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Restorative practice works to encourage positive relationships, to repair relationships when they have been harmed, and to build a school community based on cooperation, trust, and respect. It's about teaching expectations and pro-social behaviors through restorative communications, problem solving, making agreements, and resolving conflicts with students -- not to them or for them.
Why take this approach?
- It defines our learning community with a sense of belonging and the importance of relationships.
- Conflicts happen and are opportunities to strengthen relationships when the harm is repaired.
- It teaches problem solving, cooperation, and accountability when all voices are heard and valued.
Questions for when things go wrong …
- What happened?
- What were you thinking of at the time?
- What are you thinking now?
- How did your harm affect others? In what way?
- What do you think you need to do to make things right?
- What will you do differently next time?
When someone has been hurt …
- What did you think when you realized what happened?
- How did this incident impact you and others?
- What has been the hardest thing for you?
- What do you think needs to happen to make things right?
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Contact us
Sara Pickering,
safe schools specialist
(859) 381-4311
Seven options for schools:
- Affective statements
- Restorative questions
- Classroom circles
- Rupture-repair agreements
- Mediation process
- Conflict resolution circles
- Formal restorative conferences: re-entry & repairing harm
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Definition: Restorative practices is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific conflict and to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations in order to heal and put things as right as possible.”
-- Howard Zehr
from "The Little Book
of Restorative Justice"
Web tip: The URL shortcut to this page is fcps.net/restorative
