“The child who is not embraced by the village, will burn it down to feel its warmth”.
School disciplinary practices affect a student’s academic outcomes and life outcomes (Hollands et al., 2022). As such, there has been a shift over the last two decades in the approach schools take to prevent, reduce, and respond to behavioural issues (International Institute for Behavioural Practices [IIRP], 2018).
Staff at St Francis Xavier’s Catholic School (SFX) accept and view children as fundamentally good, but capable of harming others, either intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, SFX staff are committed to working with your children restoratively, which strives to develop a sense of connectedness and manage student conflict through the repairing of harm and restoring of relationships (Thorsborne & Blood, 2013), this approach is known as Restorative Practices (RP). We have recently launched our RP policy, so it’s important that you, as a member of our community, have an understanding of what this approach involves.
It is theorised that there are three psychological mechanisms which improve student behaviour and feelings of connectedness (Acosta, et al. 2019)
1. The maximisation of positive affect (i.e. feelings, emotions, and moods) by using a proactive approach. This can be seen in your child’s classroom through their participation in social-emotional learning programs (SEL), such as The Resilience Project.
2. The minimisation of negative affect by asking those who have caused harm (‘the offender’) to others (‘the victim’) to accept responsibility for their behaviour and then providing them with support to reintegrate back in to the community without causing further harm through punishment. This can be seen through the use of scripted conversations which allow the offender to directly address the harm caused, and repair or restore the relationship with the victim.
3. The encouragement of expressing emotion through the use of affective statements and questions. This can be seen in your child’s classroom through the language used by their teacher when respectfully challenging behaviour, and in the yard when our peer-mediators are supporting children through conflict. It can also be seen during mediation, when those affected by harm allow the offender to hear how their actions have affected them.
Staff at SFX have participated in professional development surrounding the use of RP and have been using the approach with your children in varying capacities over the past several years. However, there has been a clearer focus since 2021 and it is now the expected approach amongst all staff. In practice, staff are following the Continuum of RP, in which preventative (and proactive) measures are taken to reduce instances of conflict and harm and responsive actions are taken to repair harm and restore relationships post-incident (e.g. restorative circles, and formal conferences). By using RP, we are adhering to Wachtel’s (2000) framework of the Social Discipline Window, which supports the contention that your child is more likely to make a positive change in their behaviour when those in positions of authority do things with them, rather than to them or for them.
For more information on Restorative Practices at SFX, our policy is available on the school website.
References
Acosta, J., Chinman, M., Ebener, P., Malone, P. S., Phillips, A., & Wilks, A. (2019). Evaluation of a whole-school change intervention: Findings from a two-year cluster-randomized trial of the Restorative Practices Intervention. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48, 876–890. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01013-2
Hollands, F. M., Leach, S. M., Shand, R., Head, L., Wang, Y., Dossett, D., Chang, F., Yan, B., Martin, M., Pan, Y., & Hensel, S. (2022). Restorative practices: Using local evidence on costs and student outcomes to inform school district decisions about behavioral interventions. Journal of School Psychology, 92, 188-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2022.03.007
International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP). (2018). Behavior Support Systems Model: Restorative Practices Implementation Guide. https://www.jefferson.kyschools.us/sites/default/files/JCPS%20Restorative%20Practice%20Implementation%20Guide.pdf.
Thorsborne, M., & Blood, P. (2013). Implementing restorative practice in schools: A practical guide to transforming school communities. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Wachtel, T. (2000). Restorative practices with high-risk youth. In G. Burford & J. Hudson (Eds.), Family Group Conferencing: New Directions in Community Centered Child & Family Practice (pp. 86-92). Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter
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