What Does A Restorative Practices Coach Do?
What Does a Restorative Practices Coach Do? A Guide to Their Role in Schools
At Collaborative School Culture (CSC), we emphasize that a Restorative Practices coach doesn’t just introduce tools and strategies—they support schools in fully integrating Restorative Practices Training into existing systems by fostering environments where students and staff are encouraged to accept responsibility for their actions. A Restorative Practices coach provides:
Leadership Support & Implementation Planning – Helping school leaders walk through the steps to implement Restorative Practices effectively, ensuring that the right systems, policies, and resources are in place.
Change Management Guidance – Schools often struggle with initiative fatigue. A coach helps leaders map out a phased implementation process that aligns with research-backed strategies for sustainable change.
Staff Training & Professional Development – Facilitating Restorative Practices for educators through in-person training, modeling strategies, and guiding educators through practice, role-play, and real-time application.
Monitoring & Avoiding Pitfalls – Restorative Practices implementation can fail when there’s a lack of accountability or support/resources, inconsistent follow-through, or superficial adoption. A coach ensures schools stay on track by helping educators troubleshoot and use data for continuous improvement.
Restorative Culture Building – Beyond discipline, a coach supports schools in fostering a relational culture where proactive community-building, engagement, and effective conflict resolution are the norm, not just for students but for all staff. Restorative dialogue is emphasized to foster a relational culture.
Sustainability & Capacity Building – A coach ensures that schools don’t just implement Restorative Practices but also build internal capacity to sustain them. This includes training school leaders and staff to take over ongoing training, coaching, onboarding, resource development, and monitoring, ensuring long-term success beyond the coach’s involvement.
What Is the Benefit of Having a Restorative Practices Coach for Community Building?
Having a Restorative Practices coach dramatically increases the likelihood that Restorative Practices take hold and aren’t just another initiative that fades after a year. Research in implementation science tells us that simply attending a one-time training doesn’t change practice—ongoing coaching, feedback, and application are essential for successful adoption (Fixsen et al., 2005). Additionally, fostering personal responsibility among participants is crucial for the success of restorative practices.
A Restorative Practices coach in schools ensures that:
Educators and leaders receive ongoing support instead of a one-time workshop.
Restorative Practices are embedded into school-wide procedures, such as behavior response protocols, PBIS frameworks, and classroom management.
Teachers gain confidence in applying restorative practices through real-time coaching and feedback.
Implementation is measured and refined, so schools can adjust based on what’s working (or not working) in their specific context. Deep listening plays a key role in understanding the needs and perspectives of all involved parties.
Without a coach, schools often struggle with shallow adoption—where Restorative Practices are introduced, but not fully integrated into school culture or discipline structures. A coach helps avoid these pitfalls by ensuring that schools follow a strategic, research-backed process for implementation. The collaborative nature of restorative practices and the importance of respect among all involved parties are essential for successful integration.
A strong Restorative Practices coach doesn’t just support implementation—they plan for sustainability. A good coach works alongside school leaders to ensure a gradual release, so that over time, the school can take ownership of its ongoing training, coaching, and quality improvement efforts. This means helping staff build internal capacity to train new educators, integrate Restorative Practices into onboarding, develop tailored resources, and establish systems for monitoring and refinement. By embedding these measures into existing structures, a coach ensures that Restorative Practices remain a lasting part of the school’s culture, rather than just a temporary initiative.
What Is the Benefit of Having a Restorative Practices Coach Whose Expertise is in Schools?
Not all Restorative Practice coaching is designed with K-12 schools in mind. Some organizations offer Restorative Practices training but don’t specialize in helping schools with implementation, change management, or system integration. The restorative process is crucial in schools for healing and mending damaged relationships.
At CSC, we understand the realities of working in schools because we’ve worked inside them. Our coaches have backgrounds in education, school leadership, and student support, which means we:
Help schools design and operationalize Restorative Practices across multiple systems, procedures, and PBIS tiers. Restorative justice principles are integrated into school systems to foster personal responsibility and positive team dynamics.
Understand how Restorative Practices fit within existing school systems like PBIS/MTSS and behavioral flowcharts.
Support school leaders in building internal capacity, so that over time, staff can take over the training, coaching, and monitoring. The process recognizes the unique needs and strengths of each school community.
Address real-world classroom challenges, such as managing behavior, engaging resistant staff, and balancing Restorative Practices with discipline or accountability measures.
Many Restorative Practices resources focus primarily on student discipline, but we support schools in applying these practices to staff culture, leadership, and decision-making as well.
What Is the Purpose of Restorative Justice?
The purpose of Restorative Practices is to build and maintain strong relationships, repair harm when conflict occurs, and foster a sense of accountability and community. Positive relationships are essential in achieving these goals, as they create a supportive environment for all participants.
Preventing conflicts by proactively building relationships through circles, affective statements, and intentional check-ins.
Repairing conflicts and ensuring accountability through meaningful amends, not just suspensions or detentions. Taking responsibility is a key component of the restorative process.
Strengthening staff culture and student relationships through open communication, shared agreements, and Fair Process decision-making. Engaging in restorative practices can lead to a meaningful experience for all participants.
How to Access Restorative Dialogue Training
Districts and schools looking for Restorative Practices training should consider:
In-person, hands-on training: Role-playing and interactive practice are key to real implementation.
Restorative Practices resources tailored for educators: Look for training designed specifically for schools, not just general community programs.
Coaching and support: Expert guidance to help your whole community engage in designing, operationalizing, and practicing Restorative Practices promotes ongoing success. It is crucial to acknowledge one's own personal responsibility in the training process.
A provider with expertise in school-based implementation: Ensure that the trainers have experience integrating Restorative Practices in schools. The training should encourage participants to repair harm to the fullest extent possible.
Engaging in restorative practices is a personal choice that requires commitment. If you’re looking for expert training in Restorative Practices, Collaborative School Culture offers high-quality, interactive training designed specifically for schools.
Reach out to us to learn more about how our coaching and implementation support can help your school build a sustainable, restorative approach!
