We still have suspensions. There are still appropriate times when we need to suspend a student. We also have detention, we have community service, and our overall philosophy is all about an interest to change behavior, maintain the relationship with the student and the family and re-engage the student academically. That's our approach.
Each child needs to be looked at as an individual and that there's all kinds of things that we can teach them. Using restorative justice practices is especially a good thing if it's a minor offense, something that somebody's going to walk away from with just a better understanding, better learning...let's take that approach. It brings everybody into the conversation and creates some investment in improving outcomes for students. So it's not just the students responsibility, it's not just the parents responsibility, it's not just the teachers responsibility, it's everybody's working together including the student. We all have a responsibility to build a community inside of our schools and that is one of the most important things that a classroom teacher does. And the best classroom teachers do that, they create community inside of their classroom. They get to know each student. They ensure that each student knows that they care about them, when that happens in every classroom across a school that has a significant impact on how students feel and how they behave. I've got a really great group of kids right now and they came to me some of the kindest children that I've ever worked with and I think that's in part due to the work that the teachers have been doing recently in our school with restorative practices and so we are benefiting from that as a whole school. Given time and and being really growth mindset in the open mind when you approach restorative practice, it's paid our students dividends as far as really being more insightful and more reflective about why they do the things they do. To me the why is to honor the dignity and the humanity of every person you encounter. Every person has a perspective and every person is going to be in conflict at some time and how do we hear them in the midst of that and how do we move through it? When we're trying to change a culture and you're asking district staff and families and the community to step up to the plate, you're also trying to do it in a way that everybody is raising the bar together at the exact same time. If one body is not invested or doesn't believe in the need for the cultural change or in the need for a new approach to practices then the other two can't hold the bar up by themselves and it won't work. So everybody kind of has to do it together and that always takes a lot of time and a lot of energy and it has to be consistent. It's like you just keep hammering at it and then the next thing you know the bar is up there and everybody's like "Wow we lifted it we didn't even know!"
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AuthorBriam Grill was born on January 23, 1990, in San Francisco, CA. He went on to study at the University of Oxford in Oxfordshire with a focus on international affairs. He organizes travel tours for tourists who are interested in wild nature. He writes articles for StudyFAQ Students QA Platform. ArchivesCategories |