What Is Restorative Justice In Schools?
What Is The Definition Of Restorative Justice In Education?
Restorative Justice in education is a framework aimed at creating a harmonious school environment. It focuses on building a sense of community, fostering respectful relationships, and resolving conflicts in a manner that promotes healing and understanding rather than solely punishment. Unlike traditional disciplinary approaches, which often emphasize retribution, Restorative Justice emphasizes repairing harm, engaging all stakeholders involved in a conflict, and transforming the overall school culture. Many schools have implemented restorative justice practices to evolve their disciplinary frameworks, prioritizing healing and relationship-building over punitive measures. This represents a significant cultural shift within educational institutions, aimed at fostering a community while addressing issues like behavioral challenges, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. At its core, Restorative Justice in schools shifts the question from What rule was broken, and what is the consequence? To Who has been affected, and what needs to be done to repair the harm? This mindset builds problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and accountability among students, making discipline a learning process rather than just a punishment.
At Collaborative School Culture, we emphasize that Restorative Justice is just one piece of the larger Restorative Practices umbrella, which includes both proactive strategies that build relationships and prevent harm, as well as responsive strategies for repairing harm when it occurs. Schools that focus solely on the reactive side of Restorative Justice miss the true power of Restorative Practice Training: creating a strong, connected school culture where students and staff feel valued, respected, and heard.
Origins and Philosophy Behind Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is not a new concept. It is deeply rooted in Indigenous traditions and cultural practices that focus on healing, communal responsibility, and restoring balance after harm. Many Indigenous communities have long used circle processes and dialogue-based conflict resolution as a way to address wrongdoing while keeping relationships intact. The guiding philosophy of RJ is that harm impacts not only individuals but the entire community, and therefore, addressing harm requires active participation from all involved. In schools, this means that rather than simply punishing a student, the process invites them to understand the impact of their actions, take responsibility, and make meaningful amends. Restorative justice seeks to understand the underlying causes of conflict and harm within school communities, promoting healing, accountability, and community engagement by prioritizing relationships and individual needs. At the same time, it ensures that the student who experienced harm has a voice in the process, rather than being overlooked—a fundamental shift from traditional discipline, which often focuses only on the student who caused harm.
Key Components and Goals in Educational Settings
In educational settings, key components of Restorative Justice include relational engagement, emotional literacy, collective problem-solving, and accountability. The goals are to foster a safe environment where students and staff feel valued and connected. By embedding restorative practices, schools aim to develop empathetic learners who are equipped with the skills necessary for effective communication, conflict resolution, and collaborative decision-making.
Differences Between Traditional Discipline and Restorative Justice
Traditional discipline often takes a one-size-fits-all approach to misbehavior: students break a rule, consequences are assigned, and the process ends. This method can lead to resentment, disconnection, and repeated behavioral issues, particularly when teachers or students feel unfairly treated or unheard.
Restorative Justice takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on punishment alone, it asks:
What happened?
Who has been affected, and how?
What do we need to do to repair the harm?
By shifting the focus from punishment to accountability and repair, Restorative Justice helps build stronger relationships, deeper understanding, and long-term behavior change. This approach doesn’t mean eliminating consequences—it means ensuring that consequences are meaningful, building skills, and encouraging real accountability rather than just compliance.
What Is An Example Of Restorative Justice In Schools?
Restorative Justice is not just a theory—it is a practical, structured approach to school discipline. Below are real examples of RJ strategies being used successfully in schools.
The Oakland Unified School District has implemented restorative justice practices as a successful alternative to traditional disciplinary measures. This approach has significantly decreased suspensions and violence in schools while promoting a sense of community.
Case Study of Restorative Circles in Classrooms
Restorative Circles are a core practice in RJ, helping students build emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, and respect for others. In an elementary school in Philadelphia, staff struggled with frequent recess conflicts. The typical response was for recess monitors to pull aside students they perceived as instigators, give them a stern warning and often refer them to administration, where they would receive a one-on-one conversation or, in some cases, a consequence. However, this approach rarely addressed the root of the issue, and the conflicts continued.
After adopting Restorative Practices, teachers implemented both morning check-in circles where students built stronger relationships as well as responsive circles where students shared how they were feeling about recess dynamics, and collaborated on a plan to break the pattern of conflicts. By integrating these practices within the classroom and school community, students developed their own group agreements, which became a shared reference point for handling future issues. As a result, conflicts de-escalated before they started, and the school saw a noticeable reduction in incidents, demonstrating that when students have structured opportunities to connect and problem-solve together, they become active participants in creating a positive school culture.
Peer Mediation and Conflict Resolution Techniques
Peer mediation is a structured conflict resolution process in which trained students act as neutral facilitators to help their peers resolve disputes. Unlike traditional disciplinary approaches, which often involve adult intervention and punitive consequences, peer mediation empowers students to take an active role in addressing conflicts in a collaborative and restorative way. The process typically involves mediators guiding both parties through structured dialogue, helping them express their perspectives, identify common ground, and reach a mutually agreeable resolution.
The benefits of peer mediation extend beyond resolving individual conflicts. It helps students develop essential life skills such as active listening, emotional regulation, and problem-solving. Additionally, peer mediation fosters a culture of trust and accountability, where students feel more ownership over their school community. By incorporating restorative processes, schools can further promote community and healthy relationships among students, ultimately contributing to a positive school culture.
Impact of Restorative Practices on School Culture and Community
Shifting to a Restorative Justice model requires leadership commitment, staff training, modifications to procedures, and a schoolwide culture shift. Schools that implement RJ effectively:
✅ Reduce suspensions and detentions – Research from the RAND Corporation (2018) found that schools using RJ saw a significant drop in exclusionary discipline while improving student behavior.
✅ Build stronger relationships – Teachers and students report higher levels of trust and engagement in schools that use RJ.
✅ Improve school climate – Studies from Chicago Public Schools show that RJ reduces repeated behavioral infractions and improves student-teacher relationships.
Adopting Restorative Practices not only remedies present conflicts but also employs a preventative strategy, establishing a culture centered on respect, accountability, and open communication. Integrating restorative justice efforts, is crucial to fully realizing the goals of restorative practices in schools.
What Are 5 Examples Of Restorative Justice?
Here are five examples that demonstrate the versatility and power of restorative practices in educational settings. Schools restorative practices offer a comprehensive approach aimed at fostering a positive school culture, emphasizing the enhancement of relationships within the school community.
Restorative Circles and Their Role
The use of restorative circles is a cornerstone of Restorative Justice. As a key component of restorative practice, these circles provide a safe space where students, teachers, and sometimes parents can come together, even quickly, to discuss issues, express feelings, and develop solutions collaboratively. The circle format encourages open communication, ensuring that every voice is heard and respected. This process not only aids in conflict resolution but also strengthens community bonds and builds a culture of mutual respect through fostering community and open dialogue among students.
Peer Mediation Programs
Peer mediation is another compelling example of restorative practices at work. In this program, trained student mediators help their peers resolve conflicts. This strategy empowers students by involving them directly in the conflict resolution process, teaching valuable skills in communication, empathy, and problem-solving. Peer mediation can be offered as an alternative or a complement to traditional discipline. By incorporating restorative justice practices, which focus on healing relationships rather than punitive measures, peer mediation can lead to a reduction in disciplinary issues, as students often feel more comfortable resolving matters among themselves rather than involving adults.
Formal Conferencing
Formal Conferencing is a structured process used when harm has significantly impacted individuals or the broader school community. These conferences bring together all parties affected by an incident—including those harmed, those responsible for harm, and relevant supporters like family members or staff. Facilitated by trained educators or administrators, formal conferences provide an opportunity for deep reflection, accountability, and collaborative problem-solving. The goal is to ensure that harm is acknowledged, relationships are repaired, and steps are taken to prevent future issues. Schools that incorporate formal conferencing often find that it reduces recidivism, strengthens community trust, and provides a more effective alternative to exclusionary discipline. This approach aligns with the shift away from traditional disciplinary practices and 'command and control' school cultures towards collaborative community-building and co-created values.
Restorative Conversations for Conflict Resolution
At its heart, Restorative Justice leverages the power of conversation. Restorative Conversations are a structured but informal way to address incidents of harm. These conversations between parties involved in a conflict can help clarify misunderstandings and re-establish relationships. They encourage evaluating the impact of actions and foster accountability and empathy. By promoting dialogue, it becomes possible to resolve conflicts constructively and ethically.
Community Service as a Restorative Measure
Community service can be a restorative measure that allows students to make amends for their actions. Rather than punitive measures, assigning community service related to the harm caused encourages students to contribute positively to their school or local community. This redemptive process not only benefits the community but also promotes personal growth and responsibility in the students involved.
Incorporating these techniques into school systems requires a commitment to consistent implementation and regular training for both staff and students. By doing so, schools can shift towards a more supportive and effective disciplinary approach, benefiting the entire community.
What Are The 5 R's Of Restorative Practices In Schools?
A common framework for understanding Restorative Practices includes what some refer to as the 5 R’s—often labeled as Respect, Responsibility, Relationship-Building, Repair, and Reintegration. While these concepts align with the core values of a restorative approach, schools often need more than abstract principles to create meaningful and sustainable change.
At Collaborative School Culture, we take a more actionable approach, emphasizing five key steps that schools can implement to operationalize Restorative Practices in their daily routines. Instead of focusing on general values, we provide a structured framework with clear strategies that ensure Restorative Practices don’t just sound good in theory—but actually work in real classrooms.
Critique of the Five R's Model
Many educators using the 5 R’s model find that while it provides a helpful philosophy, it lacks the explicit steps needed to implement Restorative Practices with fidelity. One major gap in the traditional model is that it doesn’t account for self-regulation, which is critical when engaging in a restorative approach. Schools implementing Restorative Practices must recognize that before meaningful reflection or repair can happen, individuals must first be regulated.
For example, when a student is dysregulated—experiencing frustration, anger, or anxiety—it is unrealistic to expect them to engage in a meaningful restorative conversation. Similarly, educators facilitating Restorative Practices must also regulate themselves before guiding students through a process of reflection and repair.
Expanding and Educating on the 5 Steps
Our model helps schools move beyond broad principles and into structured, easy-to-implement strategies for building and repairing relationships:
Calm Self – Before engaging in a restorative process, the adult must be regulated and centered. When a teacher, administrator, or facilitator is escalated or frustrated, it is difficult to engage in meaningful dialogue. At CSC, we provide an interactive toolkit for self-regulation strategies to help educators model calm and control before addressing student behavior.
Calm Other – Helping students or staff de-escalate before engaging in a restorative conversation is essential. Whether it’s a student involved in a conflict or a colleague experiencing frustration, co-regulation strategies like grounding techniques, movement, deep breathing, and active listening help create a calm foundation for meaningful conversation.
Reflect – Once calm is established, meaningful reflection can take place. The goal of this step is to help individuals think about the root causes of their behavior, its impact on others, and how they can take responsibility for making things right. Tools like the Compass of Shame, Engagement Window, and Restorative Questions support this phase by prompting thoughtful self-examination and guiding students toward accountability.
Repair – Every meaningful relationship experiences conflict, and learning to repair is a critical life skill. Schools that teach students how to take responsibility and make amends—rather than just face consequences—help foster stronger, more resilient relationships. CSC offers a menu of Restorative Practices that can be used to facilitate repair, including Affective Statements, Curbside Conversations, Classroom Re-Entry Conversations, Restorative Circles, and Restorative Conferences.
Plan – True accountability isn’t just about repairing harm—it’s about preventing it from happening again. Schools can help students and staff develop forward-thinking plans to ensure they have the support needed to uphold expectations and avoid repeating harm. This may involve agreements on behavior, structured supports, check-ins, or mentorship to reinforce growth and learning.
Effective Alternatives and Applications in Schools
At CSC, we believe that Restorative Practices must be explicitly integrated into a school’s culture, systems, and daily routines—not just treated as an intervention after harm occurs. We work with schools to embed structured Restorative Practices into PBIS frameworks, SEL programs, and existing disciplinary systems to ensure that both proactive and responsive strategies are implemented with fidelity.
If your school is looking to move beyond theory and into real, sustainable implementation of Restorative Practices, Collaborative School Culture can help. Contact us to learn more about training, coaching, and strategic planning for RP integration.
