92% of attendees said, “I would recommend this session to someone else.”

Session Description

This interactive session explored the implications of Restorative Practices and Ethical Literacy as cultural frameworks at a growing high school in New York City. The Global Learning Collaborative has been working to develop a school culture based on the student-selected core values and balance it with a restorative approach to all things academic and cultural.

Jennifer Zinn, Principal and Ethical Literacy team member, shared the story of the opening years of the Global Learning Collaborative and the methods it has found helpful and hopeful in the challenge to create a positive, inclusive, and supportive school culture. Participants had the opportunity to develop some of their own restorative skills and see how the Global Learning Collaborative students are putting their words in to action as well.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Examples of student-led programs and projects to promote Ethical Literacy (high school level).
• Concrete application ideas for school culture development.
• Experience with restorative practices and applications in an urban high school setting.

Highlights

• Circle to process a problem
• Circles get the most out of conversations
• Restorative practices

Tips

• Establish common ethical values and use them to aid in discussions
• Keep the purpose of restorative practices central – remind participants of this purpose
• Emphasize that this discipline philosophy is based on redemption – how to get back into the community
• Circles can work well to promote dialogue that addresses an issue
• You can always go deeper, so gauge the interest/fatigue of participants
• Remind facilitators that people will be honest if asked to
• Remind facilitators that this process promotes open-mindedness, tolerance if facilitated effectively
• Remind all involved that this isIone step towards finding a resolution

Tools

• Circles to reflect, restore, redemption
• Discussion around core values
• Give everyone involved a chance to share their thoughts and opinions
• Detention circle can take the place of traditional detention

Replicable Practices

• Give everyone involved a chance to share their thoughts and opinions
• Discipline of restoration
• Ask, “What can you do to move forward in this situation?”
• Restorative justice with others, college agues, sitting in with students

Click here to view the full list of replicable practices from the conference.

Related Activity

Restoration Circles –Please check back soon this activity is currently being developed, or click here to receive updates as additional conference content becomes available

Comments are closed