Restorative practices are collaborative approaches to building relationships and repairing harm. The process is really about connection, or knowing that you are heard, seen, and matter.

Based on the core belief that "we are all connected," the broad spectrum of restorative practices supports:

• Building healthy relationships.

• Repairing harm when it has impacted a community.

• Reintegrating those who need to be welcomed back into school communities.

When we feel connected, we are less likely to intentionally cause harm to one another and more likely to be kind, respectful, supportive, and collaborative. These conditions are essential for both belonging and learning.

The CIUUSD team takes a proactive approach to building a positive and welcoming community for all students. Ideally, when we build strong and supportive cultures of belonging in schools, the need for responsive discipline practices decreases. 

Proactive practices can include activities such as community-building circles and greeting students at the door. A restorative practice can be any practice that upholds one of the “5 Rs”:

• Relationships

• Respect

• Responsibility

• Repair

• Reintegration

CIUUSD's vision for implementing restorative practices is that every student, staff member, and community member, regardless of their race, class, gender, ability, or any other aspect of their identity, feels connected and cared for, enabling them to engage in authentic learning and growth.

Parents may wonder what it means for our school to be taking a restorative approach. First and foremost it means that the District has made the commitment to institute practices, policies, and procedures that ensure the safety, dignity, and right to learn of each and every student. It also means that the District has committed to prioritizing the building of relationships and community so that when challenges arise, each member feels the support needed to rise to the challenge and restore what has been harmed. 

This means that as implementation continues, parents, students, and staff will see more and more ways in which harm is repaired collaboratively with the focus being on meeting the needs of the person who was harmed. Parents of students who have been harmed or have caused harm are encouraged to ask to become actively involved in the process of repairing the harm.

Here are some resources that can help you learn more about Restorative Practices. We will be adding to this list of resources soon!

• A Quick Overview of Restorative Approach in schools by the Scott Foundation

• For a comprehensive guide to restorative approach in schools read Jon Kidde’s excellent guide written for Vermont’s Agency of Education: Whole-School Restorative Approach Resource Guide.

• “Understanding the Why” by Annie O’Shaughnessy can help you better understand what RP is beyond a different way to respond to harm.

• Restorative Justice On the Rise, visit their home page and scroll down for a wide variety of podcasts on restorative justice in schools and communities.

• The Restorative Way, for a wonderful selection of thoughtful posts from a veteran practitioner and consultant visit here.

• What is Restorative Conferencing? A description of the aspects of restorative conferences

• And for a comprehensive selection of curated resources visit the Vermont Restorative Approaches Collaborative website resource page here.

Restorative practices are implemented in response to an incident of harm. When an incident occurs, the restorative practices approach asks questions and seeks resolution and learning through the discipline process. This approach seeks to build lagging skills and relationship repair while considering how to reintegrate individuals back into the community.

When discipline is approached restoratively, we can hold students accountable with logical consequences while continuing to strengthen our relationships with them. Discipline is done with, rather than to, the student by maintaining high expectations for how they treat each other while also providing a high level of support as they work to change their behavior.

This restorative approach to teaching and reteaching behavior also allows for an intentional process that gives each incident the individual attention it deserves. The team can listen to student perspectives and, as adults, model taking responsibility for actions. In this “sweet spot” of discipline, team members are far more likely to walk away from a disciplinary conversation feeling like they know the student better and have a concrete action plan, rather than feeling frustrated.

We know we are embodying Restorative Practices when we are…

Focusing on building and repairing relationships

• Every student has (at least) one adult at school they trust and can talk with

• District employees feel valued, heard, and respected

• Responses to harm seek to repair the harm done to those impacted

Engaging in collaborative problem-solving

• Arriving at solutions by involving those affected and impacted

• Creating a safe environment and empowering all to have a voice, especially those who usually aren’t heard

Enhancing responsibility

• Creating the opportunity for everyone to understand how our actions impact others and take responsibility for them

• Building classroom norms and expectations together and working together to address situations when they’re not followed

Empowering change and growth

• Approaching situations when things go wrong as an opportunity for growth and learning for everyone involved, and especially for whoever caused the harm

• Creating the environment in which everyone can take responsibility for their actions

Giving voice to people who have been harmed

• Working together so that solutions meet the needs of those harmed

Giving voice to those who have caused harm

• Allowing growth, personalized learning, and inclusion to occur

Planning for reintegration into the school community

• Finding ways for all to feel safe and supported through and beyond the transition

Guides

Introducing and Developing Community Building Circles in MS and HS Advisory or Classrooms by Annie O’Shaughnessy. This brief document offers a step-by-step guide and six circle scripts to help you get started.

The Circle Keeper’s Handbook by Kay Pranis. From a leader in the country on the circle process comes this powerful guide.

FAQ and Common Challenges in Circles. This is a combination of Oakland Unified School District’s tips for challenges in circles and a collection of FAQs from Annie O’Shaughnessy’s work with educators across Vermont.

Tools

Restorative Practices Tools Manual

Restorative Justice lesson plan from Teaching Tolerance

Circle Guidelines to Cut Out: Primary 

Circle Process Graphics and Handouts from Living Justice Press

Resources from Oakland Unified School District

Advancing Racial Equity – Vermont NEA

Inspiration

Talking Circles: For Restorative Justice and Beyond, A TT awardee discusses how Talking Circles empower her middle school students

Baby Steps Towards Restorative Justice: A Veteran Teacher Writes About Her Journey with Restorative Practices.

Reflections on the Inner Journey, Kay Pranis writes about the inner work required of us when we commit to being restorative.

Discipline With Dignity, Oakland Classrooms Try Healing Instead of Punishment by Fania Davis

For responses to harm and conflict:

Discipline That Restores, from Fresno Pacific University—a great resource with tools and perspectives.