Blog

How a restorative circle stopped a fist fight from breaking out in my English class. It was as much about the circle as all the work the months before to build a restorative classroom culture.

One of the greatest challenges of building restorative schools is shifting the way we think about "misbehavior." Our schools have been built on a traditional paradigm: a rule is broken, therefore we need to dole out the appropriate consequence. This has been shifted in many schools: an expectation has not been met so we need to remind them of the expectation, teach or reteach the behavior we want, and possibly come up with a logical consequence. What I am hearing in school after school is that in many cases neither approach seems to result in a change to some more difficult or repetitive behavior. Why not?

Restorative circles are a powerful way to develop respect, belonging, safety and voice in any learning community. They provide a way to build connection and relationship equitably, with healthy boundaries and structure.

The restorative Circle practice I offer schools is very different from my original exposure to circles, but their power to connect and heal come from the same source—presence. The lesson? Presence and trust have more to do with successful circles than perfectly prepared scripts.

Teaching Tolerance has developed wonderful set of resources for schools interested in restorative practices.