2022 TEACH BETTER CONFERENCE

The importance of building strong, trusting relationships with your students is by far the most important thing in order to ensure all students feel safe to express their needs and wants, and in turn come to school to learn. You do not have to be a master at restorative practices in all systems within the school, but you can try a few actionable steps to ensure students feel heard, seen and protected within your classroom space, developing a strong culture for both learning and being their best selves.

Restorative practices have been in existence for quite some time, especially within our indigenous populations. It focuses on building emotional intelligence by addressing the harm done by an individual's action(s) to the community. However, it does not stop there. The end goal is to ensure the community is restored and all parties involved have addressed the issue and learned and understood one another's perspective, building emotional empathy towards one another. It allows all parties to be reentered into the community and not be defined by their wrong(s). Instead, they're supported to build upon their strengths and given the skills needed to understand how their actions impacted themselves and others. It provides the skills necessary to be proactive in their decisions instead of reactive for the following situation that may occur in the future. Restorative justice practices push for communal efforts and belonging, not exclusion and shunning which allows for inclusivity for all learners.