Do No Harm
I just finished reading an insightful book called The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians, and Administrators by Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel. This is a handbook which shares techniques and strategies to approach negative student behavior in a proactive way. It is the idea that a restoration of relationships must take place in order to effectively change the negative behaviors. Because I already believe in teaching children to be reflective and aware of the results of their behavior, I enjoyed this book greatly. It served as further validation that behavior choices should be intrinsically motivated rather than through extrinsic means.
A few years ago I met a new teacher who was teaching in a rough area. I was assigned a field experience during my student teaching to observe classroom management. I spoke to her prior to the observation. She shared that she had a 4th grade class of students who had a reputation of negative behaviors. Her year had begun stressful and within 3 weeks she had 4 students who had been suspended. In our conversation we shared the feelings of rewards as an incentive to turn that behavior around as ineffective. We both felt it was highly stressful on the teacher to manage and keep track of. She said she was in the process of reading a wonderful book and planned on making huge changes. I hurried to go meet her class before her changes and had the privilege to go back in the spring to see the results. It was incredible! From that experience I promised myself to never use bribes to encourage positive behavior and bought the book, she used as a guide called, Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards by Dr. Marvin Marshall. The Restorative Practices Handbook has a systematic approach to turning around negative behavior. It is easy to follow and clearly explained. I will definitely include this approach in my classroom.
When it comes to the concept of Do No Harm, I believe it is my role to teach academics in a social setting, thus I must teach how we learn to work and function together in a space where we feel safe, happy, and supported to reach success.It is not my role to punish, bribe, or control behavior.
Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in discipline policies and practices? As a school leader, one of the most important responsibilities I will have is to create the culture and climate of the school. I respect that there will be situations where consequences such as suspension or expulsion will be necessary, but I respect that children need the social skills and confidence to behave in a way that will find them in successful situations. They need guidance and models to show them how to build successful relationships. I would have the authority to implement the use of curriculum which addresses social skills, as well as determine the approach to negative behaviors. It would be my goal to promote restorative practices and my responsibility to train staff how to effectively use the strategies and techniques. Just as the authors of the handbook express their hopes, mine would also be to shift away from punitive approaches. "It is our hope that as educators gain comfort and experience with restorative practices, they will recognize the diminished need for punishment as a response to misbehavior." (Costello, pg.48)
Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in program practices and initiatives? As a leader, I would definitely ban the use of displays of behavior charts in the classroom. I would ask that focus be placed on the positive behaviors and character traits which display use of those social skills, techniques, and strategies found in the restorative practices approach. Imagine bulletin board displays of students who have turned around a negative situation in the form of a headline celebrating a campus hero who showed restored a relationship by approaching it confidently and positively instead of designated bulletin board of a clip chart displaying who had misbehaved that day.
Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in our professional development as a community of learners? As the school leader, I would ensure that teachers have a copy of the handbook and invite them to a book club format to discuss their thoughts. Then, invite program consultants to provide training for all staff not just teachers, but any staff who has influence over the children throughout the day. I would also follow through with meetings to share successes and challenges. It would be my goal to provide support throughout the process of shifting from a punitive approach to a restorative approach.
Is the concept of teaching students to “first do no harm” integrated into the culture of your school (or workplace)? There is evidence that to a small degree a shift away from a punitive approach is happening. Teachers have been asked to remove large behavior charts and instead keep track of negative behaviors on personal behavior charts or clip boards that a teacher keeps track of. There are rewards in place for not engaging in negative behaviors. For example, if a class does not receive any referrals for the week, they receive a golden ticket. Once 4 tickets are earned, the class gets a fun activity presented to them by the principal or vice principal. There is also a focus on the eight great character traits and each month on student per class receives a certificate for being a role model of that particular character trait. New this year is a social skills program called Second Step for grades K-2 that is being implemented. It is curriculum that will be taught in each class by the school outreach counselor. There is a similar program called Stop and Think provided for third graders.
How does your answer to the previous prompt sit with you? I feel that there is still a great focus on acknowledging negative behavior with a punitive approach, but I am hopeful with the implementation of the social skills lessons that more conversations will be had about what we can do support the children in there learning.
Current sphere of influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more positive restorative place: 1. I will address behaviors in the classroom in a restorative practice approach. 2. I will give my students the language they need to have a class meeting such as I statements. 3. I will post the restorative questions some place where I can easily refer to them during a one-on-one conversation. 4. I will commit to a class circle meeting once a week. 5. I will use the prompts recommended for the circle discussions. I especially love the idea of sharing their academic goal for the week.
References:
Costello, Bob, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel. The Restorative Practices Handbook: For Teachers, Disciplinarians and Administrators. Bethlehem, PA: International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2009.
Marshall, Marvin. Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards: How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning. Los Alamitos, CA: Piper, 2001.
I just finished reading an insightful book called The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians, and Administrators by Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel. This is a handbook which shares techniques and strategies to approach negative student behavior in a proactive way. It is the idea that a restoration of relationships must take place in order to effectively change the negative behaviors. Because I already believe in teaching children to be reflective and aware of the results of their behavior, I enjoyed this book greatly. It served as further validation that behavior choices should be intrinsically motivated rather than through extrinsic means.
A few years ago I met a new teacher who was teaching in a rough area. I was assigned a field experience during my student teaching to observe classroom management. I spoke to her prior to the observation. She shared that she had a 4th grade class of students who had a reputation of negative behaviors. Her year had begun stressful and within 3 weeks she had 4 students who had been suspended. In our conversation we shared the feelings of rewards as an incentive to turn that behavior around as ineffective. We both felt it was highly stressful on the teacher to manage and keep track of. She said she was in the process of reading a wonderful book and planned on making huge changes. I hurried to go meet her class before her changes and had the privilege to go back in the spring to see the results. It was incredible! From that experience I promised myself to never use bribes to encourage positive behavior and bought the book, she used as a guide called, Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards by Dr. Marvin Marshall. The Restorative Practices Handbook has a systematic approach to turning around negative behavior. It is easy to follow and clearly explained. I will definitely include this approach in my classroom.
When it comes to the concept of Do No Harm, I believe it is my role to teach academics in a social setting, thus I must teach how we learn to work and function together in a space where we feel safe, happy, and supported to reach success.It is not my role to punish, bribe, or control behavior.
Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in discipline policies and practices? As a school leader, one of the most important responsibilities I will have is to create the culture and climate of the school. I respect that there will be situations where consequences such as suspension or expulsion will be necessary, but I respect that children need the social skills and confidence to behave in a way that will find them in successful situations. They need guidance and models to show them how to build successful relationships. I would have the authority to implement the use of curriculum which addresses social skills, as well as determine the approach to negative behaviors. It would be my goal to promote restorative practices and my responsibility to train staff how to effectively use the strategies and techniques. Just as the authors of the handbook express their hopes, mine would also be to shift away from punitive approaches. "It is our hope that as educators gain comfort and experience with restorative practices, they will recognize the diminished need for punishment as a response to misbehavior." (Costello, pg.48)
Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in program practices and initiatives? As a leader, I would definitely ban the use of displays of behavior charts in the classroom. I would ask that focus be placed on the positive behaviors and character traits which display use of those social skills, techniques, and strategies found in the restorative practices approach. Imagine bulletin board displays of students who have turned around a negative situation in the form of a headline celebrating a campus hero who showed restored a relationship by approaching it confidently and positively instead of designated bulletin board of a clip chart displaying who had misbehaved that day.
Future sphere of influence, as the school leader, how would my beliefs be reflected in our professional development as a community of learners? As the school leader, I would ensure that teachers have a copy of the handbook and invite them to a book club format to discuss their thoughts. Then, invite program consultants to provide training for all staff not just teachers, but any staff who has influence over the children throughout the day. I would also follow through with meetings to share successes and challenges. It would be my goal to provide support throughout the process of shifting from a punitive approach to a restorative approach.
Is the concept of teaching students to “first do no harm” integrated into the culture of your school (or workplace)? There is evidence that to a small degree a shift away from a punitive approach is happening. Teachers have been asked to remove large behavior charts and instead keep track of negative behaviors on personal behavior charts or clip boards that a teacher keeps track of. There are rewards in place for not engaging in negative behaviors. For example, if a class does not receive any referrals for the week, they receive a golden ticket. Once 4 tickets are earned, the class gets a fun activity presented to them by the principal or vice principal. There is also a focus on the eight great character traits and each month on student per class receives a certificate for being a role model of that particular character trait. New this year is a social skills program called Second Step for grades K-2 that is being implemented. It is curriculum that will be taught in each class by the school outreach counselor. There is a similar program called Stop and Think provided for third graders.
How does your answer to the previous prompt sit with you? I feel that there is still a great focus on acknowledging negative behavior with a punitive approach, but I am hopeful with the implementation of the social skills lessons that more conversations will be had about what we can do support the children in there learning.
Current sphere of influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more positive restorative place: 1. I will address behaviors in the classroom in a restorative practice approach. 2. I will give my students the language they need to have a class meeting such as I statements. 3. I will post the restorative questions some place where I can easily refer to them during a one-on-one conversation. 4. I will commit to a class circle meeting once a week. 5. I will use the prompts recommended for the circle discussions. I especially love the idea of sharing their academic goal for the week.
References:
Costello, Bob, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel. The Restorative Practices Handbook: For Teachers, Disciplinarians and Administrators. Bethlehem, PA: International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2009.
Marshall, Marvin. Discipline without Stress, Punishments, or Rewards: How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility & Learning. Los Alamitos, CA: Piper, 2001.