Restorative practices are a broad range of approaches that proactively build a school community based on cooperation, mutual understanding, trust, and respect. Restorative practices respond to conflict by including all impacted individuals in processes that rebuild relationships, ensure meaningful accountability, and repair harm done to individuals, groups, or the school community during conflict. These practices blend very well with Culturally-Responsive Behavior Interventions and Supports (CR-PBIS) in classrooms and on school campuses at each tier of support.
Restorative practices are used as both a prevention and intervention measures which helps schools: Build relationships with, and empower community members to take responsibility for the well-being of others; Prevent or deal with conflict before it escalates; Address underlying factors that lead youth to engage in inappropriate behavior; Increase the pro-social skills of those who have harmed others; Build resiliency both in students who have committed harm and in those who have been harmed; and provide students with the opportunity to be accountable to those they have harmed and enable them to repair the harm to the extent possible.
When used as an intervention measure, taking a restorative approach to discipline changes the fundamental questions that are asked when a behavioral incident occurs. Instead of asking who is to blame and how those engaged in the misbehavior will be punished, a restorative approach asks four key questions:
Effective and consistent use of restorative practices can reduce disciplinary referrals, lower dropout/pushout rates, elevate school climate measures, increase attendance, and promote greater academic achievement. For these reasons and more, PPS is committed to expanding restorative practices throughout the district and to helping educators, students, and families learn to implement it with fidelity.
Jaeger Vega
jvega@pps.net
503-916-6262 ext. 77039
Peer mediation is problem solving by youth with youth. It happens in the form of a meeting led by student leaders who have received training to resolve conflict with peers. Students helping students working to resolve conflict can reach a mutually agreeable plan that empowers youth to hold eachother up in our community, and often avoids the need for disciplinary action.