THE RESTORATIVE PRACTICES HANDBOOK
for Teachers, Disciplinarians,
and Administrators
In The Restorative Practices Handbook, authors
Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel of the International Institute
for Restorative Practices begin by describing the 5 components of the Restorative Practices Continuum for
educators:
- Affective
Statements
These
are expressions of feelings by teachers – either pleasant or unpleasant - that
are the result of student behavior. To
be effective, they should be specific, and never demeaning. A teacher might respond to bullying by a
student with “It makes me sad and angry when I hear your taunting your
classmate.”
- Affective
Questions
Affective
questions challenge students to reflect on misbehavior and its impact. A teacher could ask a student who misbehaved
“Who have you affected, and what do you need to do to make things right?"
- Impromptu Conference
A
teacher facilitates a discussion between students in conflict in order to
resolve a problem before it escalates.
- Circles
A
teacher facilitates a go-around discussion with students in a class – either as
a response to wrongdoing or as a proactive process to establish or reinforce
classroom norms. When circles are used
to address conflict, perpetrators are invited to take responsibility for their
behavior, and victims are empowered to share their feelings and receive communal
support.
- Formal Conferences
There
are 2 types:
- Restorative
conferences are formal responses to wrongdoing in which all affected by an
incident come together with a trained facilitator to discuss what
happened.
- Family
group decision making is a 3-step process whereby professionals outline a
problem or legal situation, a “community of care” (family) for an
offending child develops a written plan, and the community presents the
plan as a restorative solution.
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| Ottawa Catholic teachers, administrators, and support staff receive restorative practices training - while experiencing first-hand the power of the circle |
In chapter
2, the authors make a case for using restorative interventions as an
alternative to traditional disciplinary measures such as suspension. There case is convincing for a number of
reasons:
- Punishment
places offending students in a passive position allowing them to avoid taking
responsibility for their actions and not requiring them to either understand or
repair the harm they’ve inflicted
- Punishment
doesn’t help offending students develop empathy and they are likely to
re-offend
- Punishment
alienates and humiliates students at the very time they are most in need of
reintegration and community
- Punishment
stigmatizes offending students as “bad”
- Punishment
does little to restore the self-confidence and feelings of security of
victimized students
In contrast, restorative measures actively
engage young people in the process of addressing wrongdoing. Rather than DOING things to students,
administrators and teachers do things WITH students.
Through the continuum of restorative
practices, administrators and teachers help offending students to understand
the harm they have caused and repair the relationships they have compromised. There
is nothing soft about this approach –
as students are directed to apologize not only through words but also by their
actions. (ie. making restitution, performing community service, etc.) Offending students will experience shame as
they come to understand the pain they have caused others; however, the end result
of the process will be that they are forgiven and can “reclaim their good name
and rejoin the school community”. For
the victim, there is empathy and a growing confidence that the offending
student will no longer be a threat.
The authors conclude with some advice for
leaders who wish to implement restorative practices in their schools. First, school leaders must accept that there
is a need for change, acknowledging that traditional approaches to discipline
have been ineffective. They must then
develop and articulate to their staffs a clear vision for restorative
approaches. Finally, and most
importantly, school leaders must work collaboratively with their staffs and use
a balance of pressure and support to effectively bring about change.
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