Restorative Practices

The storm before the calm — typical of many teachers, I find my stomach churning. Though tired, I didn’t sleep much last night either.

Starting August 31, teachers at my school are back to work with PD and prep — sort of — beginning online with colleagues and led by Garth Bell (John Howard Society, Hamilton, Burlington and area) to learn much more about Restorative Practices.

As a primer, I did a search online and found these videos credible and informative. The first is produced by the Department of Justice, Government of Canada, and the second by a California-based organization. While the former views restorative practices through the lens of the criminal justice system, the latter focuses attention on restorative justice in schools.

TedTalks shares a useful video on restorative practices as an alternative to zero-tolerance policies from a student’s perspective.