Restorative practices are formal and informal processes that proactively build healthy relationships and a sense of community to prevent and address conflict and wrongdoing. By creating a caring and supportive school culture with healthy relationships between and among educators and students, restorative practices can prevent and reduce behaviors that are harmful. These relationships also make it possible to repair harm and restore positive relationships when mistakes are made. Restorative practices help those who have engaged in harmful behavior to take responsibility for their actions and understand how their behavior affected others while also acting to repair the harm that has been caused.
In a manner similar to restorative practices, the Caring School Community program uses meetings and a circle structure to build relationships, teach social emotional skills, and solve problems. In the Caring School Community program, each day starts with a Morning Circle and ends with a Closing Circle. These structures help build community, provide opportunities to practice social emotional skills, and help students begin and end each day in a calm, caring, and respectful way. Additionally, class meetings are used to help solve problems, make class decisions, and provide students with a sense of autonomy and voice in the classroom. Finally, the program’s approach to discipline eschews extrinsic rewards and punishments in favor of helping students develop self-discipline. Like restorative practices, the Caring School Community program supports students as they shoulder the responsibility for repairing and restoring relationships, while ensuring that dignity and respect for all students are maintained.