R ESTORAT IVE SCHO O L DISC I P L I NE
Continued from page 37
Specifically, a Restorative Council is charged
with several important responsibilities.
1. Ensuring the integrity of the Restorative
Approach to conflict and misconduct.
2. Receiving and reviewing incident reports.
3. Conducting conversations/interviews
with students, faculty, and/or parents
when necessary.
4. Identifying unmet needs and underly-
ing issues in a student’s life that may
be compelling the disruptive behavior.
5. Determining the most effective and ap-
propriate restorative response to meet
those needs as articulated in the Policy.
6. Working closely with the school’s Coun-
selor or Care Group to support any ex-
isting SEL, MTSS, PBIS, and RTI plans.
7. Facilitating restorative
when necessary.
conferences
8. Monitoring student progress and Re-
storative Agreements.
9. Eventually conducting ongoing in-
school training of faculty in restorative
communication.
Restorative Practices
In the past five years there has been an ex-
traordinary evolution in school-based restor-
ative practices. While the basic 4 Step Re-
storative Process inherited from restorative
justice remains the core, advancements in
interpersonal neurobiology, neuroscience
Page 38 Winter 2019
“
Regardless of the specific
practice, all restorative
practices are about re-
storative communication.
”
of communication, trauma-awareness, and
trauma-responsiveness are revealing the
transformative power of restorative lan-
guage, community building circles, com-
munication, and interaction.
With trauma, there are ways of communicat-
ing restoratively that can effectively intervene
in the immediate experience of traumatic
stress, anxiety, agitation, and/or withdrawal
to help co-regulate emotions and nervous
system function. When these ways and prac-
tices are supported by a whole-school pro-
gram, trauma recovery becomes part of the
restorative plan for any student and/or fac-
ulty member. Most schools are striving to be-
come trauma-informed. The next evolution-
ary step is to become trauma-responsive,
and restorative communication is the way to
accomplish this.
Regardless of the specific practice, all restor-
ative practices are about restorative commu-
nication. Whether it’s a restorative conduct
policy; a classroom teaching circle; a check-
in circle; class or faculty respect agreement;
a one-on-one restorative conversation with
a student, colleague, or parent; or a more
CSEE Connections