Focus: Restorative Practices, Restorative Discipline & Restorative Mindset
Time: 10:45 min
Who & Where: Santa Rosa School District, CA & Restorative Resources
Grade Level: High School
Description:
Staff discuss the messages students receive when using punitive versus restorative approaches and how a restorative approach has shifted student attitudes and behavior. The video explains how teachers in Santa Rosa were hesitant at first, then really happy to be able to change their role.
“You have this role that you play as a teacher to keep control, ... and it separates you from your students … to all of a sudden be able to sit down and quit being a teacher and just start being a person, and sit there and communicate directly, it makes bonds.”
“It takes a lot of courage for a teacher who’s had a conflict with a kid to have a restorative process with that kid. … It can also be incredibly powerful and can make a huge difference for both the student and the teacher, how they see each other and how they interact from there forward.”
Students talk about their experience with restorative practices and being held accountable. Restorative Resources staff talks the viewer through the nuts and bolts of a restorative conference and the impact it has on people’s lives.