Restorative practices. Sounds like a particularly soothing spa treatment, right?

Not quite. Let's ditch the spa treatment idea. (At least as far as the definition goes. Keep your cucumber slices handy for eye placement just in case.)

Lots of people use the terms "restorative justice" and "restorative practices" interchangeably. But the real deal is that the field of restorative practices evolved from the idea of restorative justice. Which is to say that in this chicken-and-egg scenario, restorative justice came first.

Here goes definition #1: Restorative justice is a method of dealing with wrongs that have been committed. It involves bringing together the perpetrator with those who were harmed and encouraging all parties to communicate their experiences. The ultimate goal is to have the perpetrator understand the effects of his actions and take responsibility, while also working with the affected parties to find a way to make things right.

Sounds idealistic, huh? But hey: sometimes it does the trick.

So onto definition #2: Restorative practices expand upon the concept of restorative justice to include work that can be done on the front end, proactively, before the wrongdoing has even occurred; i.e., you talk about bullying before anyone gets bullied, or lay out the rules against cheating before you have a test. And oh, you better believe we're going to go into way more depth than that.

The ultimate aim of restorative practices is to improve a school's climate, making it a safe and comfortable place for students to be and learn by focusing on building strong relationships—between students, teachers, and community members. The bottom line: use positive rather than punitive discipline, and you'll go far.

Want to jump right in? Head on over to our resources for PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports), and you'll be well on your way.

Types of Restorative Practices

There are many strategies and approaches that can be used to implement restorative processes within a school system. Let's mosey on down Restorative Practice Lane to take a call on some of the most common methods.

Affective Statements and Questions

Sure, we want them to be effective. But to do that, first they've got to be affective.

Okay fine, we'll explain.

Basically, the way you talk about a student's behavior and the questions that you ask of that student can help promote her understanding of how her actions affect others. An affective statement names the troubling behavior and explains its effect. (Don't you just love homonyms?).

For instance, to a student who is talking out of turn and distracting others, you could say, "When you make disruptive comments while I'm trying to explain something to the class it makes me feel disrespected," or, to sound less like a manual, "Hey, I'm not feeling the respect here—it's kinda hard to explain something when you keep interrupting," or even, "Ever think about how your disruptions are making everyone else feel? Probably annoyed."

Restorative Justice

Feeling a little déjà vu? Yeah, we saw that cat, too. But just in case you skipped to this section (or if you already need a refresher on RJ, two paragraphs later), we'll give you a quick summary. Again. Here you go:

After a wrong has been committed (say bullying, or someone's stickers getting stolen), restorative justice calls for bringing the victim(s) and the perpetrator(s) together to discuss what happened. The purpose is to allow the victim to explain the effects of the perpetrator's behavior (like, "I feel empty inside without my Winnie-the-Pooh stickers), to have the perpetrator to understand those effects and take responsibility for causing them, and to have all parties work together to make things right.

The emphasis in the RJ model is on ensuring accountability, repairing the relationship (to the extent possible), and ultimately, getting justice for the victim. Here are your durn stickers—now be more careful with Piglet from now on.

Conferencing

Essentially, the restorative justice model—bringing parties together to discuss and remedy a situation—is an example of conferencing, but conferencing can be expanded to include anyone who may be affected by any kind of wrongdoing. Every student in a class, or even every student in a school, can be impacted by a conflict between just two people.

So instead of resolving a conflict with the perpetrator and victim and keeping everyone else out of it, conferencing can be used to allow everyone to express how the conflict has (or has not) affected them, how they feel it should be resolved, and how future conflicts of a similar nature should be handled—or even better, how they can be avoided.

By giving students and teachers a voice in their school community in this way, the restorative practice of conferencing helps to build relationships and establish group norms and expectations—two things that can improve behavior and the overall school climate.

Just make sure it doesn't turn into everyone against the perpetrator: even a sticker-stealer can start to feel pain.

Circles

"The Circle of Life." "All My Life's a Circle." "Circles" by Passenger, Incubus, and Christina Aguilera. You couldn't get away from circles if you tried, and maybe there's good reason for that. American Indians viewed the circle as a powerful symbol, and proponents of restorative practices seem to feel the same. There are numerous ways to use circles in restorative practices, and they can be used both proactively—to build community and relationships—and reactively, to address wrongs.

Examples of proactive circles include the circle time some educators, particularly in early childhood education, use to start the day. Students sit in a circle and are all encouraged to participate in a sort of pre-school version of a morning meeting to talk about plans and goals for the day.

The power of the circle is that each person can both see and be seen by everyone else. It follows that each person should be able to hear and be heard by everyone, too. You can use a sequential circle, in which everyone gets to speak or respond one at a time, or you could employ a talking stick or other device (like the conch inLord of the Flies, but hopefully with not-so-dire circumstances) to ensure that only one person speaks at a time.

Proactive circles can focus on current events in or out of school, issues of concern to students or teachers, school or classroom rules, or even "getting to know you" questions about people's interests and hobbies.

Reactive circles can be used to discuss conflicts that have occurred, allowing everyone to voice an opinion—respectfully—and be heard.

Kumbaya.

HUGs

Not real hugs. Well, if you insist.

We're talking H-U-G: Hello, Update, Goodbye. According to Stan Davis (who actually doesn't take credit for the acronym—he isn't sure who used it first), this is the way we should greet students every time we pass them.

No, no one expects you to H-U-G two hundred times whenever you happen to be in the hallway. If you did, everyone would be late to class, including you. But in general, during your day as you encounter students, whenever it is possible, you should do what you can to offer a warm hello, get an update ("How's your day going?"), and say goodbye ("I'll see you later").

When you think about it, it really doesn't take much extra effort, but by showing interest in students and role-modeling positive social behaviors, you will be incorporating restorative practices seamlessly into your day.

Lunchtime Talks

Like HUGs, sitting with students in the cafeteria during lunchtime—or inviting groups of students to your room for lunch—can be a great way to build relationships with your students. In addition to getting to know them in a new way, you will once again (as with the HUG approach) have the opportunity to model pro-social behavior. And to make sure they're following your lead when you're around (which hopefully translates to when you're not around, too).

For more information about incorporating restorative practices into your classroom and school, check out the Restorative Practices Guide put together by the NEA, the National Opportunities to Learn Campaign, the American Federation of Teachers, and The Advancement Project.

Feeling restored? Almost? That's why we said to hold onto those cucumber slices. Now that you know how to fix all your school's problems, lean on back and pop 'em on those peepers.

You're welcome.