In order to create a school-wide culture of communication to resolve conflict, I think the first step would be to “prepare the facility” as stated in the text. Possibly adopting signage, similar to our DREAM posters to promote restorative justice among all stakeholders. If we are going to adopt these practices school-wide, it is important to use restorative language throughout the building. All staff should be aware of, and become familiar with, using the language consistently.
Yes, I agree that a school-wide culture of communication is vital. Posters like the DREAM posters are a good idea. A handbook of the specific practices would be beneficial for all staff members to refer to especially new staff members.
Posting the R's is a great idea: Respect, Relationships, Responsibility, Repair and Reintegration. It will help us remember them and also give opportunity to refer to them in conversation with the students.
Having the visual reminders and common language is great. I think it would also be useful to create simple, developmentally appropriate visuals to be displayed for primary level students who may not be ready to understand language appropriate for intermediate grades.
I love this idea! Signs are good for all- providing consistent language and easy reminders with a quick glance. We have many other posters that are the same- and the kids notice them and refer to them going from room to room. A great way to help try to keep things consistent.
Well, I think we need to have full staff PD that explains the steps and core values of Restorative practices. That would ensure any questions that pop up are discussed with everyone present. I'd like conversation with ideas of how a classroom teacher can run a restorative mediation immediately after some event has taken place. I usually pull out to the hallway, but should I be waiting for a more appropriate time? I mean I can't just have the students involved marching up to ATS. There is paperwork involved before that happens (and IF it happens). So the school needs to agree on what to do with the students immediately following an event. What keeps a student in the class and what gets a student to ATS following an event? We have disconnect when a student is sent to the office, but is returned to class. The teacher has no idea if any restorative mediation occurred. And if it was, the teacher gets no documentation of it. We also might not get any input into it. We need that schoolwide conversation.
I agree with you on a PD Patti! We need a PD so everyone can be on the same page with the same understanding/knowledge/strategies and with everyone knowing the "Hows and Whys" of implementing it. Having it for the whole school in the fall (as we discussed in the meeting) would be beneficial
I agree with Patti that a full staff PD explaining the Restorative Core Values is necessary if we as a school want this to be successful. The five R's: Respect, Relationships, Responsibility, Repair and Reintegration are the key to improving student behavior and will instill accountability. All staff members need to be versed in the restorative language. We also need to record when a student is involved in a mediation and how often the unwanted behavior occurs. The school plan needs to be consistent and teachers, if not involved, need to be made aware of the outcome. It is important for all staff to be on the same page.
I think that the only way to create a schoolwide culture of communication to resolve conflict is by providing PD and collaboration time with peers. I also think that each teacher when starting at school 9 should receive a handbook with the language that will be used consistently from grade to grade and teacher to teacher, staff member to staff member. If it is going to be part of our schoolwide expectations, it should be followed by all staff members in the building.
One way we could create a schoolwide culture of communication to resolve conflict would be to provide staff members with laminated bookmarks with leading questions such as "What happened? What were you thinking about when _____ happened? Who did this affect, and how so?" (p.17).
I think creating a culture of communication school wide must first involve getting everyone on-board and aware of the expectations. I think it's also going to be important to have a plan for new staff who come on-board now and in the future. If staff new to our building are not trained or aware of school wide expectations, we risk losing the culture of communication.
I think in order to promote a school wide culture, we would need to have full staff PD. Included within this PD should be basic expectations, specific processes, and modeling of specific restorative practices such as mediations, circles etc.
Hack 1 give ideas for developing communication. Having a plan and expectations for addressing conflicts is important. For example, taking students into the hallway for a quiet private conversation is a practice that should be used school wide. Communicating to students that you have a problem with a behavior and not them personally will help to maintain relationships. Getting students to communicate with each other in this manner is important too and will take a lot of coaching. I think peer mediation already helps to support this goal.
To create a school wide culture of communication to resolve conflict, I believe we need to begin by getting ALL staff members on the same page. Sometimes the communication is lost during whole group professional development meetings, so small groups, maybe grade level meetings would allow facilitators and participants to engage in the restorative justice process. Having common language across the entire school for staff to use would be beneficial for everyone and send the ‘culture-shift’ message to students.
We can create a schoolwide culture of communication to resolve conflict by staff members being on the same page in conjunction with the administrators. I think one of the main issues is that a lot of information gets lost in translation. So if we can have a “culture shift” like Demetria suggested I think that’s where we start. By implementing schoolwide PD’s or using a digital platform that is readily available for everyone to receive the same information will be very helpful. In addition, we need to set up a way where we can collectively provide constant feedback so that the necessary changes can be made if applicable.
I think there are many moving things that need to happen to create a school wide culture of communication to resolve conflict. As stated above in responses to others, I believe both a school-wide staff PD and the posting of common language/posters for reference are things that would help this effort truly be school-wide. With all parties informed and getting the same message/training/information it will help staff support each other as well as our students as we move forward with our restorative practices.
I believe that creating a school wide culture of communication to resolve conflict takes time. It requires the entire school community to "buy-in". It requires all of the school community to provide input to the certain elements and initiatives that would meet the needs of our students. PD could then be put in place to make this elements and initiatives a reality.
I agree, creating a school-wide culture does take time and requires input from the school community. When our faculty and staff are all on same page and have had input into what restorative practices look like in our building, there will be more buy-in. In the end, the goals will be clearer, and students and staff won't be confused about how and why restorative practices support our learning environment. Then common restorative practices and language are hopefully more effective.
We will need to start with having staff understand the importance of adopting restorative justice and having culture of communication to resolve conflict. We will need to collectively work together to use common language and practices to build communication with staff and students. We have already discussed making signage to support school wide usage.
I agree with what everyone had to share. Creating a culture of communication is imperative to continuing to move the use of restorative practices forward. All stake holders must be on board and share a common language for restorative practices in the school 9 community and how conflicts are addressed including staff, students and families. Posters, professional development and disseminating information to families will help make restorative practice a school 9 way of life.
In order to create a school-wide culture of communication to resolve conflict, I think the first step would be to “prepare the facility” as stated in the text. Possibly adopting signage, similar to our DREAM posters to promote restorative justice among all stakeholders. If we are going to adopt these practices school-wide, it is important to use restorative language throughout the building. All staff should be aware of, and become familiar with, using the language consistently.
ReplyDeleteYes, posters for the core values would work. We could share those core values during grade level Rights & Responsibility meetings.
DeleteYes, I agree that a school-wide culture of communication is vital. Posters like the DREAM posters are a good idea. A handbook of the specific practices would be beneficial for all staff members to refer to especially new staff members.
DeleteSigns are a great idea...visual to remind people the language that should be used.
DeletePosting the R's is a great idea: Respect, Relationships, Responsibility, Repair and Reintegration. It will help us remember them and also give opportunity to refer to them in conversation with the students.
DeleteHaving the visual reminders and common language is great. I think it would also be useful to create simple, developmentally appropriate visuals to be displayed for primary level students who may not be ready to understand language appropriate for intermediate grades.
DeleteI agree- school wide posters would be important visuals and help to make those connections throughout the school.
DeleteI love this idea! Signs are good for all- providing consistent language and easy reminders with a quick glance. We have many other posters that are the same- and the kids notice them and refer to them going from room to room. A great way to help try to keep things consistent.
DeleteWell, I think we need to have full staff PD that explains the steps and core values of Restorative practices. That would ensure any questions that pop up are discussed with everyone present. I'd like conversation with ideas of how a classroom teacher can run a restorative mediation immediately after some event has taken place. I usually pull out to the hallway, but should I be waiting for a more appropriate time? I mean I can't just have the students involved marching up to ATS. There is paperwork involved before that happens (and IF it happens). So the school needs to agree on what to do with the students immediately following an event. What keeps a student in the class and what gets a student to ATS following an event? We have disconnect when a student is sent to the office, but is returned to class. The teacher has no idea if any restorative mediation occurred. And if it was, the teacher gets no documentation of it. We also might not get any input into it. We need that schoolwide conversation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on a PD Patti! We need a PD so everyone can be on the same page with the same understanding/knowledge/strategies and with everyone knowing the "Hows and Whys" of implementing it. Having it for the whole school in the fall (as we discussed in the meeting) would be beneficial
DeleteI agree with Patti that a full staff PD explaining the Restorative Core Values is necessary if we as a school want this to be successful. The five R's: Respect, Relationships, Responsibility, Repair and Reintegration are the key to improving student behavior and will instill accountability. All staff members need to be versed in the restorative language. We also need to record when a student is involved in a mediation and how often the unwanted behavior occurs. The school plan needs to be consistent and teachers, if not involved, need to be made aware of the outcome. It is important for all staff to be on the same page.
ReplyDeleteI think that the only way to create a schoolwide culture of communication to resolve conflict is by providing PD and collaboration time with peers. I also think that each teacher when starting at school 9 should receive a handbook with the language that will be used consistently from grade to grade and teacher to teacher, staff member to staff member. If it is going to be part of our schoolwide expectations, it should be followed by all staff members in the building.
ReplyDeleteOne way we could create a schoolwide culture of communication to resolve conflict would be to provide staff members with laminated bookmarks with leading questions such as "What happened? What were you thinking about when _____ happened? Who did this affect, and how so?" (p.17).
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the laminated bookmarks. This would be handy to grab and hand to a student to help coach them through a conversation.
DeleteI think creating a culture of communication school wide must first involve getting everyone on-board and aware of the expectations. I think it's also going to be important to have a plan for new staff who come on-board now and in the future. If staff new to our building are not trained or aware of school wide expectations, we risk losing the culture of communication.
ReplyDeleteI think in order to promote a school wide culture, we would need to have full staff PD. Included within this PD should be basic expectations, specific processes, and modeling of specific restorative practices such as mediations, circles etc.
ReplyDeleteHack 1 give ideas for developing communication. Having a plan and expectations for addressing conflicts is important. For example, taking students into the hallway for a quiet private conversation is a practice that should be used school wide. Communicating to students that you have a problem with a behavior and not them personally will help to maintain relationships. Getting students to communicate with each other in this manner is important too and will take a lot of coaching. I think peer mediation already helps to support this goal.
ReplyDeleteTo create a school wide culture of communication to resolve conflict, I believe we need to begin by getting ALL staff members on the same page. Sometimes the communication is lost during whole group professional development meetings, so small groups, maybe grade level meetings would allow facilitators and participants to engage in the restorative justice process. Having common language across the entire school for staff to use would be beneficial for everyone and send the ‘culture-shift’ message to students.
ReplyDeleteWe can create a schoolwide culture of communication to resolve conflict by staff members being on the same page in conjunction with the administrators. I think one of the main issues is that a lot of information gets lost in translation. So if we can have a “culture shift” like Demetria suggested I think that’s where we start. By implementing schoolwide PD’s or using a digital platform that is readily available for everyone to receive the same information will be very helpful. In addition, we need to set up a way where we can collectively provide constant feedback so that the necessary changes can be made if applicable.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many moving things that need to happen to create a school wide culture of communication to resolve conflict. As stated above in responses to others, I believe both a school-wide staff PD and the posting of common language/posters for reference are things that would help this effort truly be school-wide. With all parties informed and getting the same message/training/information it will help staff support each other as well as our students as we move forward with our restorative practices.
ReplyDeleteI believe that creating a school wide culture of communication to resolve conflict takes time. It requires the entire school community to "buy-in". It requires
ReplyDeleteall of the school community to provide input to the certain elements and initiatives that would meet the needs of our students. PD could then be put in place to make this elements and initiatives a reality.
I agree, creating a school-wide culture does take time and requires input from the school community. When our faculty and staff are all on same page and have had input into what restorative practices look like in our building, there will be more buy-in. In the end, the goals will be clearer, and students and staff won't be confused about how and why restorative practices support our learning environment. Then common restorative practices and language are hopefully more effective.
ReplyDeleteWe will need to start with having staff understand the importance of adopting restorative justice and having culture of communication to resolve conflict. We will need to collectively work together to use common language and practices to build communication with staff and students. We have already discussed making signage to support school wide usage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone had to share. Creating a culture of communication is imperative to continuing to move the use of restorative practices forward. All stake holders must be on board and share a common language for restorative practices in the school 9 community and how conflicts are addressed including staff, students and families. Posters, professional development and disseminating information to families will help make restorative practice a school 9 way of life.
ReplyDelete