What is “Climate”
It’s our inner-baramoter of safety and belonging
It’s based on our “gut” feeling
Everyone can feel it
It influences how we behave and whether or not wechose to engage
(And we an consciously influence it…
Activity 1
Get with a partner
Person with longest hair starts(T1)
T1 tells partner their full name
T1 tells them history behind his/her name
Be ready to share information
Extension: Where born, Kinder talks to mom/dadabout why they were given that name
What creates “Safety”
SAFETY
Familiarity
Trust
Connectedness
Three Things To Teaching Success
Welcomed
?
Safe
?
Included
?
School ClimateThe Inside-Out Approach
Relationship Focused
Student Centered
Formative/Restorative
Focusing on changing socialnorms
Positive School Climate Impact
Increase student retention and academic achievement
Renews focus on teaching and learning
Decrease bullying
Decrease fighting
Decrease antisocial behavior
Engenders trust and sense of safety
Positive School Climate Characteristics
Students, staff members and parents feel – and are – safe, included andaccepted.
All members of the school community demonstrate respect, fairness andkindness in their interactions, and build healthy relationships that arefree from discrimination and harassment.
Students are encouraged and given support to be positive leaders and rolemodels in their school community; for example, by speaking up aboutissues such as bullying.
Students, principals, staff members, parents and community membersengage in open and ongoing dialogue. All partners are actively engaged.
Principles of equity and inclusive education are embedded across thecurriculum. Strategies for bullying prevention and intervention andawareness-raising are reinforced for students and staff.
The learning environment, instructional materials, and teaching andassessment strategies reflect the diversity of all learners.
Every student is inspired and given support to succeed in an environmentof high expectations.
Strategies to Enhance School Climate
Build Relationships
Minimize and manage conflicts
Prevent bullying and victimization
Support Adults
Promote autonomy
Definition of Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is a process to involve, to theextent possible, those who have a stake in aspecific offense and to collectively identify andaddress harms, needs, obligations, in order toheal and put things as right as possible.”Howard Zehr, 2002
Restorative discipline
Recognizes the purpose of the misbehavior
Addresses the needs of those harmed
Works to put things right
Aims to improve the future
Seeks to heal
Uses the collaborative process
Misbehavior defined as breaking school rulesor letting the school down.
Misbehavior defined as harm (emotional/mental/physical) done to one person/group by another.
Focus is on what happened and establishingblame or guilt.
Focus on problem-solving by expressing feelings andneeds and exploring how to address problems in thefuture.
Adversarial relationship and process. Includes anauthority figure with the power to decide on penalty, inconflict with wrongdoer.
Dialogue and negotiation, with everyone involved inthe communication and cooperation with each other.
Imposition of pain or unpleasantness to punishand deter/prevent.
Restitution as a means of restoring both parties, thegoal being reconciliation and acknowledgingresponsibility for choices.
Attention to rules and adherence to dueprocess.
Attention to relationships and achievement of amutually desired outcome.
Conflict/wrongdoing represented as impersonaland abstract; individual versus school.
Conflict/wrongdoing recognized asinterpersonal conflicts with opportunity for learning.
One social injury compounded by another.
Focus on repair of social injury/damage.
School community as spectators, represented bymember of staff dealing with the situation; thosedirectly affected uninvolved andpowerless.
School community involved in facilitating restoration;those affected taken into consideration;empowerment.
Accountability defined in terms of receivingpunishment.
Accountability defined as understanding impact ofactions, taking responsibility for choices, andsuggesting ways to repair harm.
Punitive vs. Restorative
Creating Supportive Rules withStudents
Invite students to reflect
Invite students to collaboratively brainstorm
Frame the rules in the positive
Condense the list to a few global rules
Celebrate, share, and display rules
Refer to the rules to hold students/staff accountable
Encourage students to hold the communityaccountable for the rules
Revisit the rules periodiocally
Increasing Parent Involvement
Make it easy for parents to participate
Locate some meetings and activities off-site
Offer classes and workshops for parents based on their interests
Offer opportunities for community to “cross-pollinate”
Be creative with event scheduling
Implement programs that help parents and children process angerconstructively
Encourage resource sharing
Send reliable, timely communication to parents and school staff
Make lasting connections
Make your school a multi-service site
