How to Effectively Implement Restorative Justice Discipline Models

Restorative justice is an approach to discipline that focuses on repairing harm through inclusive processes that engage all stakeholders. Implementing restorative models in schools can improve relationships, provide accountability, and address underlying factors behind student behavior. However, without thoughtful, strategic implementation, the benefits of restorative practices will be limited. This article provides guidance on how to effectively implement restorative discipline models in schools.

What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative justice views misbehavior as harm against people and relationships, rather than just breaking rules or laws. The restorative approach responds to harm by:

Bringing together those affected (victims, offenders, community)

Addressing needs and responsibilities of all parties

Making things right to the extent possible

The purpose is to heal and put right the wrongs. This provides accountability while seeking to understand the reasons behind behavior. The goal is to repair damage, meet the needs of victims, and change behavior moving forward.

Benefits of Restorative Models

Research shows that implementing restorative practices in schools can yield many benefits, including:

Improved academic achievement

Reduced suspensions and expulsions

Decline in absenteeism

Healthier school climate and relationships

Development of emotional intelligence and empathy

Increased accountability and personal responsibility

Restorative models align well with school management system software tools used to track student progress, relationships, and behavioral incidents. Software analytics help measure restorative program impacts over time.

Challenges With Implementation

However, schools commonly struggle to effectively establish restorative discipline systems. Challenges include:

Lack of buy-in from stakeholders

Inadequate or inconsistent use of practices

Focusing too much on formal conferences

Failure to address underlying issues

Limited resources and unrealistic expectations

These barriers highlight the need for thoughtful change management when transitioning to restorative models.

Key Principles for Implementation

Research points to several guiding principles for successfully implementing restorative justice discipline:

1. Gain Buy-In and Understanding

Educate all stakeholders early and often

Align with school values and policies

Highlight benefits and share success stories

2. Take a Whole School Approach

Adopt restorative philosophy more broadly

Integrate informal and formal practices

Build competency of staff community

3. Focus on Prevention and Culture Change

Emphasize proactive community building

Teach emotional intelligence skills

Don’t wait for incidents before responding

4. Provide Adequate Investment and Resources

Budget for training and program management

Develop robust staffing and volunteer structures

Leverage [school management software] for efficiency

5. Start Small and Expand Gradually

Pilot test processes and systems

Concentrate on quality over quantity

Review data frequently and improve strategies

Keeping these principles in mind will lead to more successful adoption of restorative values and programs.

Best Practices for Implementation

Here are some specific best practices to employ when establishing restorative discipline practices in your school:

Build a leadership team

Recruit well-respected, influential champions

Involve all stakeholders - teachers, administrators, staff, students, families, community partners

Facilitate cross-functional collaboration

Provide high quality professional development

Offer onboarding and advanced skill-building sessions

Share research on benefits and best practices

Use external experts to deliver trainings

Develop student leadership

Create student ambassador or peer mediator roles

Incorporate student voice into planning and policies

Have students share benefits with families

Introduce a continuum of practices

Start with preventative community building circles

Add more responsive informal conferences

Build up to formal restorative conferences

Leverage data insights

Use [school management system] to identify needs and patterns

Track participation rates and effectiveness

Review staff and student feedback frequently

Improve practices over time

Identify areas of growth after conferencing

Refine policies based on what is learned

Keep innovating program delivery approaches

Making intentional, strategic efforts to build and sustain quality programs will determine whether your school sees positive results from adopting restorative values.

Critical Success Factors

Research points to several critical success factors that determine results when implementing restorative discipline programs:

School Leadership

Principals and administrators drive culture change through modeling restorative practices, communication, resource allocation, and by empowering leadership teams.

Staff Competency Development

All staff require role-specific skills training reinforced through community practice, quality assurance measures and continuous learning opportunities.

Student and Family Engagement

Proactive communication campaigns, ambassador programs and co-creation of solutions ensures practices align with student and family needs and culture.

Layering the Pyramid

Building a continuum of practices spanning preventative to responsive interventions supported by relationships, emotional literacy skill building and healing allow for sustainable change.

Dedicated Program Management

A dedicated program manager role accounts for the logistics, troubleshooting, data and relationship building needed for smooth implementation.

If schools methodically focus on building competency in these areas and invest adequately in systems supports, successful implementation can be achieved over 2-3 years.

Formal Restorative Processes

While adoption needs to be scaled appropriately, formal restorative processes will likely be part of your school’s continuum of practices. Here are descriptions of formal models commonly used:

Restorative Conference

A structured meeting between offenders, victims, family/friends, and community following incident

Participants describe impact, needs, obligations and make consensus plan to repair harm

Facilitator uses scripted format and agreements are formalized

Community Service

Offenders complete set hours of meaningful service to school community

Links behavior to making positive contribution

Can be served concurrently with other restorative processes

Reflective Essays

Student completes reflective essay connecting behavior to values, impact, and plan to restore community

Essay is shared with victims/offenders and school staff

Models self-directed accountability

Restorative Circles

Group communication process for conflict resolution

Participants take turns speaking and listening to each other using a talking piece

Finds common ground and makes group agreements

These approaches require initial and ongoing training to facilitate properly. But after competency is developed, add critical options for response.

Key Recommendations for Formal Conferencing

If facilitating formal restorative conferences, keep these recommendations in mind:

Make participation voluntary

Thoroughly prepare all participants in advance

Maintain confidentiality throughout

Select facilitators carefully based on neutrality and skill level

Follow structured formatting and facilitation techniques

Debrief afterwards and provide counselling supports if needed

Document details and track completion of agreements

Conduct ongoing quality assurance reviews

Proper training for facilitators, clear policy guidance and systematizing conferencing through effective intake processes and [school management software] integration assists with smooth delivery.

Sustaining and Improving Over Time

While launching restorative discipline practices requires intensive change management, the emphasis eventually needs to shift to sustaining quality programming and supports over time. Here are some tips:

Continuously gather feedback

Conduct surveys after conferences and trainings

Hold student and family listening circles

Track volume, efficiency and effectiveness metrics through software

Provide ongoing professional learning

Offer refresher and advanced skill sessions

Enable peer coaching and mentorship

Send staff to external training events

Review policies and data regularly

Revise handbooks and policies based on experience

Analyze participation rates, efficiency metrics, and outcomes

Identify program usage barriers for correction

Innovate on program delivery

Pilot use of software, videos or workshops

Explore integrating new practices like art therapy

Improve referral processes and communication workflows

By making minor continuous improvements over time, school restorative programs can become highly effective practices integrated into school culture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about implementing restorative discipline practices:

How long does it take to implement school-wide?

Plan for a 2-3 year rollout - 1st year piloting and planning, 2nd establishing key processes, 3rd refining delivery and building competency across all staff.

What budget and resources are required?

Budget for initial training costs, program manager role, release time for planning, conferences and trainings. Many resources are free, but dedicated staffing is key.

How do you evaluate effectiveness?

Survey stakeholders, review usage rates, track reductions in suspensions and expulsions over time through analytics software. Measure conflict resolution timeliness.

How much training is needed?

Plan training as: 1) awareness for all, 2) general skill building by role, 3) specialized skills like facilitation, followed by 4) continuous skill refreshers and community of practice.

What policies need revising?

Update code of conduct, suspensions procedures and assignments policies to integrate restorative options. Redirect resources used for enforcement to coordinating practices.

For more specifics, consult leading restorative justice education programs or read relevant books and toolkits. But keep programs flexible and centred on relationships and healing.

Conclusion

Implementing restorative discipline practices requires a paradigm shift as well as tangible program development. But schools that invest adequately in training, culture change, quality delivery and continuous improvement tend to see substantial benefits for learning environments and student wellbeing over time. Centring implementation around community relationships, skill building and healing at all levels puts schools on track for sustainable success.