Teacher is one of the most important people in the life of any student as they influence their progress and development greatly. Amidst these teaching strategies, restorative teaching practices could be beneficial in helping students achieve their full potential.
Restorative teaching practices in education involve the promotion of positive, effective and responsible relationships, conflict management, and classroom culture.
In the current blog post, the writer has discussed 5 easy, yet powerful restorative practices that teachers can use in order to foster socio-emotional development of learners.
Circles
Classroom circles make it possible for students and their teachers to build relations at least on the class level. In circles, people have to face each other while seated in a circle formation with the aim of building up trust.
By creating a series of questions about the topic in question, educators can ensure that students engage in deep and meaningful discussions. For example, a circle discussion on bullying provides student with a platform to express on the incidents, feelings and ideas on how to counter them.
This way, discussions of the necessary wisdom, empathy, and responsibility occur naturally to help teachers and learners evolve as a group of active listeners.
Emotional Tone Or Feeling
Affirmative statements reflect concern for the student’s emotions and occurrences. It appears that by naming emotions, teachers corroborate the existence of the child’s inner experiences.
For instance, instead of saying, “You cannot do this,” to a frustrated student, saying something like, “I understand that you are frustrated and I am here to assist you,” will be more comforting.
Teachers should incorporate affective statements in short, simple and frequent manner to listen to students. This assists in managing discipline cases right from the time they crop up so that all students’ emotions as well as psychological well-being is addressed.
The communication to affect relationship of student and the teacher enhances as teachers, attend to affective needs of the students.
Restorative Questions
The following questions are used for restoring the conversation after a potential breakdown, as they help the participants to regain focus on the topic, and return to a positive interpersonal relation:
The focused inquiry fosters positive interaction that gets straight to the heart of issues. Therefore, restorative questions help to find solutions by identifying and dealing with the sources and causes of the problems and the conduct involved.
For example, when a conflict arises and two people or groups are engaged in a war of words, such questions as ‘Who has been affected?’ and ‘What measures can be taken to make sure that this does not happen again?’ can help to turn the conflict.
The Fair Process
A main factor of creating equality in processes within the classroom is the ability of the students to have a say. Teachers’ ought to discuss and establish rules, guidelines and consequences for unacceptable behavior together with students.
The students learn restorative practices in education in project based learning online schools and become agents of change towards a responsible society as they are involved in decision making. Class meetings also allow for students to share their ideas and concerns.
That is why students receive more interested in following the requirements set at the class when they reciprocally understand why some decisions are made.
Implementing Change To Practice
Healing circles help to trust and reconcile after a breach of peace transpires in the classroom community. As both individuals tender their apologies and seek forgiveness, the underlying feelings are explored.
The circle then goes through the process of finding a positive way to restoring the broken relationship whether it is through an apology or change of behavior and forgiveness.
Interpersonal rupture is resolved, and relationships are therefore renewed when healing circles are conducted. This avoids creation of long-standing barriers in social relations that hinders leaning.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that when adopting restorative practices, change is slow, and there is a need to invest in the relationship between teachers and students.
Respect, tolerance, empathy, accountability, and understanding are achieved by the learners besides their gaining of confidence, perspective-taking skills, relationship, and responsibility from teachers under the restoration of conversation.
Finally, restorative classrooms go beyond the curriculum by fostering moral members of society able to bring about positive change in the world.
