Restorative Framework Educator Panel
On the evening of Thursday, Feb. 15th, Be the Change Collaborative and UChicago UTEP hosted an Educator Panel & Discussion on restorative practices in schools. Moderated by Nathaniel Cha, we had three panelists who were current educators or non-profit leaders and who were intentional in thinking about and engaging with restorative practices in their personal and professional lives: Mel Georgiou, Natalie Mitchell, and Sonia Wang. After the panel, all participants also joined smaller discussion groups around specific restorative practices, such as Circles, Social Justice Curriculum, and trauma-informed care. The event closed with a restorative circle.
There were so many thoughtful ideas shared, we wanted to capture some of the main takeaways and resources from our event as a result of exploring the questions: What does it mean (look like and feel like) to have restorative practices in classrooms and schools? We shared a definition from McCammon’s book to ground our conversations, and began thinking about a restorative framework that would restore the well-being of students and educators, humanize education, and sustain the movement for social change.
TRAUMA & HEALING
We learned that restorative practices are a response to the acknowledgement that, as humans, we may have experienced trauma in our lives and that we often experience secondary trauma as teachers. Our students can experience trauma outside the school in a myriad of ways, and we cannot forget the impact of trauma that occurs inside the school through its policies, especially for students of color. As educators, we also recognize that we have inflicted harm in our positions of authority within schools.
Restorative practices are often relegated to a response to harm or conflict and thus only seen as a new way to discipline students. But to adopt a restorative approach as an educator and as a school is to take a stance of disrupting a cycle of trauma and allow space for healing. As one of our panelists put it, “The biggest move I can make as a teacher is to make sure my students are emotionally cared for.” Through the use of peace circles, for example, Sonia explained that we can offer ways to suspend the power hierarchies that often dominate in our school buildings and begin asking important questions - “How do I understand myself better? And also understand you better?” We can begin the work of collective healing together.
RELATIONSHIPS & SAFE SPACES
Restorative practices at the core are based on building relationships and creating community. Panelists described the power of safe spaces within schools, beginning with creating a classroom where students want to be. The process of creating such a classroom space needs to be a priority at the beginning of the year, says Natalie, and it requires intentional and collaborative discussions with students. There was an emphasis on developing norms as a collective - norms that allow for trust, bravery, and an environment that is truly inclusive. Another suggestion to build relationships was to scaffold questions, which is built into the process of circles but can be applied widely. We must start with questions that help us get to know each other as humans before we can then move into discussing heavier topics or addressing conflict.
The idea of constructing ecosystems of safe spaces was also brought up during the panel. This could look like physical spaces for students and teachers, such as zen zones or a room dedicated to circles. This could also look like relational spaces, such as educators being able to connect with allies inside and outside the school and having safe spaces to share (educator restorative circles, for example) or having restorative justice trained individuals or organizations present within the school.
VISION and PRAXIS
The panel discussion focused on the importance of having a vision and praxis for sustaining the work of a restorative framework. When we think of a personal vision, Mel reminded us that the central question to ask as an educator is: how do you want to feel at the end of the year? For Mel, it was to feel joy, and identifying that vision helped to focus her attention and energy. Mel also shared about creating a vision board that included fictional teachers, such as Ms. Frizzle and Mr. Rogers, and emphasized the power of myth and stories to inspire and sustain the work of teaching.
One of our participants asked an important question: What are you building in the world through restorative and abolitionist practices? Mel sees this work as fostering future allies. In our lifetimes, we see that people and systems are broken, but we can have the courage to try things a different way and model for our students and support our students in healing and taking action for social change. In that way, we are looking forward to generational change.
Praxis, the movement between theory or vision and practice, is also important because we know that it will take time and experimentation to work towards our vision of education for liberation. There are a lot of forces working to condition us into thinking that oppressive and inequitable policies and systems are the norm. But having an experimental mindset and the attitude that “failure is the way forward,” as Mel put it, allows us to keep trying and to keep building towards restorative practices and a more just future.
