SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Strategies for Restorative Practices in The Classroom

17 April 2024/ By Zineb DJOUB

In an earlier discussion, I delved into the concept of restorative practices, offering insights into their significance within school environments, along with illustrative examples. Now, let’s dive deeper into specific strategies for restorative practices in the classroom.

There are two types of proactive practices in schools: Practices that aim to create a sense of community to prevent discipline issues and ensure safety and practices that respond to incidents that cause harm.

So, implementing restorative practices in schools should include strategies that prevent behaviour problems (peace-building strategies) and strategies to address conflict and harmful behaviour constructively (peace-making strategies).

1. Peace-building strategies

To build a positive learning community, we must focus on two goals: developing a restorative mindset and building students’ sense of belonging.

# Developing a restorative mindset

Implementing restorative practices effectively requires a shift in thinking because, as Zehr (2002) notes, the restorative practices approach is a philosophy rather than a method.

Indeed, our beliefs about discipline influence our approach to it. If we continue to believe that control and power are essential for effective classroom management, we will consistently strive to dominate every teaching moment.

When addressing disciplinary issues, if we concentrate on the individual, we can lead them to believe that they, rather than their actions, are the issue.

Therefore, implementing restorative practices requires shifting our focus from control to relationships, from penalizing the individual to denouncing the behaviour.

We also need to move away from the notion that punishment equals accountability (when you punish someone you’re teaching him a lesson) and instead guide students toward transitioning from disruptive behaviour to acknowledging their mistakes, feeling remorse, and seeking to make amends (for example, expressing “I’m sorry, and I want to make things right”).

When you develop a restorative mindset, you can see conflicts as a source of students’ empowerment. So, you provide opportunities not only to offenders but also to victims, and all students use their problem-solving skills to resolve issues and decide on strategies and tools to ensure the well-being of the whole community.

# Building students’ sense of belonging

Students’ engagement in restorative practices and their willingness to change their attitudes or behaviours are closely tied to their sense of belonging.

This sense of belonging is fostered when students feel accepted, valued, included, and supported by both teachers and peers in the classroom.

Achieving such a supportive environment requires a focus on the emotional climate. How?

You need to build trusting relationships with students where you demonstrate respect, care, and optimism, and provide quality instruction and support.

But remember that belonging isn’t limited to teacher-student relationships; relationships among students are also crucial.

For every class we teach, we need to create “a safe learning space”, where students feel comfortable, take risks, make mistakes, ask for help, and learn.

Certain routines and procedures, such as morning meetings or circle time, can make a huge difference in how students feel and experience learning.

Incorporating team-building activities and extracurricular activities throughout the year will also make students not only feel that they belong in your class, but that they belong to the school as a whole.

Further, for students to perceive themselves as a valuable and integral part of the class life and activities, they need to contribute to their learning process and be recognized.

So, share responsibility with students to help them take ownership of their learning by helping them set goals for their learning, promoting self-reflection, offering choices and voice opportunities, and empowering them to make decisions.

2. Peace-making strategies

Integrating peace-building strategies can help reduce behavioural issues, although complete elimination may not always be achievable.

Therefore, it’s essential to be ready to address any incidents that result in harm.

Yet, when doing so, our goal must be to reintegrate offending students into the learning environment rather than marginalize them. So, we should act immediately after the offence to encourage such reintegration and allow students to learn from their mistakes.

To address conflicts when they arise, here are three formal restorative practices.

# Formal classroom circles

These are structured discussions that follow specific guidelines and protocols, designed to promote open communication, problem-solving, and community building within the classroom.

Students sit in a way that they can see each other. They can use a talking piece (e.g. a mini soccer ball) not to interrupt the speaker.

The circle keeper (a student/adult) acts as a monitor. He starts the conversations and guides them, but he does not interject as others are speaking, other than to maintain the agreements of the circle.

When addressing conflicts, the circle keeper may need to be someone outside of the class, such as another teacher, counsellor, or school leader.

In such situations, you can follow a three-phase process to help students repair relationships and address the harm.

Phase 1: Those who have been harmed have an opportunity to voice their feelings in private

Phase 2: The offending student is allowed to reflect on his behaviour and understand the harm that it caused. He can apologize and identify logical consequences for his behaviour.

Phase 3: In this stage, individuals who are observing the conflict have the chance to express their viewpoints and actively engage in the healing process, providing support to both the individuals who offended, and those who were offended.

#Individual conferences

Providing students with opportunities to communicate their feelings and views can help them resolve situations that threaten their relationships and disrupt their learning.

Individual conferences can help promote communication between the two parties.

When a conflict occurs, meet individually with both students and ask each one for his version of what happened. Or you can place them in different corners of the classroom and ask them to complete a set of statements to articulate their feelings. These include sentence starters such as:

• The disagreement was about…..,
• I’m angry because……..,
• When you… I felt….
• I would like…”,
• I’m sorry that…..,
• I understand that……I appreciate………

 

Remember that there should be no threat of punishment or any kind of aggressive language.

After listening carefully to both, share your own feelings and invite them to resolve the issue with your help. The offending student should acknowledge his behaviour, apologize, commit not to repeat the offence, and offer to make amends.

So, your role as a facilitator in restorative practices is to model good behaviours to help students untangle their conflicts.

However, it’s important to note that individual conferences are not just meant to resolve conflicts between students, but you can also use them to address conflicts you may have with them, including off-task or disruptive behaviours and discuss academic issues to help students improve.

These kinds of conferences should be brief, so it’s better to prepare for them ahead of time to structure them effectively.

# High-stakes conferences

These aim to address serious issues that may involve family members, law enforcement, or other outside parties (taking drugs, stealing tech supplies from the school, etc.). The offender can also take part in.

However, these types of conferences require a lot of preparation. The facilitator has to spend some time meeting with the parties in advance to familiarize them with the process and the intended outcomes.

During such meetings, he regulates the discussion and allows the school community to voice their hurt.

Depending on the school culture and policies, high-stakes conferences’ goal is to identify a plan for restitution and/or to allow the offender to apologize.

More tips for better reintegration

After misbehaving, it may not be easy for a student to feel welcomed when he returns to class. Their classmates’ reactions can trigger further problematic behaviour from the student who feels more anxious and uneasy.

So, you need to help those students reenter the learning community with minimal disruption by:

• Discussing with them how they might respond to different scenarios upon returning to the learning environment,
• Checking in with them at the end of the day to provide them with guidance and positive affirmations.
• Using restorative approaches, such as formal classroom circles or mediation, to address any conflicts or tensions arising from the student’s reentry.
• Encouraging positive interactions among classmates and foster empathy towards the returning student.

 

Final thoughts

Strategies for restorative practices in the classroom are so crucial to ensure that students are learning from their mistakes and developing positive habits and relationships in healthy learning communities.

As educators, our focus should be on restitution or supporting students in restoring damaged relationships rather than punishment.

The strategies for restorative practices outlined in this post all share essential elements such as respect, care, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving. These elements convey to students that we are not only here to teach content or skills but also to support their overall well-being.

References

Smith, D. Fisher, D. Frey, N. (2015). Better than carrots or sticks: restorative practices for positive classroom management. ASCD: USA.

Zehr, H. (2002). The little book of restorative justice. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.