Schools

Restorative practices are used to address disciplinary and other matters in schools with students at every age level. These resources are related to the implementation of restorative practices in the school environment.

Restorative justice stops fights, keeps kids in schools: from Nelson Garcia's article on 9News.com: Juan Salazar used to be one of those students who got into trouble for fighting at North High School. Now he uses words instead of fists. "If someone bumped into me, I started saying something," Salazar, a senior, said. "It always led to a fight." It also always led to a suspension.
Pautz. Marie-Isabelle. Empowering the Next Generation: Restorative Practices in a Preschool: My goals include: developing stronger relationships between pupils and teachers; helping pupils and teachers develop problem-solving techniques; giving pupils skills to work through conflicts (to express themselves clearly, set their own boundaries and reduce reliance on teacher intervention); and shifting teacher-pupil conflicts. My aim is to move teacher-pupil conflicts from power struggles, shaming and punishment led chiefly by teachers to problem solving-focused conflict resolution methods and/or behavior consequences cooperatively achieved by teachers and pupils together. (excerpt)
Samuels, Fae Ernestine. The Peer Mediation Process in Secondary Schools: The purpose of this study was to investigate the practice and the impact of peer mediation in eight secondary schools. This research is the first to investigate peer mediation in secondary schools. In doing so, it sought to give the peer mediators and other students a "voice." The students explained the peer mediation process, the effects on their personal lives, relationships, school climate and families. The thirty-three participants of the study include eight mediators, two disputants, two non-disputants, six students who refused mediation, seven teachers, one non-teacher and seven administrators. Three students refused to be interviewed. All student participants were eighteen years of age when interviewed. The method employed is qualitative. A personal interview was conducted with each mediator and disputant to investigate what happens during the mediation process, their satisfaction with the process and the impact it is having on them and the school community. Teachers, coordinators of the peer mediation programs and administrators were also interviewed individually to get their perception of the program's impact on the mediators, disputants, other students and the school climate. Data gathered were analysed in four stages. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the categories and themes were identified and sorted. The findings indicate that peer mediation provides one of the best opportunities for creating peaceful schools. The study is significant because it verifies and brings to the forefront ten issues that are important to the field of peer mediation and conflict resolution. Author's abstract.
Restorative Justice in the Classroom. Lesson 5 The Justice Circle Part 3: This lesson builds on lesson four by providing students with an opportunity to learn and practice the facilitation of Justice Circles. After a review of the purpose and process, students role-play scenarios, covering all roles including the role of facilitator. After their role-play experience, students discuss whether the circle would be effective in both healing the victim and helping the offender learn a better way to behave, and explore what could have been done differently to more effectively meet those objectives. (excerpt)
Restorative Justice in the Classroom: Lesson 2 Class Meetings: Through role-play and discussion, this lesson will help students understand the motives behind offending and re-offending and to develop problem-solving consequences that will help offenders learn a better way to behave. By developing restorative consequences, the classroom community can help the offender repair the harm he/she has caused and discourage the offender from re-offending. Students practice consensus building and explore the consequence-setting aspect of justice circles. (excerpt)
Desautels, Paula. RESTORATIVE PRACTICE :BUILDING THE LEADERSHIP CAPACITY OF STUDENTS: This study asks how restorative practices build the leadership capacity of students at Lower Mainland Elementary School(LME). Leadership capacity in schools requires the enagement of students and staff in creating an inclusive community. This study has shown that as students are given meaningful opportunities to work together, they are building a supportive school culture. Students involved in restorative justice are helping others, engaging in collaborative problem solving,demonstrating accountability and communicating more effectively. Restorative justice at LME is building an inclusive culture where students ,teachers and the principal have a collective responsibility for the school community.
Editor. An Introduction to Restorative Practices at Endeavour High School: Video. A report on the results of restorative justice procedures instituted at Endeavour High School in England. The use of such methods as circles and discussion has improved behavior, increased the sense of community in the school and the larger community around it, and contributed to positive relationships between the students and the teachers.
Lange, Brenda. CSF Buxmont: The Power of Community.: The restorative approach means that those in authority at CSF Buxmont work with the students rather than doing things to them or for them. It’s been shown that people are more likely to make positive life changes and adjust their negative behaviors, and be happier, more cooperative and more productive through this approach. Unlike an authoritarian, punitive or overly permissive approach, the participatory or restorative mode enables the students to restore relationships and build community. The restorative model shows the youth that he or she has control over and responsibility for his or her own life. Most people will embrace this approach, which allows them more autonomy and participation in decision making. And at CSF Buxmont, this learning happens in a safe place. The students learn that this community is one in which they are all equal, working hard to reach similar goals and working together to arrive at solutions to problems that come up along the way. (excerpt)
St Rita's College Clayfield rocked by cheating scandal: From Tanya Chilcott's article in Courier-Mail: A leading Brisbane private girls' school has been rocked by a cheating scandal after a group of students was caught just weeks before graduation. St Rita's College principal Dale Morrow said the incident, the first of its kind in her eight years at the Clayfield school, had been "a very difficult" time for all involved..... ....It is understood one girl attained the answers from a teacher's computer and passed them on.
Janice Wearmouth and Ted Glynn and Rawiri McKinney and Janice Wearmouth. Restorative justice: two examples from New Zealand schools: In this article Janice Wearmouth, formerly professor of education at the University of Wellington,New Zealand and now at Liverpool Hope University,Rawiri McKinney, an advocate for Rangatahi who has recently completed his Master of Education degree, and Ted Glynn, foundation professor of teacher education at the University of Waikato,discuss two examples of restorative justice in practice to illustrate how community norms and values can help to encourage more socially appropriate behaviour. Both examples come from a New Zealand Maori context and interventions undertaken with young men whose behaviour was of concern in school and in the local neighbourhood.The interventions operated through traditional Maori protocols to shift the focus away from individuals on to the whole community in order to focus on 'putting things right' between all those involved in the wrong doing. These examples show how the use of traditional community resolution processes was able to resolve tensions,make justice visible and re-establish harmonious relations between the individuals, the school and between members of the community. The use of restorative practices in schools is not straightforward, however. The authors of this article argue that it requires that schools do not own or completely control the process but are responsive to the local context and recognise the important sources of support that may be found in some of the families and local voluntary community groups within it for addressing problematic student behaviour.
Editor. “There’s no Justice, Just Us...”: Established in 1986 Southwark Mediation Centre (SMC) is one of the oldest community mediation centres in Europe. In the last issue we looked at the success of SMCs’ Hate Crimes Project which is effectively tackling cases of racial abuse using a restorative approach. Alongside that project, the SMC runs two others, the second specialising in Neighbour Disputes and Anti-social Behaviour, the third, training Peer Mediators in Schools. SMC started working with schools in the early 1990s. In this article we look at how SMC's Peer Mediation Project is working to effectively deal not only with conflict arising in the school setting, but to resolve disputes between young people in the wider community. Finally we take a look at how SMC is taking this work forward in partnership with one particular group of enthusiastic young Mediators at Bacon’s College, Rotherhithe. (excerpt)
Restorative Practices and the Transformation at West Philadelphia High School: West Philadelphia High School has undergone a transformation. It has been on Pennsylvania’s “Persistently Dangerous Schools” list for six years, but the implementation of restorative practices and strong leadership, headed by principal Saliyah Cruz, have made a huge difference. The culture and climate of the school have improved significantly, violent and serious incidents have plummeted, and rates of discipline procedures such as suspensions and expulsions have decreased dramatically. (from the article written by Laura Mirsky for the Restorative Practices E-Forum).
Number of excluded pupils in Wokingham has dropped
Chicago Public Schools. Student Code of Conduct (Formerly the Uniform Discipline Code) for Chicago Public Schools.: THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER RECOMMENDS THE FOLLOWING: That the Chicago Board of Education adopt the Student Code of Conduct (“SCC”) for the 2007-2008 school year which is attached hereto. This SCC has been updated to modify the actions necessary for disciplinary offenses, to clarify certain disciplinary actions, and to clarify that the policy pertains to disciplinary actions and behavioral expectations for all Chicago Public Schools students. The 2007-2008 SCC will become effective September 13, 2007. During the 2006-2007 school year, the Office of the Chief Executive Officer worked with various stakeholders to develop revisions to the Student Code of Conduct and accompanying school supports for 2007-2008 that reflect a comprehensive approach to student discipline and include components of restorative justice, alternatives to out of school suspension, and additional measures aimed to ensure a safe and positive environment for students and school personnel. (excerpt)
Ryan, Gail and Hey, Christopher. Restorative Practices in the Souderton Area School District.: We in the Souderton Area School District (SASD), nestled in the Indian Valley, midway between Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, take pride in the strength of our community. It is this sense of connectedness that makes Souderton such a vital and special place. When people ask what makes the Indian Valley exceptional, our first response is, “We have a strong, supportive community.” While we know we have a good thing going, we also share a vision for brightening our future. The administration at SASD feels a compelling responsibility to build a lasting culture that esteems achievement and values community. (excerpt)
Restorative Discipline in Universities: In fall 2005, Fresno Pacific University implemented a restorative discipline policy to respond to conflict and rule infractions involving students. Built on the principles of restorative justice, the process seeks to provide fair, just and holistic responses to these infractions. The process consists of four stages of increasing levels of formality.
Introducing Restorative Practices into Scottish Schools: In 2004, the Scottish Executive allocated funding for a 30-month pilot project to introduce restorative practices into schools in three Local Authorities. An August 2007 evaluation report outlines the implementation process for the different areas and the progress made in establishing restorative practices in the school.
New graphic novel on restorative practices in school: From Matt K.'s entry in Life Skoolz: Bully is Life Skoolz’s first graphic novel. The book is designed to teach relationship building skills and restorative practice rituals to Middle School aged children. It will be complete later this month and available for purchase by the middle of September.
Creating rules or creating values, the difference in a restorative classroom: from Kris Miner's post on Restorative Justice and Circles: ....Rules can be what student do when the teacher is watching. Values are ways of behaving, knowing what we should be doing, versus behaving in a way we want to, or even have to. You’ve got to put the motivation for behavior on the INSIDE. You need a shared concept of community in a classroom. INSIDE that little community is shared concepts of treating each other. INSIDE those little people in the class, you instill the values for behavior.
A handful of school resources, addressing harm in schools, restoratively: from Kris Miner's entry on Restorative Justice and Circles: Using Restorative Justice or Restorative Practices in schools is a great way to address and prevent harm. There are many great programs and initiatives supporting our students. For today’s post, I’m gathering a few of the ones I’m aware of and the ones that I’ve found support or supply a lot of crossover with Restorative Justice.

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Navigation Press Room What is Restorative Justice? Personal Stories Audio/Video Resources Stories from the Media Restorative Justice Processes Kinds of Crimes Restorative Justice around the World Uses Outside of Criminal Justice Schools Healthier Workplaces	Info Schools Restorative practices are used to address disciplinary and other matters in schools with students at every age level. These resources are related to the implementation of restorative practices in the school environment. Restorative justice stops fights, keeps kids in schools from Nelson Garcia's article on 9News.com: Juan Salazar used to be one of those students who got into trouble for fighting at North High School. Now he uses words instead of fists. "If someone bumped into me, I started saying something," Salazar, a senior, said. "It always led to a fight." It also always led to a suspension. Pautz. Marie-Isabelle. Empowering the Next Generation: Restorative Practices in a Preschool My goals include: developing stronger relationships between pupils and teachers; helping pupils and teachers develop problem-solving techniques; giving pupils skills to work through conflicts (to express themselves clearly, set their own boundaries and reduce reliance on teacher intervention); and shifting teacher-pupil conflicts. My aim is to move teacher-pupil conflicts from power struggles, shaming and punishment led chiefly by teachers to problem solving-focused conflict resolution methods and/or behavior consequences cooperatively achieved by teachers and pupils together. (excerpt) Samuels, Fae Ernestine. The Peer Mediation Process in Secondary Schools The purpose of this study was to investigate the practice and the impact of peer mediation in eight secondary schools. This research is the first to investigate peer mediation in secondary schools. In doing so, it sought to give the peer mediators and other students a "voice." The students explained the peer mediation process, the effects on their personal lives, relationships, school climate and families. The thirty-three participants of the study include eight mediators, two disputants, two non-disputants, six students who refused mediation, seven teachers, one non-teacher and seven administrators. Three students refused to be interviewed. All student participants were eighteen years of age when interviewed. The method employed is qualitative. A personal interview was conducted with each mediator and disputant to investigate what happens during the mediation process, their satisfaction with the process and the impact it is having on them and the school community. Teachers, coordinators of the peer mediation programs and administrators were also interviewed individually to get their perception of the program's impact on the mediators, disputants, other students and the school climate. Data gathered were analysed in four stages. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the categories and themes were identified and sorted. The findings indicate that peer mediation provides one of the best opportunities for creating peaceful schools. The study is significant because it verifies and brings to the forefront ten issues that are important to the field of peer mediation and conflict resolution. Author's abstract. Restorative Justice in the Classroom. Lesson 5 The Justice Circle Part 3 This lesson builds on lesson four by providing students with an opportunity to learn and practice the facilitation of Justice Circles. After a review of the purpose and process, students role-play scenarios, covering all roles including the role of facilitator. After their role-play experience, students discuss whether the circle would be effective in both healing the victim and helping the offender learn a better way to behave, and explore what could have been done differently to more effectively meet those objectives. (excerpt) Restorative Justice in the Classroom: Lesson 2 Class Meetings Through role-play and discussion, this lesson will help students understand the motives behind offending and re-offending and to develop problem-solving consequences that will help offenders learn a better way to behave. By developing restorative consequences, the classroom community can help the offender repair the harm he/she has caused and discourage the offender from re-offending. Students practice consensus building and explore the consequence-setting aspect of justice circles. (excerpt) Desautels, Paula. RESTORATIVE PRACTICE :BUILDING THE LEADERSHIP CAPACITY OF STUDENTS This study asks how restorative practices build the leadership capacity of students at Lower Mainland Elementary School(LME). Leadership capacity in schools requires the enagement of students and staff in creating an inclusive community. This study has shown that as students are given meaningful opportunities to work together, they are building a supportive school culture. Students involved in restorative justice are helping others, engaging in collaborative problem solving,demonstrating accountability and communicating more effectively. Restorative justice at LME is building an inclusive culture where students ,teachers and the principal have a collective responsibility for the school community. Editor. An Introduction to Restorative Practices at Endeavour High School Video. A report on the results of restorative justice procedures instituted at Endeavour High School in England. The use of such methods as circles and discussion has improved behavior, increased the sense of community in the school and the larger community around it, and contributed to positive relationships between the students and the teachers. Lange, Brenda. CSF Buxmont: The Power of Community. The restorative approach means that those in authority at CSF Buxmont work with the students rather than doing things to them or for them. It’s been shown that people are more likely to make positive life changes and adjust their negative behaviors, and be happier, more cooperative and more productive through this approach. Unlike an authoritarian, punitive or overly permissive approach, the participatory or restorative mode enables the students to restore relationships and build community. The restorative model shows the youth that he or she has control over and responsibility for his or her own life. Most people will embrace this approach, which allows them more autonomy and participation in decision making. And at CSF Buxmont, this learning happens in a safe place. The students learn that this community is one in which they are all equal, working hard to reach similar goals and working together to arrive at solutions to problems that come up along the way. (excerpt) St Rita's College Clayfield rocked by cheating scandal From Tanya Chilcott's article in Courier-Mail: A leading Brisbane private girls' school has been rocked by a cheating scandal after a group of students was caught just weeks before graduation. St Rita's College principal Dale Morrow said the incident, the first of its kind in her eight years at the Clayfield school, had been "a very difficult" time for all involved..... ....It is understood one girl attained the answers from a teacher's computer and passed them on. Janice Wearmouth and Ted Glynn and Rawiri McKinney and Janice Wearmouth. Restorative justice: two examples from New Zealand schools In this article Janice Wearmouth, formerly professor of education at the University of Wellington,New Zealand and now at Liverpool Hope University,Rawiri McKinney, an advocate for Rangatahi who has recently completed his Master of Education degree, and Ted Glynn, foundation professor of teacher education at the University of Waikato,discuss two examples of restorative justice in practice to illustrate how community norms and values can help to encourage more socially appropriate behaviour. Both examples come from a New Zealand Maori context and interventions undertaken with young men whose behaviour was of concern in school and in the local neighbourhood.The interventions operated through traditional Maori protocols to shift the focus away from individuals on to the whole community in order to focus on 'putting things right' between all those involved in the wrong doing. These examples show how the use of traditional community resolution processes was able to resolve tensions,make justice visible and re-establish harmonious relations between the individuals, the school and between members of the community. The use of restorative practices in schools is not straightforward, however. The authors of this article argue that it requires that schools do not own or completely control the process but are responsive to the local context and recognise the important sources of support that may be found in some of the families and local voluntary community groups within it for addressing problematic student behaviour. Editor. “There’s no Justice, Just Us...” Established in 1986 Southwark Mediation Centre (SMC) is one of the oldest community mediation centres in Europe. In the last issue we looked at the success of SMCs’ Hate Crimes Project which is effectively tackling cases of racial abuse using a restorative approach. Alongside that project, the SMC runs two others, the second specialising in Neighbour Disputes and Anti-social Behaviour, the third, training Peer Mediators in Schools. SMC started working with schools in the early 1990s. In this article we look at how SMC's Peer Mediation Project is working to effectively deal not only with conflict arising in the school setting, but to resolve disputes between young people in the wider community. Finally we take a look at how SMC is taking this work forward in partnership with one particular group of enthusiastic young Mediators at Bacon’s College, Rotherhithe. (excerpt) Restorative Practices and the Transformation at West Philadelphia High School West Philadelphia High School has undergone a transformation. It has been on Pennsylvania’s “Persistently Dangerous Schools” list for six years, but the implementation of restorative practices and strong leadership, headed by principal Saliyah Cruz, have made a huge difference. The culture and climate of the school have improved significantly, violent and serious incidents have plummeted, and rates of discipline procedures such as suspensions and expulsions have decreased dramatically. (from the article written by Laura Mirsky for the Restorative Practices E-Forum). Number of excluded pupils in Wokingham has dropped Chicago Public Schools. Student Code of Conduct (Formerly the Uniform Discipline Code) for Chicago Public Schools. THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER RECOMMENDS THE FOLLOWING: That the Chicago Board of Education adopt the Student Code of Conduct (“SCC”) for the 2007-2008 school year which is attached hereto. This SCC has been updated to modify the actions necessary for disciplinary offenses, to clarify certain disciplinary actions, and to clarify that the policy pertains to disciplinary actions and behavioral expectations for all Chicago Public Schools students. The 2007-2008 SCC will become effective September 13, 2007. During the 2006-2007 school year, the Office of the Chief Executive Officer worked with various stakeholders to develop revisions to the Student Code of Conduct and accompanying school supports for 2007-2008 that reflect a comprehensive approach to student discipline and include components of restorative justice, alternatives to out of school suspension, and additional measures aimed to ensure a safe and positive environment for students and school personnel. (excerpt) Ryan, Gail and Hey, Christopher. Restorative Practices in the Souderton Area School District. We in the Souderton Area School District (SASD), nestled in the Indian Valley, midway between Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, take pride in the strength of our community. It is this sense of connectedness that makes Souderton such a vital and special place. When people ask what makes the Indian Valley exceptional, our first response is, “We have a strong, supportive community.” While we know we have a good thing going, we also share a vision for brightening our future. The administration at SASD feels a compelling responsibility to build a lasting culture that esteems achievement and values community. (excerpt) Restorative Discipline in Universities In fall 2005, Fresno Pacific University implemented a restorative discipline policy to respond to conflict and rule infractions involving students. Built on the principles of restorative justice, the process seeks to provide fair, just and holistic responses to these infractions. The process consists of four stages of increasing levels of formality. Introducing Restorative Practices into Scottish Schools In 2004, the Scottish Executive allocated funding for a 30-month pilot project to introduce restorative practices into schools in three Local Authorities. An August 2007 evaluation report outlines the implementation process for the different areas and the progress made in establishing restorative practices in the school. New graphic novel on restorative practices in school From Matt K.'s entry in Life Skoolz: Bully is Life Skoolz’s first graphic novel. The book is designed to teach relationship building skills and restorative practice rituals to Middle School aged children. It will be complete later this month and available for purchase by the middle of September. Creating rules or creating values, the difference in a restorative classroom from Kris Miner's post on Restorative Justice and Circles: ....Rules can be what student do when the teacher is watching. Values are ways of behaving, knowing what we should be doing, versus behaving in a way we want to, or even have to. You’ve got to put the motivation for behavior on the INSIDE. You need a shared concept of community in a classroom. INSIDE that little community is shared concepts of treating each other. INSIDE those little people in the class, you instill the values for behavior. A handful of school resources, addressing harm in schools, restoratively from Kris Miner's entry on Restorative Justice and Circles: Using Restorative Justice or Restorative Practices in schools is a great way to address and prevent harm. There are many great programs and initiatives supporting our students. For today’s post, I’m gathering a few of the ones I’m aware of and the ones that I’ve found support or supply a lot of crossover with Restorative Justice. Next 20 items » [1] 2 3 4 ... 16 Document Actions RSS feed Send this Print this	A long-time repeat offender describes the impact of meeting with his victims.