February 2023

Restorative Justice Resource Team

How can we support?

Raza HusainCoordinating Principal of Restorative Justiceraza.husain@peelsb.com

Susie EllisRestorative Justice Resource Teachersusanne.ellis@peelsb.com

Sinduja MannaRestorative Justice Resource Teachersinduja.manna@peelsb.com

How are we creating just, equitable and anti-oppressive learning environments?

REFLECT:

How might we work towards accountable spaces?

What does accountability look like in the classroom?

How might we co-construct mutual agreements to hold each other accountable?

What might consequence look like when we break mutual agreements?

LEARN:

“Safe and Brave Spaces Don’t Work (and What You Can Do Instead)”To move forward, we don’t need to promise safety or expect bravery. We need to embrace accountability to foster more inclusive spaces.

ACT:

Hold Space

Bring others together
Ask them what they need
Listen to understand
Co-create a plan to move forward
Co-construct what it means to take responsibility for your own actions
Focus consequence around the idea of repair and what is needed to make things as 'right' as possible

Co-Construct Classroom Community Expectations and Mutual Agreements:

35 Restorative Justice Circle Questions to Engage Middle School StudentsBy creating a safe, brave container for self-inquiry and deep listening, restorative circles are a powerful tool for building community, checking in, sharing stories, learning about relationships and values, encouraging individual and shared goals and dreams, and taking responsibility for behaviors and choices.

5 Questions for Learning About Values

What makes you feel safe, supported, and empowered in friendships? At school? In your community? In society? How do you share these qualities with others?
Do you think it’s ever okay to lie [cheat, steal, etc.]? Why or why not? Has anyone ever lied to you? How did that make you feel?
What are some rights you think everyone--including you--deserves? What might the world look like if everyone had these rights?
Have you ever done something to help someone else when you thought no one was watching? How did this experience make you feel?
What do the words ‘justice’ and ‘injustice’ mean to you? How do you think we can proactively create a more just classroom, community, and world?

6 Strategies for Building Community in the ClassroomHow do you foster a sense of safety and belonging so students can focus their energy on learning? These strategies for building community in the classroom will help.

Create human values for learning
Co-construct behaviours around these values
Build culture and climate with goals
Develop a shared conflict resolution language
Establish SEL routines
Play around with routines during SEL mini-lessons

*Love this article!

How are we prioritizing and creating the conditions for building healthy relationships?

REFLECT:

How and what are we teaching students about being in 'right' relationships, where the concern and respect is mutual and dignity is upheld for everyone?

How might we help students navigate the importance of consent in all healthy relationships, especially in the Early Years?

How might we create spaces for questions and concerns?

How are we teaching students to shift away from the culture of "it was just a joke"?

LEARN:

Resources | Creating Consent CultureWe help educators and youth leaders teach consent to teens and tweens through a fun, interactive and age appropriate workshop.

2 Exercises for Teaching Secondary Students About ConsentActivities that guide middle and high school students to say no to each other in the safety of the classroom help them unpack the concept of consent.

ACT:

Talk early, talk often

Talk about setting personal boundaries

Gather and share age appropriate resources

Teach the language needed for consent

When you're not sure, find out and circle back

How are we fostering healing centered spaces?

REFLECT:

How might we learn to understand everyone's body language better?

What body language cues are we noticing and naming to help understand each other?

How might we explicitly co-construct understanding of social cues?

How might we continue to learn more about what messages we are communicating through our body language?

LEARN:

Episode 2: ”You Are Somebody’s Ancestor: Teach Like it” with Dr. Chris Emdin | Street Data Pod: Imagining the Next Generation of EducationJoin hosts Shane Safir and Alcine Mumby as they dig deep with Dr. Christopher Emdin around how to be a good ancestor, biomimicry as a guide to school transformation, burning the pedagogical sage, and so much more. This episode will change you. A must-listen for all new administrators and teachers finding their way in complex times. For Further Learning: Order Chris’s book Rathedemic at http://www.beacon.org/Ratchetdemic-P1703.aspx Read Chris’s foreword in Street Data to make connections to the pod conversation Order adrienne marie brown’s Emergent Strategy at https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html

Teaching Students to See Each OtherThis English teacher’s students engage in lots of self-reflection toward the end of the year. This year, she added in a missing element: questions about how they’ve affected each other.

ACT:

Co-Construct the Meaning of Social Cues and Body Language

Getting Out in Front of BehaviorsTeachers can use preventive discipline to help avert episodes of misbehavior before they start.

Guiding Questions for Constructing Understanding

How are we centering community engagement?

REFLECT:

How might we create a strong 'connection to place' in the school community?

LEARN:

Connecting to Place in Education and Why It MattersAs our society has become increasingly global and digital, so has our educational system. Smart, thoughtful uses of technology can engage…

"The place in which a school is situated forms a powerful and engaging context for student learning. In return, education that regularly involves being in the community and local nature (in all its forms) and is well facilitated by teachers can empower students to advocate and take actions that improve the places in which they live.

Place-based education can shape society for the better while providing an authentic, real world education for our children."

ACT:

Community Walks Create Bonds of UnderstandingWhen students lead teachers through their communities, the cultural exchange can have a transformational effect on school culture.

Community Walks:

Set a clear purpose - Why has our school or team chosen to do community walks? Which community do we hope to learn more about?
Craft a learning question - Can you clearly state what you wonder about or hope to learn from this experience?
Create norms to promote respect - Have you and your staff discussed how to model respect as you enter the community?
Invite the students, families and community to participate - Have you asked parents and students to identify the most important places for teachers to visit and learn about? Have you coached students to design an engaging experience? Have you organized a meeting with leaders from the community you will visit?
Structure the experience - Have you created time during the workday for staff to participate? Have you built in time (at least an hour) for a thorough debrief of the experience? Have you planned a reflection process for staff to share key learnings?

Resources for Educators

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February 2023

Restorative Justice Resource Team

How can we support?

How are we creating just, equitable and anti-oppressive learning environments?

REFLECT:

How might we work towards accountable spaces?

What does accountability look like in the classroom?

How might we co-construct mutual agreements to hold each other accountable?

What might consequence look like when we break mutual agreements?

LEARN:

ACT:

Hold Space

Bring others together

Ask them what they need

Listen to understand

Co-create a plan to move forward

Co-construct what it means to take responsibility for your own actions

Focus consequence around the idea of repair and what is needed to make things as 'right' as possible

Co-Construct Classroom Community Expectations and Mutual Agreements:

5 Questions for Learning About Values

Create human values for learning

Co-construct behaviours around these values

Build culture and climate with goals

Develop a shared conflict resolution language

Establish SEL routines

Play around with routines during SEL mini-lessons

How are we prioritizing and creating the conditions for building healthy relationships?

REFLECT:

How and what are we teaching students about being in 'right' relationships, where the concern and respect is mutual and dignity is upheld for everyone?

How might we help students navigate the importance of consent in all healthy relationships, especially in the Early Years?

How might we create spaces for questions and concerns?

How are we teaching students to shift away from the culture of "it was just a joke"?

LEARN:

ACT:

Talk early, talk often

Talk about setting personal boundaries

Gather and share age appropriate resources

Teach the language needed for consent

When you're not sure, find out and circle back

How are we fostering healing centered spaces?

REFLECT:

How might we learn to understand everyone's body language better?

What body language cues are we noticing and naming to help understand each other?

How might we explicitly co-construct understanding of social cues?

How might we continue to learn more about what messages we are communicating through our body language?

LEARN:

ACT:

Co-Construct the Meaning of Social Cues and Body Language

Guiding Questions for Constructing Understanding

How are we centering community engagement?

REFLECT:

How might we create a strong 'connection to place' in the school community?

LEARN:

ACT:

Community Walks:

Set a clear purpose - Why has our school or team chosen to do community walks? Which community do we hope to learn more about?

Craft a learning question - Can you clearly state what you wonder about or hope to learn from this experience?

Create norms to promote respect - Have you and your staff discussed how to model respect as you enter the community?

Structure the experience - Have you created time during the workday for staff to participate? Have you built in time (at least an hour) for a thorough debrief of the experience? Have you planned a reflection process for staff to share key learnings?

Resources for Educators