Students come to school with many issues on their minds and in their hearts. As educators, we can help them process their thoughts and feelings so they can better handle their situations and be more present in class. Restorative circles are a useful practice to do just that. While frequently used to replace punitive forms of discipline, restorative circles are equally important in proactively building the relationships and skills students need to support one another and collectively address the challenges they face, especially during these unsettling and uncertain times for many of our students. Restorative circles are most effective when they’re an integral part of school culture and are embedded in your daily classroom routines. After all, you can’t “restore” a community that you haven’t built or sustained.
Below are some steps and questions I have researched and used that can support you in initiating a Restorative Circles program in your classroom.
7 STEPS FOR FACILITATING MEANINGFUL CIRCLES
- Co-create a safe and supportive space: Circles work best if teachers invest time up front to build relationships, develop skills and design a bank of tools to draw upon throughout the school year.
Early in the process teachers and students together explore values—like empathy, patience, kindness, courage and open-mindedness—that are essential to understand and agree upon when sharing openly and honestly in a circle. These include honoring the talking piece, which goes around the circle as an invitation to share while everyone else listens (participants may pass if they don’t wish to talk). Participants are encouraged to speak and listen from the heart with an equitable and inclusive lens. It is important that educators inform participants at the outset that we are mandated by law to report when a student threatens to harm themselves or others, or when students divulge abuse.
- Be prepared: Make sure that you, the facilitator, are well rested, calm and focused.
To hold the circle space effectively, it’s important to be fully present and able to manage other people’s stories and feelings as well as your own. If you’re exploring sensitive issues that may require follow up, consider alerting support staff.
- Plan ahead: Decide together on a topic or theme that sustains students’ interest.
Find a relevant activity to open the circle space such as a poem, quote or piece of music. A mindfulness activity can also be used to bring students into the space after a particularly stressful event. Look for information to ground the conversation and develop questions and prompts to invite student perspectives into the circle. Keep in mind that the larger the circle the more time you’ll need for the talking piece to go around. Think about how things might unfold and be ready to adapt and adjust accordingly. Make sure to leave time for a closing activity, giving students a chance to transition into spaces that may be less conducive to being vulnerable. A closing activity can be a commitment to safeguarding the stories shared in a circle or a breathing exercise in which we provide students with prompts and time to put themselves back together again.
- Invite student experiences into the space: Encourage students to connect with the circle content by sharing stories from their own lived experiences.
Include storytelling rounds by asking students to talk about “a person in your life who…” or “a time when….” Share authentically with yourself. This gives others permission to do the same. Model good listening skills as the talking piece goes around the circle. Be fully present as others speak. True active listening can create the kind of welcoming space that encourages even the quietest voices to speak.
- Acknowledge, paraphrase, summarize and practice empathy: Listen closely to what students share so that you can build on their experiences.
When the talking piece comes back to you, touch on what you felt, noticed or heard. If you sense that there was limited substance in the first round, send the talking piece around a second or third time, asking students for deeper, more meaningful connections, reflections, or additions. If challenging or painful issues come up, model agreed-upon circle practices for students to follow. Listening mindfully and being present with other people’s ordeals and lived experiences can create supportive, healing experiences that strengthen community connections and build empathy. If needed, let students know you’re available to check in with them later in the day or week. You might also have them consider speaking with other supportive adults or students to find solace if they’re in need.
- Explore what it means to be an effective ally: Beyond creating a supportive listening environment, ask what else, if anything, students need from you and from each other.
Explore how to be better allies in a circle so that students know they don’t need to face their challenges alone. Invite them to talk about a person in their lives who is a good friend or ally, or a person they’d like to have as a better friend or ally. Discuss the qualities these people have (or lack) and how they make us feel. Invite students to talk about a time they’ve been a good friend or ally themselves, and what gets in the way of being our best with one another.
- Zoom out to promote understanding on the systems level: Explore whether there are larger systemic forces that underlie the challenges students have touched on (such as racism, sexism, homophobia or lack of access to resources).
Introduce information, resources and voices that might shed light on how these systems operate. Look for examples of people who took action to interrupt these and other oppressive systems. Invite students to connect to this information by sharing their thoughts, feelings and related experiences. Studying larger, systemic forces in society can help students better understand their situation and can be a useful starting point for students to become more active themselves. Action and activism can inspire hope, connection and healing.
Video example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjVI-1XDX_Y
Circle time questions – Exemplars
Getting Acquainted
– What is your favourite…?
– If you had $1000 what would you do with it and why?
– How would your friend describe you, or how would you describe yourself to someone new?
– What do you like (or dislike) most about yourself?
Values
– Give me an example of when someone has been kind to you in your life (or when you have been kind to someone)? How did that feel?
– What do you want to contribute to the world; How do you want to be remembered?
– Share an example of when you did the right thing when others were doing the wrong thing, or when no one else was watching
Story Telling
– A time when you were scared to do something good/important, but you did it anyway
– A time when you laughed a lot
– What (silly/funny/crazy/weird) thing did you used to do when you were little?
Achievement
– One thing I couldn’t do a year ago…
– One of my goals this year is…
– Something I can’t do but want to be able to do by the end of the year is…
Behaviour / Conflict
– Share one thing that makes you annoyed.
– Share a time when you were upset but then someone made you feel better.
– How can you show respect to others?