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Restorative Practice for your Schools
with a Listening for a Change Approach can:
o Develop a school environment where students and staff feel
respected, heard, and connected with others.
o Foster social-emotional intelligence, and build social and human
capital.
o Increase the school community’s ability to communicate and
address challenges
o Build a campus community that embraces both shared values
and differences—a place for healing and inclusion.
“Underlying Restorative Justice is the vision of interconnectedness. We
are all connected to each other and the larger world through a web of
relationships. When this web is disrupted, we are all affected. But the
value of interconnectedness must be balanced by an appreciation of
particularity.” Howard Zehr, The Little Book of Restorative Justice
Storytelling is a Core Tenet of Restorative Practices:
o Storytelling offers a unique and familiar way for students to engage with
one another and lay the foundation for developing healthy relationships.
Listening for a Change is built on the conviction that we are Creating
Connections, One Story at a Time and it is imperative we find meaningful
ways to understand the rich and complex cultures among us.
Unfortunately, storytelling is not simple. It involves:
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Active Listening
Understanding and Acceptance
Personal Reflection
Time
Follow-up questions
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Creating Connections—One Story at a Time because listening to
stories helps pave a way to understanding:
“Storytelling is fundamental for healthy social relationships. To feel
connected and respected we need to tell our own stories and have
others listen. Having others listen to your story is a function of power in our
culture. The more power you have, the more people will listen respectfully
to your story. Consequently, listening to someone’s story is a way of
empowering them, of validating their intrinsic worth as a human being.”
(Pranis, K. (2001). Building Justice on a Foundation of Democracy, Caring
and Mutual Responsibility (manuscript held by Minnesota Department of
Corrections)
The Restorative Practice Pyramid
Too often, we neglect to prioritize important aspects of our daily lives. For
students, it’s no different. Learning to understand different perspectives and
valuing the experiences of others is critical to their social-emotional
development. The Restorative Justice Pyramid identifies the following as schoolwide prevention practices to conflict.
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Develop healthy relationships
Identify common values and guidelines
Foster social-emotional understanding and skills
Promote and strengthen sense of belonging and ownership
Listening for a Change
Brenda Morrison, 2005
The idea is that if preventive issues are addressed at the base, and difficulties
are managed at the second tier, there will be fewer in need of intensive
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intervention at the top tier. (Restorative Justice: A Working Guide for Our Schools,
Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, School Health Services Coalition)
Listening for a Change can help schools foster a culture that
integrates Restorative Practices into classrooms, hallways, cafeterias
and beyond to create a respectful and reflective environment that
advances and supports conflict resolution processes.
Inquiry Support and Training for School Staff, Administration, Families
& Students to:
o Investigate Needs of the School Culture through questionnaires,
small groups, focus groups, etc. stakeholders are asked what they
know about creating an academic community of respect and
problem solving and what is needed to work toward this goal
o Facilitate workshops where participants share stories, practice
active listening skills, and learn how to ask questions that elicit stories
and grant access to personal wisdom. These activities foster trust,
understanding, and enhance relational practices.
o Support “Relational Practices.” How individuals relate to one
another and help build a cohesive, caring, school community
 Allow school staff to discover student assets, dreams,
passions, contexts, etc., which will allow staff to engage
students in meaningful and relevant ways
o Help create authentic caring, cariño Authentic caring can
become a structured and integral component of curriculum with
high school students (Valenzuela, Subtractive Schooling).
o Help school stakeholders define and teach respect and inclusion.
Helps schools create pro-active experiences in order for students to
be heard before they are caught in a troubled web. Then, if rules
are broken students experience an expanded way in which to have
their voices heard, reflection fostered, and restoration becomes a
possibility.
o Support teachers by providing activities and curriculum to
incorporate active listening and social-emotional development into
the classroom.
o Our curriculum integrates storytelling and critical thinking with
Common Core and California Standards in language arts
and social studies. It is also well incorporated into Advancing
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Via Individual Determination (AVID) and classes that
incorporate social/emotional development
o Support Restorative Justice Circles because engagement with
others in a trusting manner is a concept that is critical in Circles. It is
also a major factor in engaging stakeholders of a school
community. Listening for a Change’s 3-way interviews are an
excellent means to increase understanding, trust, and acceptance.
Listening for a Change facilitates improving questions and follow-up
questions to aid in the process. In addition, the impact is greater
when participants take time to hear and reflect upon other
people’s stories.
School-Wide Practices
Implement consistent, ongoing opportunities for students, staff, parents, and
community members to develop and improve relationships with one another.
o Weekly/monthly activities for students to share her/his perspective
or experience related to specific topics such as bullying or feeling
left out
o Mini-lessons for classes to encourage each student to share specific
aspects of her/his personal narrative with peers
o Student panel(s) that interview a wide range of school/community
members to learn how they have overcome challenges and
resolved problems (Neighborhood Listening Project)
o Family members are invited and included to share their stories,
acquire better listening skills, and participate in workshops
For more information please contact us:
tel 707.578.5420 info@listeningforachange.org
www.listeningforachange.org.
4908 Sonoma Highway, Ste. B
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
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