Circle Forum

“My principal doesn’t support me in my restorative practices.” How do you get others in your class or school or district interested in restorative practices? Shelley, Steve and Stan share some very practical advice from their experiences of leading restorative practices in whole school district.

2:14 Whole school involvement

3:29 Model the learning for others

5:27 “No office referrals from Mrs. X? What’s going on?”

6:37 Flatten the hierarchy using a fair process

7:21 Restorative leadership is about belonging, voice and agency

10:23 Everybody has a role in restorative work

11:21 Invite colleagues in to observe

12:39 Ask for permission to try something in a different way

13:37 Steve story:get support from the positional leader in your workplace

14:47 Lead from where you stand

15:43 Focus on the students you can impact - starfish story

16:38 Celebrate your successes with a colleague

Need a consult on restorative leadership, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

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Changing expectations in schools has impacted staff and teacher well-being long before Covid-19. Covid sure amplified the need to attend to our staff more closely. Distinguishing between burn-out and demoralization can help leaders help others.

2:23. changing demands of teaching and expectations

3:31. Burn out vs demoralization

5:23. no more surveys, talk face to face

10:18 School story of 7 support staff conflict when each person had a lot going on away from school

13:01. Differentiate your approach with staff

14:37 Look for shared interests and hobbies

16:59. Social time with a drinking game (or not)

23:40. Take a small step into dealing with staff well-being

Article EdResearch for Recovery STRUCTURAL SUPPORTS TO PROMOTE TEACHER WELL-BEING

Visit our website www.restorative.ca for more information on supporting teacher well being as a restorative leader.

Where does a leader find the time to be restorative? “I just don’t have time for this in my busy busy day” is something we hear a lot. The podcast this week is focused on some practical things you can do or which you may already be doing:

1:40. “Change your mindset”

3:06. “But don’t circles take away from curriculum time?”

4:42. “Leadership focuses on relationships with the people”

6:24. “Building others’ leadership skills is part of the job”

7:05 “Ask a basic restorative question like “what’s happening?” Then listen to the answers”

8:35. “Prioritize your day for relationships like greeting students before school starts”

9:47. “What? No A/C for the Principal’s office?”

11:30. “Model the skills and use them with staff”

13:09 “Superintendent remarks on changed school climate”

15:19. “Others hear restorative language indicating you listened”

Need a consult on restorative leadership, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

Subscribe to our podcast on Youtube Circleforum

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Staff behaviours and misbehaviours are up in schools. Stress from the pandemic amplify concerns between the adults in a school be that staff to staff or parent to staff. Restorative leadership offers some practical ways to deal with staff conduct.

2:25 “teacher away every Friday impacts other staff’s prep time.

4:21 “coachable restorative moment”

5:49 “difficult conversations and restorative practices”

7:14 “everybody wants someone else to talk to the other person”

9:32 “restorative steps early in the process de-escalate situations”

10:54 “restorative responses often as last resort”

11:22 “learning from restorative justice and first time offenders”

12:27 “2 secretaries in conflict nearly go off on stress leave”

17:43 “consider restorative responses first”

22:22 “are you open to another way of approaching this?”

23:11 “2 teachers yelling in the hallway and a restorative response”

Article “Redesigning Restorative Justice for Criminal Justice Reform”

Need a consult on restorative leadership, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

Subscribe to our podcast on Youtube Circleforum

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There are a lot of upset parents coming into our schools lately. Using a restorative approach, any leader in a school can work WITH parents. “People are happier when those in authority positions do things with them not to them or for them.”(IIRP) Restorative leadership engages the ADULTS in the building using some of the same approaches used for students,

3:54 “Angry parent story from Steve”

6:42 “restorative leadership sounds like..”

7:55 “invite parents in to a conversation”

9:20 “attacks can get personal”

10:36 “attacking others is an unhelpful response to shame”

13:22 “restorative questions for parents”

14:39 “don’t take the bait and get all defensive”

17:29 “then I heard ‘tell them to make an appointment, I’m busy’”

20:06 “acknowledge the person and their concern”

21:20 “set the stage for the next conversation with the parents”

22:53 “butt heads or Butthead - a story from Steve”

26:40 “who actually gets the last word?”

Need a consult on restorative leadership, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

Subscribe to our podcast on Youtube Circleforum

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If staffing is a revolving door at your workplace, consider this week’s podcast on how to keep staff engaged with restorative leadership. We reflect on the research recommendation from the Rand Corporation: ”Leaders who have not made adult relationships a priority could consider transferring the strategies they use to build positive student-staff relationships to focus on adults.“

1:30 “staffing problems are misunderstood”

2:33 “it’s not about the money”

3:54 “a supply teacher who kept coming back to the same school”

6:20 “micro level watch how you speak with staff”

7:03 “macro level stop moving principals around so much”

9:10 “small things you can do to build relationships”

11:35 “intentionally block time every day to build connections with adults in your workplace”

12:20 “do for adults what you’d do for students”

Restoring Teacher and Principal Well-Being Is an Essential Step for Rebuilding Schools :Findings from the State of the American Teacher and State of the American Principal Surveys

Need a consult on leadership and restorative practices, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

Music by DaddysMusic from Pixabay

The biggest source of burnout in the workplace is, according to Gallup, “unfair treatment at work.” Schools are no exception and staff are leaving in droves. In our new season, we will be focusing on restorative leadership and engagement…of adults. This week’s podcast features a story from Shelley where the leadership was NOT restorative and how it could have been by using a fair process.

1:47 "burnout caused by unfair treatment at work"

3:50 "management/leadership style matters"

4:48 "Shelley shares an example of unfair treatment from her work"

7:58 "here's what a restorative leader might have done"

10:58 "how do leaders manage change restoratively"

13:04 "lead from where you stand"

13:48 "lead with a fair process"

16:13 "ask questions, listen to the answers and lead from where you stand"

Gallup article “The World’s workplace is broken—Here’s how to fix it”

Need a consult on collaboration and restorative practices, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

Here’s another episode of Summer Shorts on CircleForum where we’re telling stories about situations where things did not go well or things weren’t working right. In a conversation earlier this year with Perry Smith from Abbotsford Schools in BC, we talk about what it takes to make a change in schools.

:37 “need the resources for schools according to the needs at the school”

2:17 “system leaders don’t get what’s happening at the schools’

3:54 “the symmetry of learning for students AND for adults is key”

5:32. “Question the school structures”

6:02 “ ask ‘who is this structure serving?’”

Need a consult on collaboration and restorative practices, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

This episode of Summer Shorts on CircleForum is a story we recorded earlier this year about a student who refused to participate in the daily classroom circle for 6 whole months. Participation in the circle just wasn’t happening until the teacher, Dane Ellis, found out the reason why.

:29. “Getting a student to physically join the circle’

2:32 “Is there something wrong with the circle?”

3:55 “treat the student as defiant and then he does become defiant”

5:08 “Just because somebody isn’t participating, don’t give up”

6:05 “reluctant student actually put circle questions in suggestion box”

Need a consult with one of our experts in restorative practices, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca

Summer Shorts on CircleForum are stories where things did not go well and how that changed our practice.  In this podcast, we go back to a story we heard earlier this year from Brooke Monks, an experienced teacher who was very apprehensive about doing her first circle until...Steve coached her through it.

:50  "Loved the circle but lots of panic"

1:16. "even did student presentations in the circle"

1:47 "students asked for another circle"

2:03 "feedback from students"

3:54 "quiet students speak up in circle"

4:32  "how do you feel when someone interrupts you or talks over you?"

4:55  "it feels like what I'm saying doesn't matter"

Need a consult with one of our experts in restorative practices, send me a note to [email protected]

Check out our free resources at www.restorative.ca