The Expanded Success Initiative (ESI), a public-private partnership between the New York City Department of Education and Open Society Foundations, held a summer two-day intensive workshop on Restorative Practices at OSF Headquarters in Manhattan. 16 out of the 40 ESI schools participated in the training. In 2011, 40 schools were selected through a competitive application process as part of a larger citywide effort to dramatically increase the number of Black and Latino young men who complete high school fully prepared to succeed in college and careers.
In its third year of implementation, ESI highlighted Restorative Practices as a “promising practice” for schools in the ESI cohort. According to the Advancement Project survey, African-American students are a sizeable portion of the country’s student population, yet the percentage of suspensions, multiple suspensions, and expulsions is disproportionately African-Americans. The need to address this disparity has also been recognized by U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who recently announced the Supportive School Disciplinary Initiative which seeks to promote strategies that keep students in classrooms and schools, while engaging school staff in learning about issues of discipline, safety, and positive youth development.
The two-day training was led by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), a graduate school based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. IIRP’s Whole-School Change program focuses on the ideas of “restorative practices”, a proactive approach to improving overall school climate and culture by improving communication and school administration and staff taking active responsibility for developing community.
IIRP instructor Neno Nanaronne, together with the ESI Team, facilitated the sessions, guiding the group of administrators, teachers, social workers, and guidance counselors toward an in-depth understanding of the background of Restorative Approaches while providing opportunities to participate in circles, which are facilitated group discussions.
On the first day’s activities, over 40 participants gathered in a large circle and engaged in activities to introduce the background and major principles of Restorative Approaches. Throughout the day, the educators gained a more concrete understanding of the benefits of Restorative Approaches through watching video clips, exploring and using restorative questioning, examining affective language with students.
This combination of activities demonstrated for participants the balance between supporting students and managing conflicts when they occur. In keeping with the IIRP’s principle that more than 80% of circles completed in school should be fun, engaging, and relevant to young people, facilitators modeled the proactive benefits of supporting communities through circles for participants.
On the second day, participants continued their training interactive and engaging examples of ways to build trust within communities. Participants were divided into smaller circles and given an opportunity to facilitate circles on their own. Afterwards, they shared feedback with the facilitators and exchanged ideas with other groups. In the final component of the training participants discussed ways to implement Restorative Practices at their schools.
Overall, participants walked away energized, excited, and armed with restorative practice strategies that could be used to develop more supportive and accepting school cultures.
FOR MORE INFORMATION What is restorative practices? Find out more here: http://www.iirp.edu/pdf/DefiningRestorative.pdf
by Alexandra Brown and Cheryl Vallejo