The Role of Restorative Practices in School Transformation: Centering Relationships and Connection
Restorative practices hold significant promise for school transformation. These practices are characterized by proactive relationships, connection, and community transformation. As such, effective implementation of restorative practices rests not merely on getting the technical aspects right, but far more on attending to the often overlooked adaptive and relational elements that are necessary to achieve authentic, meaningful, and sustainable implementation. This webinar recording will provide educators, school leaders, and district administrators with the strategies, tools, and structures they need to successfully implement restorative practices. The session focused on mindsets, values, social capital, and structural supports that bind and hold together restorative practices and that transform schools into strong communities.
Watch the recorded webinar
Highlighted Resource:
Presenters
Lauren Trout (she/they) is a Program Associate in WestEd’s Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities content area. Lauren works with schools, communities, and larger education and justice systems to provide training, coaching, and technical support around equity, climate and culture, conflict resolution, and harm prevention. A restorative justice practitioner by profession, Lauren uses restorative theory to shift trauma-informed practice, social-emotional well-being, and relationship-centered learning from being siloed programs into being paradigms, collective values, and guiding principles that inform and are embedded in structures and organizational culture. Lauren specializes in using a restorative justice paradigm to transform systems of power, helping to create climates that are inclusive, safe, and anti-oppressive.
Sandra Azevedo, MA, PPS, is a Coordinator of Continuous Improvement for Butte County Office of Education. She has worked in education for over 25 years supporting special education, Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), Social & Emotional Learning (SEL), equity efforts, and a leadership network. Sandra has contributed to a number of guides and publications, including Social and Emotional Learning in CA: A Guide to Resources Wiki Wisdom/Beyond Differences report, Advancing SEL Amid a Pandemic and National Awakening to Systemic Racism and the Guidebook for Thrive’s Children’s Resilience Initiative. Sandra is a trainer for Restorative Practices after receiving training through the International Institute of Restorative Practices (IIRP), and she is a steering committee member for her local healing center, ACEs Collaborative, as well as for a multi-county regional ACEs Collaborative.
Toby Espley (she/her) is the Restorative Practices Coordinator at the Orange County Department of Education in Learning Support Services. The focus of her work consists of Restorative Practices, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Early Childhood Education, and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) within the California Multi-Tiered System of Supports (CAMTSS). With over twenty years of experience in education, Toby continues to bring current research and best practices to support professional development for the PK–12 continuum. She holds a master‘s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in child development.
Published
2022
Resource Type
Webinar Recording
Topic
Environment
Related Project or Program
California Center for School Climate
Subscribe to the California Safe and Supportive Schools Newsletter to receive updates on the latest research, resources, policies, and practices related to school climate, safety, and well-being.
