.
• Accountability: It aims to teach students responsibility for their actions and the importance of making amends.
• Lower Arrest Rates: Some studies show a reduction in both in-school and out-of-school student arrests.
• Academic Disruption: Implementation can coincide with a drop in test scores for students across different demographics.
• System Manipulation: It can be difficult for educators to determine if a student's remorse is genuine or if they are feigning it.
• Teacher Blame: The responsibility for disruptive student behavior can sometimes shift to teachers, who may be seen as not engaging students sufficiently.
• Implementation Challenges: Effectiveness is often hindered by a lack of adequate training, time, and consistent support for staff.
• Trivializing Misbehavior: There is a risk that the process can downplay the seriousness of certain actions.

Restorative Practices Examples

Restorative practices include a range of activities that can be adapted for different school settings. These methods are used to build community, prevent conflict, and respond to wrongdoing. They exist on a continuum from informal interactions to more structured, formal meetings.

The approach is based on the idea that people are more cooperative when they are involved in the process. When implemented, these practices are associated with building community and developing social skills. However, successful use requires a shift in mindset from all stakeholders, and some find that students may need additional instruction in social-emotional skills to participate effectively.

Here are some examples of restorative practices:

• Affective Statements: These are personal expressions, often using an "I feel..." structure, to communicate feelings in response to another person's behavior without assigning blame.
• Restorative Questions: A set of questions used to guide students through reflecting on an incident, what happened, who was affected, and how to address the harm.
• Class Circles: A practice where students and staff gather in a circle to discuss topics, build community, or resolve issues, encouraging shared responsibility and cooperation.
• Impromptu Conferences: Quick, informal conversations to address minor problems as they happen, often using restorative questions to resolve the issue so the student can return to learning.
• Restorative Conferences: Formal, structured meetings that bring together the person who caused harm, the person who was harmed, and others involved to discuss the incident and decide on a way to repair the harm.

Restorative Practices Best Practices

Implementing restorative practices involves a set of strategies designed to build community and repair relationships when conflict arises. Tools like a reflection and repair dialogue worksheet can provide a structured way for students to think through their actions and find a path toward making things right.

A successful implementation often involves a whole-school approach, which requires ongoing professional development for staff to build skills and buy-in. It also means integrating these practices into your school's existing policies and discipline systems to create a consistent and supportive culture.

Here are some best practices to consider:

• Whole-School Approach: Integrating community-building strategies, conflict resolution skills, and restorative responses into all aspects of the school
• Ongoing Professional Development: Providing long-term learning opportunities for staff to increase their skill and confidence in using restorative practices
• Policy Integration: Replacing punitive discipline policies with approaches that strengthen relationships and are embedded in the school's systems
• Community Engagement: Involving students, parents, and staff in the process to ensure widespread support and understanding
• Community-Building Circles: Using structured group discussions to foster a sense of belonging, trust, and mutual respect among students and staff

Teach with TeachShare

By shifting the focus from punishment to community, restorative practices create a supportive environment where students learn accountability and empathy, fostering a positive school climate that is ideal for learning. Our platform supports this philosophy with Boosts, which embed research-backed strategies like inquiry and scaffolding into any resource with a single click. This feature helps you intentionally design lessons that deepen student thinking. Start creating resources with TeachShare now.