SCHOOL TRAINING
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Our trainings are designed to be engaging, interactive learning experiences with opportunities to understand and explore a restorative approach combined with acquiring the specific skills to create a restorative school community. Participants gain direct experience with the core practices, an internal sense of what a restorative culture feels like, and what that could mean for transforming the quality of their school community.
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Core TrainingsOur trainings are offered to individuals at our offices in Santa Rosa, California or may also be scheduled at your school site where group rates may be arranged.
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION
This 45-minute on-site presentation is ideal for briefly introducing restorative practices to school and district administration, school boards, and teachers and staff. This is an opportunity to get a first glimpse at what restorative practices are and how they can benefit your specific community. Priority is given to allowing sufficient time for questions and answers. No cost, except travel expenses when applicable INTRODUCTION TO RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN SCHOOLS
This one-day training will explore what restorative practices are all about and what it can bring to your school. Participants gain an understanding of how restorative approaches can transform relationships throughout the entire school community. We will experience the power of the circle process and examine how different types of restorative practices including restorative questions and dialogue, restorative conferencing, community and classroom circles, and accountability circles can be used to build and maintain relationships at all levels of the school community. This training is appropriate for members of the community including administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community members. Provided on-site, the training can be customized to fit your audience and time frame. This training is often provided as part of a school district's professional development plan. $175 per person RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IMPLEMENTATION
The one-day Restorative Practices Implementation training helps participants assess their school community's readiness to embrace restorative practices. Based on that understanding and a clear understanding of the continuum of restorative practices, we work hands-on with participants to develop a realistic, customized implementation plan and time frame, which includes needed trainings, personnel responsibilities, and the introduction of new processes that will lead successful development of a restorative culture. This training is recommended for a school leadership team, which could include school personnel from administration, teachers, and classified staff. The Introduction to Restorative Practices is highly recommended in advance of this training. $175 per person COMMUNITY CIRCLES
This training demonstrates the power and versatility of circles to create and maintain meaningful connections in a variety of settings within a school community, including the classroom, among teachers and staff, between administrators and student families, etc. Participants will be introduced to the skills practiced by a circle keeper to create and hold a safe, respectful space for honest sharing, according to restorative principles. We will also explore and directly experience various circle formats and their applications in different school settings, ranging from building relationships to responding to conflict. This training is applicable in both elementary schools and secondary schools; on-site trainings may be modified to fit the needs of specific groups. Upcoming trainings:
$300 per person FREE to any Sonoma County educator that works with 7th or 8th graders. Paid for through a county wide grant for 7th/8th schools. COMMUNITY CIRCLES MENTORING
This is recommended for individuals who complete the Community Circles or Restorative Conferencing trainings. You will have opportunities to learn through observation of circles or conferences led by Restorative Resources mentor; co-leading circles or conferences with the assistance of your mentor; debriefs and discussion for troubleshooting and refining practice and leading your own circles and conferences with your mentor present to give constructive feedback and support. Hourly rates apply. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN SCHOOLS TRAINING
This training will provide an overview of restorative justice practices in a school community. We introduce the central principles of a restorative approach to working with students, school staff, and student families. The training also explores the foundational practices that support honest communication and accountability among all individuals at school. Utilizing a combination of discussion, role-plays, and direct personal experience to develop the skills needed to effectively apply restorative principles in school relationships, participants will be able to immediately apply their learning in whatever role they hold in the school. Trainings are held at the Restorative Resources offices at 2934 McBride Lane in Santa Rosa from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The training is available at no cost to all staff and administrators who serve 7th and 8th grade students at a wide range of schools and districts throughout Sonoma County. Sign-ups for this training only may be made via email to Beatrice Camacho at Beatrice@restorativeresources.org. Please include name, school and staff role in the email. Sign-ups must be received a minimum of two weeks in advance of the training. RESTORATIVE CONFERENCE FACILITATOR
This two-day training covers how to prepare for, facilitate, and follow up after restorative conferences in response to harmful incidents in the school community. This training utilizes role-plays and direct personal experience to uncover the skills needed to lead restorative conferences in a number of settings. It also emphasizes identifying the needs of all parties present at a restorative conference, including victims, wrongdoers, and community, and it provides the foundational tools necessary for a successful restorative conference. The training explores how the tools of the restorative conference can be abbreviated or expanded to effectively respond to levels of wrong-doing, including first-time suspensions to expulsion-diversion. $300 per person *Contact our office at todd@restorativeresources.org for information on on-site group trainings and costs or other questions concerning restorative practices training for schools.
Whole-School ImplementationRestorative practice training is most effective in the context of a commitment to whole-school culture-building. Restorative practice is not just about inserting a new practice into the existing context of the education institution. It is about transforming the context itself into a new relationship to teaching and learning.
As a result, the formal training in restorative practice is always paired with an ongoing partnership that allows for multi-year mentoring and implementation support. This can take many forms and is always responsive to the felt needs of the school community. Before the initial formal trainings described above are offered, the partnership begins with dialogue between Restorative Resources and the school regarding aspects of the school’s current structure and culture, perceived needs, available resources, and general readiness to begin integrating restorative practice, among other considerations. This can also include site visits to the school to observe classrooms and have conversations with staff, students, and families. As follow-up to the formal training, some other common examples of mentoring and implementation support include the following:
Finally, in order to assure that the implementation process includes systems-level transformation and that the practice is embedded in the school’s culture, Restorative Resources also conducts on-going reflection and evaluation in partnership with the school. It is of critical importance that a school does not prematurely conclude its effort and attention given to integrating restorative practice before this level of change has taken place. Time for mentoring and implementation support is generally billed at $100 per hour. |
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Additional programs from Restorative Resources that can potentially supplement or be integrated with whole-school restorative practice training and support are the Accountability Circles, Restorative Middle School Program, and Somos Circles.
