The schools in our cluster are moving toward implementing the behavior management system of Restorative Justice, delivered by Margaret Thorsborne, who spent today guiding us on an exploration of this approach. The main aspect I like is that it recognises and works within a relational framework (it's all about relationships), which to me is a key skill for 21st century learners (I purposly mean that teachers should be learners as well as our students).Margaret is inspirational and shares many of her own stories to show how we need to understand and overcome our past experiences of dicipline and/or upbringing in order to recognise the aspects that mold the way we repond as adualts today. What I really like about restorative justice is it's focus on healing both parties. It explores the harm that has been done and ways to fix it. It develops reflection, empathy and a way to right the wrong.
Margaret also reminded me that emotional literacy is something we need to be teaching alongside other literacies. I am now considering how I would teach emotional literacy. How do you teach it in your class?
My next step with Restorative Justice will be to practice how to actualy use it in everyday school situations, and perhaps a cheat sheet to remind me of each step.
Image by levork
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