PB4L Restorative Practice PLD

PB4L Restorative Practice 

Thursday 7th March 2019
Notes from Restorative Practice PD

What did I learn?

I learnt that restorative practice is all about the relationship between student and teacher. It is about respect, dignity and taking ownership and accountability for behaviour and choices.

From this workshop, I learn a lot about myself and how restorative I am (or not) without even being aware that it was restorative practice. I am able to stay calm and listen during conversations with students, however, I do not always refer to the school values during these conversations. This is probably due to the fact that I am new to them but my goal is now to be including these in most, if not all, restorative conversations.

I also learnt that follow ups are very important and we need to stick to our word and give students the message that they will be checked up on. This could be in a positive way too, depending on the situation and if the student has made improvements. otherwise, perhaps another restorative conversation is needed.

What will I use to improve my practice?

Richard gave us many different strategies that we could use to support restorative practice in our classrooms and I have chosen some that I would like to start incorporating. One of these is the 'yet' mindset exploring the fact that we can't do something yet. Another is the barometer where students line up in an order of how they are feeling that day. This gives an insight for me as a teacher and also the other students about how their peers are feeling. It will also boost a classroom culture that is open and honest about how we feel.

I am also going to use the restorative conversation script he gave us to help me get used to the structure and asking the right sort of open questions.

Structure:

• Tell the story
• Explore the harm
• Repair the harm
• Reach an agreement
• Plan a follow up