The Power of Restorative Practices in Education

July 2, 2018Nearpod Team

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East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy (EPAPA) is an urban high school that started in a windowless warehouse. The first public high school in East Palo Alto – an urban community struggling with poverty, high dropout rates, and gentrification. In over thirty years, EPAPA aimed to provide a high-quality, college preparatory education for our students. Without a local public high school, most students in the city were – and still are – bussed to neighboring cities to attend school. From the beginning, EPAPA students and staff were like family as we worked together to achieve our goals. I taught English at EPAPA for several years before becoming the Dean of Students. When I became the Dean, I worked with the school community – administration, teachers, students, parents – to transform our traditional system of discipline into a system forehanded on restorative practices in education.

Why do we need restorative practices in education?

Although we built the foundation of a strong community, some students struggled with negative perspectives of school. We had a traditional discipline system that seemed to work, yet the more we used it, the more that detentions and referrals seemed to lose their meaning.

But things could always be better.

Despite initial push-back (why fix things that weren’t broken?), we moved forward with professional development, community meetings and changes to our systems and processes. Within the first eight weeks of school, even those who were most resistant to change had jumped on board.

Restorative practices are rooted in the traditions of many indigenous peoples around the world. From Native Americans to the Maori of New Zealand, to Aboriginal peoples of Australia, restorative practices have been used to resolve conflict and heal communities. They are more than a set of conflict resolution strategies; they are a philosophy and way of life.

There are many myths and working definitions of restorative practices. If you remember only one thing, remember this: restorative practices are fundamentally about building relationships and strengthening community.Click To Tweet

Traditional systems vs. Restorative Practices

This comparison is similar to punitive vs restorative discipline. Unlike traditional systems, which are punitive and focus on punishment, restorative practices focus on repairing the harm caused by negative behaviors. Restorative practices require a mindset shift

FROM a focus on rule-breaking and punishment TO the impact or harm caused by an action
FROM a focus only on the wrongdoer TO giving voice to both the person(s) harmed and the person who causes harm
FROM a focus on punishment that often happens in isolation TO involving the community in an authentic healing and learning process
FROM a process that doesn’t leave room for making amends to a process that requires making amends

Implementing the restorative practices discipline model is hard work and it takes time. It is hard to talk about the root cause of your actions and to learn and process the ways your actions affect others. Also, it is hard to solve conflict together…and this goes for both students and teachers.

But it is worth it.

So, why do we need restorative practices? Within the first year, discipline incidents at our school decreased by over 66 percent, school culture became more positive and interpersonal relationships were strengthened.

The question really is, why haven’t we all started implementing them yet?

Restorative practices lead to real healing and change in individuals and a community. Learn more with our Learning Labs Restorative Practices series and begin your own transformation.

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