Posted
BY: LINDSAY CARSON, ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL
Restorative justice and peacebuilding have been hallmarks of Anabaptist education for decades. We believe that everyone is created in the image of God and that God’s goal for all creation is shalom, well-being and right relationships. God sent Jesus to reconcile us to God, and we’re called to be reconcilers (2 Corinthians 5:16-18).
We are committed to a restorative framework for discipline that builds positive and peaceful relationships, encourages accountability, and enables pathways to restore harm and change behavior. As a school within the Anabaptist faith tradition, we express that “Jesus is the center of our faith, community is the center of our lives, and reconciliation is the center of our work” (Palmer Becker, 2008). Proactive peacebuilding and involving students in a caring school community is our first approach to preventing student disciplinary issues. We expect most LM students will have little problem following school expectations. Reconciliation strategies, or restorative practices, are the approach taken when disciplinary issues arise.*
Here are some ways we are doing this at LM:
FAMILY GROUPS
Pictures of hedgehogs, dolphins, and other animals dot the pews in the Fine Arts Center as Elementary students file in, finding the animal that matches the one on their name tag. This is the start of the monthly Family Group time, where students join together with their small “family,” composed of staff leaders and mixed age Elementary students. Groups, identified by the animals on their signs, meet to share common experiences of service, community-building activities, or cultural learning experiences. The program promotes student leadership as they support younger “siblings,” to build close ties between teachers and students, and to provide a forum for the important work of building peace and relationships.
BIBLE CURRICULUM & BUILDING PEACE THROUGH AGREEMENTS
Building bridges of peace is a core value that is rooted into the culture and curriculum, and begins in Elementary school with setting community agreements to contribute towards this goal. The PreK-12th grade Anabaptist faith formation and Bible curriculum, Encounter, calls students as followers of Jesus “to a life of love, expressed in nonviolence and peacebuilding based on justice, a commitment to antiracism,and care for all creation.” The Bible lessons at each Elementary grade are dedicated to this holistic view of “shalom” as peace with God, peace with others, peace with self, and peace with creation.
At the beginning of each year, each Elementary class collaboratively creates, signs, and occasionally revisits a “Respect Agreement,” based on agreements for cooperating as a peaceful community together. All Elementary students learn and proactively practice some key conflict resolution strategies, including the STORY process, which stands for S – “Set guidelines,” T – “Tell your story,” O – “Offer solutions,” R – “Reach an agreement,” Y – “Yay! Celebrate!” I sewed a STORY mat several years ago, which I use to walk students restoratively through conflicts, giving each voice a space to share and offer ideas to move forward together.
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES
Restorative practices have historically framed many of LM’s community-building and student discipline practices. A team recently worked to identify and categorize these practices into a tiered plan. A tiered approach to restorative justice enables all students to engage with restorative practices at levels which meet their individual needs, helps LM build relationships to create a caring, Christ-centered community, prevents conflict, and engages students in repairing harm and transforming conflict. Tier I practices, which are proactive peace and community-building strategies for all students, make up about 75% of the practices used at LM, with about 25% of practices used as responses to conflict. This is by design; while the up-front work of practicing STORY mats, regular classroom meetings, Respect Agreements, family group programs, and classroom “peace zones” are time and energy-intensive, the result is a community built on peace where many conflicts are mitigated before they arise.
What are Peace Zones? All Elementary classrooms have a space students learn about and practice how to use, that allows them to identify when they need a break, and then go to the space to use strategies for calming and regulating. Some rooms have social-emotional books and stories, others have stuffed animals and weighted items, many have “think sheets” for reflection or coloring, and fidgets. This helps students be able to stay in the classroom when they are facing big feelings or feel overwhelmed and join the group again when they feel ready.
EXTENDING PEACE TO OTHERS
With a foundation of peace in the classroom, and as a way to follow Jesus, students are encouraged to further build peace with their neighbors and God’s creation. Around Christmas, a “compassion tree” went up in the Elementary library, and students demonstrating compassion were able to add an ornament sharing their story to the tree, for all to see. This was a wonderful celebration of the core values of building peace and living compassionately. To further recognize Elementary students, teachers award “World Changer Celebration Cards” to students exemplifying the values. These students get to choose pro-social rewards, such as lunch with the principal or leading their class on a nature walk. The Elementary chapel, service, and outdoor education committees also plan meaningful projects that engage students in extending Christ’s peace to the world, through packing school and health kits, a pajama drive for families experiencing homelessness, planting a garden, caring for plants and animals, and writing cards to residents at local retirement communities. It is these peaceful practices, both internal and external, that shape Elementary students as peaceful bridgebuilders who can carry these skills and experiences with them throughout their experience at LM and into the world.
WHY PROACTIVE PEACEBUILDING IS IMPORTANT
This work shapes how students think about conflicts they face, interpersonally and within themselves, and gives them practice working through those problems in a supported and constructive way. Coaching and direct teaching allows them to become more independent peaceful problem solvers, seekers of justice, and clear communicators. It’s just like learning to read – we build and practice all the skills in Elementary as the foundation that they will use in the moment, but also as they continue to grow. Proactive peacebuilding also helps to eliminate conflicts before they begin, because students feel rooted and connected to a community who cares for them and can communicate their wants and needs effectively to avoid miscommunication and hurt. These are skills they will learn and take with them in the future to help make our community and world more peaceful places.
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*SOURCE: KATHERINE EVANS AND DOROTHY VAANDERING, FROM THE LITTLE BOOK OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN EDUCATION
