Building a Trauma-Informed Restorative School: Skills and Approaches for Improving Culture and Behavior

by Joe Brummer, Margaret Thorsborne (With)

Overview

Covering both theory and practice, this betselling guide provides educators with everything you need to know about developing restorative and trauma-informed practices within your setting.

Part 1 addresses the theory and philosophy of restorative approaches, and of trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive schools. Part 2 outlines the five restorative skills (mindfulness, honest expression, empathy, the art of asking questions and the art of requests). It shows you what these look like in practice - including using circles, respect agreements and restorative dialogue - and how to implement them. Every strategy is clearly explained and adapted to be appropriate for children and adults who have experienced trauma.

Designed to be adapted for different school settings and their particular challenges, this groundbreaking guide provides you with a trusted roadmap for successfully introducing restorative trauma-informed practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787752672
Publisher:	Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Publication date:	12/21/2020
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	174,115
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Joe Brummer has been the victim of two separate violent anti-gay related hate crimes and what began as a personal healing response to the trauma he has transformed into professional involvement in the field of community and restorative justice. Since 2006, Joe has actively been working with schools and NGOs in multiple states to share Nonviolent Communication, implement peer mediation programs, and school-wide restorative practices. In 2017, he completed a six-year term on the board of directors for the National Association for Community Mediation where he helped lead the overhaul of employee review strategies to be more restorative. He presented on Conflict and Peace Building in 2012 and 2013 for the Annual International Leadership Training Programme: A Global Intergenerational Forum sponsored by the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. Joe has been an invited presenter on trauma-informed restorative practices at the last three Annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conferences hosted by the Trauma and Attachment Network. From 2010 until 2014, Joe was the associate director of a community mediation center in Connecticut where he provided school-based mediation programs, mediation for the Juvenile Review Boards, oversaw adolescent and adult criminal mediation/dialogue programs that involved victim/offender and offender/offender dialogues, and provided training in Nonviolent Communication, trauma-informed schools, and restorative justice. Since 2015, he has worked as an independent consultant to schools and school districts developing trauma-informed approaches to restorative practice in multiple locations throughout the United States.

Table of Contents

Foreword Judy Atkinson 11

Acknowledgments 16

Preface 17

Introduction 19

Section summaries 25

Section 1 The Foundations, Principles, and a New Understanding of Behavior

1 A New Lens on Behavior 29

Introduction 29

Punishment as violence 30

Rewards 34

In the service of meeting needs 35

The Relationship Matrix 37

Conventional versus restorative thinking 39

2 Trauma and the Art of Connection 43

Empathy 44

The brain is a house! 46

Trauma 48

Toxic stress 49

What are ACEs? 51

Trauma-informed schools 53

Emotion is contagious 56

Universal precautions 58

Strategies for connection 61

3 The Four Elements of a Restorative School Climate and Culture… 71

Restorative language 72

Demands 77

Community-building 78

Repairing relationships 79

Rebuilding community 79

Section 2 The Five Skills of Restorative

4 The Five Skills of Restorative 83

5 Mindfulness 85

Developing a pause button 87

How mindfulness supports the success of P.A².I.R 89

Modeling mindfulness 90

Formal versus informal mindfulness practice 91

Informal practice in restorative skills 92

Trauma-sensitive mindfulness 94

6 Empathy 95

Fix-it 96

Competition/defensiveness 97

Empathic listening 98

7 Honest Expression 103

Affective statements 103

How honest expression works 105

8 The Art of Asking Questions 113

Open versus closed questions/statements 118

Restorative questions 118

Talking circle questions and prompts to dialogue 120

9 The Art of Requests 123

Action plans 125

Section 3 Restorative in Action

10 Restorative in Practice 131

A brief background to restorative practices 131

Student involvement 133

Formal conferencing 133

What practice and when? 134

Training in practices 134

11 Restorative Language 137

Nonverbal communication 144

12 Respect Agreements 147

How to use the respect agreement 150

Creating respect agreements 151

Variations on the lesson plan 153

13 Collaborative and Proactive Solutions 157

Plan A An imposed solution 159

Plan C Prioritizing 160

Plan B Solving problems collaboratively and proactively 161

14 Using Circles 171

The basic elements of the circle process 173

Stages/structure of a circle 178

Planning for a circle 180

Phases of a harm-, conflict-, or incident-focused circle 182

Facilitating a harm circle 185

Using academic-focused circles 186

Gratitude and celebration circles 186

Facilitating a formal conference 186

Troubleshooting circle 187

15 Regulation Spaces 189

Section 4 Implementation

16 Implementation 197

The power of our stories: The importance of narrative 197

My journey into trauma-informed Restorative Justice in schools 198

The lessons learned 200

The Six Sources of Influence 204

Creating the three-year plan 216

Conclusion 219

References 223

Appendix 227

Index 235

Editorial Reviews

Joe Brummer's book is coming out at the perfect time. The world is beginning to understand what is needed to help our students and schools heal. It is an easy to read guide - explaining the why and then giving the reader the skills to do the what.

Dennis Littky

Brummer's book, based on his own healing journey and years as a restorative practitioner, brings a truly cross-disciplinary perspective to restorative practice in schools. Brummer refuses to focus on "fixing broken kids" and instead helps teachers develop a trauma-informed relational pedagogy while answering this question: "Why should we do this?" His integrated approach gives educators a large toolbox from which to draw numerous practices that build positive relationships and create emotionally safe classrooms. If this book doesn't change educators' mindsets about how to best support struggling students, I don't know what will.

Martha A. Brown

Joe Brummer has long been established as an expert in Restorative practices and a highly engaging and entertaining presenter. Now he has taken his deep knowledge of the topic of restorative practices and trauma informed education and combined it with his engaging and relational personality. This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone serving children in an education institution. His case study approach and shared stories make this an informational and inspirational read. The "Six Sources of Influence" provide a road map that a school in any geographic area with any demographic of students can follow with great success and outcome. Thank you, Joe, for your courage, your vulnerability, and your deep knowledge of students.

Melissa Sadin

Brummer provides a uniquely rich, thought-provoking, and accessible resource for any educator. He brings a personal and authentic vulnerability, along with a wealth of knowledge and experience to school practices that remain more critical than ever before. I found myself making more personal notes while reading than almost any other book I've read in years.

Eric Rossen

Joe Brummer has written a personal yet dynamic manual for Trauma Informed Restorative Practices. Brummer has utilized both experience, culture, research and science to ensure a holistic perspective on Restorative Practices for schools. This book goes beyond a process for restorative justice and teaches you how to create safe spaces for every learner. Any educator looking for a comprehensive system to meet the unique needs of their school should begin with this book.

Shatanna DeRosie

This book scaffolds what is close to my heart - how to support schools to truly embed the restorative practices, processes and language with the values that underpin the philosophy. Understanding Restorative Practice through this trauma-informed lens promotes empathy, compassion and authentic accountability, one that honours community. I am grateful for all the gems this book offers. Its explicit integration of mindfulness and NVC supports practitioners to truly model this way of being and avoid 'co-opting' RP to promote conformity, misunderstanding it as 'do as I say but I'll ask you nicely'! Instead, the insights and practical supports that Joe shares light the way towards connection and growth - cultivating relational learning communities which is what our schools, and perhaps our lovely world, need now more than ever!

Michelle Stowe

As an elementary school principal, I confidently say this book is a MUST READ for all educators. The combination of practical and applicable practices grounded in research is what is needed to move forward in becoming a restorative and trauma-informed school!

Mathew Portell