Useful Resources for Schools
Teaching Restorative Practice Through Classroom Circles is a manual developed by Restorative Processes which describes how to hold restorative circles in classrooms. It contains step‐by‐step instructions for circles that build community, teach restorative concepts and skills, and harness the power of restorative circles to set things right when there is conflict. Using these methods consistently will help to create calmer, more focused classrooms. Teachers who use these methods often find that the overall proportion of time dedicated to managing behavior is reduced. Download a copy here
Improving School Climate: Findings from Schools Implementing Restorative Practices is composed of excerpts from articles, reports and disciplinary data from individual schools and school districts. This data was collected to provide the reader with a snapshot of findings related to RP. It is important to note that most schools implementing these practices have not conducted formal research studies. Hence, the types of data reported may be different from one school or district to the next and may not have been consistently collected over a set of years. However, taken together and “in their own words”, it is clear that restorative practices is having a positive effect on the lives of many students and is changing the climate of many schools. Download your copy here
Restorative Practices: Fostering Healthy Relationships & Promoting Positive Discipline in Schools is an American toolkit that aims to help educators better understand what restorative practices are and how they foster safe learning environments through community building and constructive conflict resolution. The toolkit was developed by the Opportunity to Learn Campaign, Advancement Project, American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association with the help of a working group of educators and school personnel. This toolkit includes concrete models, frameworks, and action steps for school-wide implementation. The toolkit illustrates how restorative practices can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom, curriculum and culture of schools, and how they can help transform schools to support the growth and health of all students. It also includes guiding questions to support reflection for practitioners looking to make restorative methods part of the fabric of daily life in their schools. Download your copy here
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Cultivating Community is a blog by Michelle Stowe, a teacher in a post-primary school situated in Tallaght West. She has been an active advocate of RP in her school since 2010. She is an accredited trainer and also completed a thesis in RP for her Masters in Education. Michelle's blog reflects on many aspects of restorative practices. Read Michelle's blog here
Restorative Classroom Practice is a short resource by Transforming Conflict using extracts from various publications to give classroom teachers an idea of what restorative approaches might mean applied in their day-to-day work. Although people tend to think of restorative approaches applying only when things go wrong, in fact the pro-active elements are by far the most important. In this regard there is overlap with work your school may already be doing to develop active and more participatory teaching and learning styles, social and emotional skills, community cohesion, greater student voice and participation, and preventative policies to minimise the risk of bullying. Download your copy here
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