Implementing Restorative Practices

This workshop equips educators with the skills to use restorative practices as tools for communication, relationship-building, and conflict resolution in schools. Participants will explore the use of restorative justice circles as alternatives to traditional discipline, focusing on strategies that foster accountability, empathy, and community. The session also highlights how these practices can serve as informal and formal assessment tools to better understand student needs while strengthening the classroom and school culture. Educators will leave with a practical framework for embedding restorative practices into daily interactions and broader discipline systems.

• Overreliance on punitive discipline practices such as suspensions and expulsions.
  
• Ineffective conflict resolution strategies that escalate rather than resolve issues.
  
• Weak student-teacher and peer relationships that hinder positive school climate.
  
• Lack of tools for addressing behavioral challenges in ways that restore trust and community.

1. Facilitating Restorative Circles and Conversations – Participants will learn structures, roles, and facilitation strategies for using restorative circles to resolve conflicts and build stronger classroom and school communities.
   
   
2. Using Restorative Practices as Alternatives to Discipline – Educators will gain strategies for replacing punitive measures with restorative approaches that encourage accountability and repair harm rather than exclude students.
   
   
3. Integrating Restorative Practices into Instruction and Assessment – Participants will practice ways to embed restorative practices into daily routines and use them as tools for assessing student needs, fostering inclusive participation, and strengthening relationships